From the Los Angeles Times
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Thursday that undocumented immigrant children will no longer be allowed to attend Head Start, the federal program that provides child care, nutrition and health assistance to 800,000 low-income infants, toddlers and preschoolers.
The announcement immediately bars all people living in the country without legal status from a suite of federally funded public programs, including health clinics, family planning and the low-income energy assistance program.
While those living in the country illegally are prohibited from using most federal programs, a 1998 notice allowed them to access certain benefits relied on by low-income families with young children. In a news release, however, Kennedy announced that Health and Human Services was rescinding this interpretation, limiting the ability of low-income immigrant families to use more than a dozen federal programs run by the agency.
“For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration,” Kennedy said. “Today’s action changes that — it restores integrity to federal social programs, enforces the rule of law, and protects vital resources for the American people.”