Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) has introduced a resolution to block citizenship for illegal immigrants who are dependent on taxpayer-funded benefits.
The resolution is with regard to a Department of Homeland Security rule that limits the number of benefits that illegal immigrants could be on when applying for permanent residency in the U.S., according to the Daily Caller.
According to a 2019 rule from the Trump administration, any immigrant who received at least one designated public benefit for more than 12 months during a 36-month period was defined as a "public charge." Non-citizens are inadmissible if they are "likely at any time to become a public charge," according to the DHS website.
Under former President Trump, benefits included food stamps, Medicaid, and housing vouchers that would disqualify immigrants from receiving green cards, the news outlet reported. However, under the new DHS rule from the Biden administration, only immigrants who receive long-term institutional care or cash benefits would be labeled as public charges.
"DHS's proposed public charge rules continue our country down the dangerous path of incentivizing migrants to illegally cross our southern border," Marshall said in a statement. "Granting citizenship to illegal aliens who would be dependent on federal benefits is a burden that American taxpayers and our national debt cannot afford."
"The previous Administration made it clear to would-be law breakers that they would receive no support or citizenship from the American government," he added. "We need to get back to policies like this if our country is going to have any hope at stopping the invasion at our southern border that started when President Biden took office."
