States warned federal funding is in jeopardy if illegal immigrants are collecting unemployment benefits

States that allow illegal immigrants to collect unemployment benefits could lose federal funding, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said Friday. 

In a letter to all governors, Chavez-DeRemer urged them to comply with President Donald Trump’s directives to ensure that tax dollars aren’t used to benefit those in the U.S. illegally. 

“Our nation’s unemployment benefits exist solely for workers who are eligible to receive them,” Chavez-DeRemer wrote. “To qualify for unemployment, one must be able and available to work, actively seeking work and be legally authorized to accept employment in the United States. Unemployment benefits are not a handout for those in our country illegally.”

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Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is warning states they could lose federal funding if illegal immigrants are allowed access to unemployment benefits.  (Getty Images)

Chavez-DeRemer urged the states to use SAVE, an online database for registered federal, state and local government agencies, to verify the immigration status of applicants seeking benefits or licenses.  

The move comes as the Trump administration continues to clamp down on illegal immigrants who receive taxpayer benefits. 

On Thursday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USDA) is taking action to ensure that illegal immigrants no longer receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, widely known as food stamps. 

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An application for unemployment benefits. (iStock)

“USDA’s nutrition programs are intended to support the most vulnerable Americans,” Rollins said. “To allow those who broke our laws by entering the United States illegally to receive these benefits is outrageous.”

Last month, Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner warned illegal immigrants living in government-funded housing that HUD is prioritizing only Americans under the Trump administration. 

HUD Secretary Scott Turner, center, tours The Battery in Philadelphia.  (Fox Digital )

“At HUD, we only serve one out of four Americans that we should be serving, and that has to come to an end,” Turner told Fox News Digital at the time. “And so we’re not only making it a priority, but we are making that our only priority, that American citizens will benefit from hard-working American taxpayer dollars.”