The U.S. Department of Labor is threatening to withhold federal unemployment administration grants from states that fail to verify immigration status of benefit claimants, Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced in letters to all governors Thursday.
The directive implements President Trump’s recent executive actions aimed at preventing undocumented immigrants from accessing unemployment benefits.
“Our nation’s unemployment benefits exist solely for workers who are eligible to receive them,” Chavez-DeRemer wrote in the April 24 letters. “Unemployment benefits are not a handout for those in our country illegally.”
Verification system now available
The Labor Department is instructing all state unemployment agencies to immediately begin using the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database to check immigration status for every initial and continued claim filed by individuals who indicate they are not U.S. citizens.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem recently made the verification system available at no cost to states, according to the letter.
Federal funding at stake
States that don’t comply with the verification requirements risk losing their Title III unemployment insurance administrative grants from the federal government.
“I am committed to ensuring that the U.S. Department of Labor enforces the law and will personally work to safeguard Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars,” Chavez-DeRemer wrote.
The directive aligns with Trump’s Presidential Memorandum “Preventing Illegal Aliens from Obtaining Social Security Act Benefits” and Executive Order 14218 “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders.”
To qualify for unemployment benefits, applicants must be able and available to work, actively seeking employment, and legally authorized to accept work in the United States.
