(Bethany Blankley, The Center Square) President Donald Trump on Wednesday directed federal agencies to stop funding public benefits for foreign nationals living illegally in the U.S.

The order cites federal law, including the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, that “generally prohibits illegal aliens from obtaining most taxpayer-funded benefits.”

Title IV of the law states that it’s national policy that “aliens within the Nation’s borders not depend on public resources to meet their needs,” and that “[i]t is a compelling government interest to remove the incentive for illegal immigration provided by the availability of public benefits.”

Since the law was enacted, Republican and Democratic administrations “acted to undermine the principles and limitations directed by the Congress through that law,” the order states. “Over the last 4 years, in particular, the prior administration repeatedly undercut the goals of that law, resulting in the improper expenditure of significant taxpayer resources.”

“My Administration will uphold the rule of law, defend against the waste of hard-earned taxpayer resources, and protect benefits for American citizens in need, including individuals with disabilities and veterans,” Trump said.

The order directs federal agencies “to prevent taxpayer resources from acting as a magnet and fueling illegal immigration to the United States, and to ensure, to the maximum extent permitted by law, that no taxpayer-funded benefits go to unqualified aliens.”

All federal agency heads were directed to identify all federally funded programs their respective agencies administer “that currently permit illegal aliens to obtain any cash or non-cash public benefit” and take appropriate actions to align such programs with the order’s directive and the PRWORA.

They are also directed to ensure that federal payments to states and localities “do not, by design or effect, facilitate the subsidization or promotion of illegal immigration, or abet so-called ‘sanctuary’ policies that seek to shield illegal aliens from deportation;” and “enhance eligibility verification systems, to the maximum extent possible, to ensure that taxpayer-funded benefits exclude any ineligible alien who entered the United States illegally or is otherwise unlawfully present in the United States.”

The order also instructs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and Administrator of the United States DOGE Service, in coordination with the assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, to identify all sources of federal funding for illegal foreign nationals and recommend additional agency actions to align federal spending with the purposes of the order.

Agencies were also directed to refer any improper receipt or use of federal benefits to the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security for appropriate legal action to take.

The order was issued after several states sued to block taxpayer money from funding benefits for illegal foreign nationals.

In 2021, Texas and 13 states sued to ensure that a federal public charge rule remained in effect, which requires foreign nationals to prove they can financially support themselves prior to being admitted to the U.S., The Center Square reported.

Kansas recently sued to halt a Biden administration plan to provide free taxpayer-funded health care to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, arguing the plan was illegal. A federal judge agreed, halting it, The Center Square reported.

One estimate put the cost of taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal foreign nationals at roughly $120 billion a year before the Biden administration border crisis, The Center Square reported. By 2023, a U.S. House report estimated that housing and shelter, public school education, health care and several welfare programs cost taxpayers more than $451 billion.

That’s in addition to another report estimating that every year, $42 billion is spent on one or more welfare programs for illegal foreign nationals and $69 million on public school education for illegal foreign national children; and a Medicare report found that “emergency services for undocumented aliens” cost $7 billion in fiscal 2021 and $5.4 billion in fiscal 2022, with taxpayer money funding at least $8 billion in improper Medicaid payouts (10% of the nation’s total of $80 billion), The Center Square reported.

Total costs of benefits for illegal foreign nationals is expected to be in the trillions going back decades.