The US Department of Justice has instructed state governments to broaden their reporting of undocumented immigrants to federal authorities, reversing a policy maintained for nearly three decades through a legal opinion issued on Tuesday.
Drafted by the Office of Legal Counsel, the new directive mandates that any state accepting federal funding through low-income assistance programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or Supplemental Security Income must report undocumented individuals across its entire administration, moving beyond the specific agencies directly managing the welfare funds. These programs represent two of the nation's primary support systems for low-income households, senior citizens, and disabled individuals.
The ruling replaces a 1998 Clinton-era interpretation that restricted reporting obligations solely to the state agency administering the specific federal program. Deputy assistant attorney general Joshua Craddock, author of the new opinion, stated that the previous interpretation relied on faulty legal analysis and rejected the notion that congressional inaction over the years constituted implicit approval of the narrower scope.
Assistant attorney general T. Elliot Gaiser supported the decision, noting that states participating in TANF assume an obligation to report non-citizens unlawfully residing in the country to ensure federal aid supports domestic laws rather than encouraging unlawful entry.
The updated policy will not apply retroactively, allowing states objecting to the requirement to withdraw from the programs without breaching prior agreements. Furthermore, the opinion addresses the definition of state knowledge regarding an individual's immigration status, lowering the threshold previously set by a 2000 federal regulation that demanded a formal legal finding confirmed by immigration officials.