Trump considers deporting legal immigrants who may need public assistance, reports

The White House has not confirmed or denied the accuracy of the drafts

Protestors listen to a speaker at the South Carolina Statehouse during a demonstration in response to the Trump administration's recent executive order blocking entry of refugees and travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries on January 31, 2017. (Sean Rayford/Getty)

President Trump and his administration are reportedly considering a plan to deny would-be immigrants and deport legal immigrants living in the country who might need public assistance.

The Washington Post obtained two draft executive orders that tightly controls who enters the country and workforce in an attempt to reduce the burden on taxpayers.

It’s currently unclear when and if the president will sign the orders but they would extend his limits on immigration following his chaotic executive order banning travel to and from seven majority Muslim countries. While the order was created to protect Americans from terror threats, despite around 1,000 State Department officials saying the ban doesn’t make the country safer, the new orders have been drafted in the vein of protecting US workers.

“Our country’s immigration laws are designed to protect American taxpayers and promote immigrant self sufficiency. Yet households headed by aliens are much more likely than those headed by citizens to use Federal means-tested public benefits,” the first draft reads, according to The Post.

The order, titled “Executive Order on Protecting Taxpayer Resources by Ensuring Our Immigration Laws Promote Accountability and Responsibility,” provides no evidence that immigrant households use more welfare benefits.

The administration would also deny admission to would-be immigrants who might need public assistance and consider whether to deport immigrants who need programs such as Food Stamps, Medicaid, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

A second draft, titled “Executive Order on Protecting American Jobs and Workers by Strengthening the Integrity of Foreign Worker Visa Programs” calls for eliminating the so-called “jobs magnet” that attracts undocumented immigrants to the United States. It also calls for the end of all work visa programs that violate US immigration law.

Last week, Vox obtained draft orders that shared similarities to the orders obtained by The Post.

“Given who is eligible for federal benefits, this is a plan to take benefits from low-income legal immigrants,” Jamelle Bouie, a chief political correspondent with Slate, wrote on Twitter.

“He’s loaded his anti-immigrant Uzi and is firing off another round,” Angela Kelley, an immigration expert at the Center for American Progress, told The Post. “This time he’s aiming at USc citizen kids who have an undocumented parent, and depending how broad the reach of his order, he could deport kids who have received reduced lunches in school. It’s stunning the depth of disruption and chaos he seems hell-bent on inflicting on our communities.”