The Trump administration will restrict immigrants in the country illegally from enrolling in Head Start, a federally funded preschool program, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday. The move is part of a broad effort to limit access to federal benefits for immigrants who lack legal status.
People in the country illegally are largely ineligible for federal public benefits such as food stamps, student loans and financial aid for higher education. But for decades they have been able to access some community-level programs such as Head Start and community health centers.
HHS said it will reclassify those programs as federal public benefits, excluding immigrants in the country illegally from accessing them. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the changes were part of a larger effort to protect American citizens' interests.
“For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration,” Kennedy said in a statement. “Today’s action changes that — it restores integrity to federal social programs, enforces the rule of law, and protects vital resources for the American people.”
A spokesperson for the Administration for Children and Families, which administers Head Start, said that eligibility will be determined based on the child’s immigration status.
Requiring proof of immigration status would likely create fear and confusion among families seeking to enroll their children, said Yasmina Vinci, executive director of the National Head Start Association.
“This decision undermines the fundamental commitment that the country has made to children and disregards decades of evidence that Head Start is essential to our collective future,” Vinci said.
"Head Start has been in existence well over 60 years. In our 60-year history we have never had to collect or determine immigration or citizenship status for our clients, our students," said Damon Carson, the executive vice president at the Neighborhood House Association, a multi-service provider in San Diego.
Carson said the policy change goes against the fundamental purpose of Head Start, to prepare children for success in school.
"Children and families that have been living below the federal poverty guideline really need this type of assistance to help them succeed and not depend on public benefits or public assistance later in life," he said.
While the HHS announcement says the revised policy goes into effect immediately, Carson said service providers are left with little guidance on implementation.
"It's literally a confusing situation, not not only for us as providers, but it's very confusing for parents. Parents that are receiving services today as we speak, are wondering whether they'll be able to bring their children to what we consider a safe and secure environment tomorrow," he said.
Carson said providers are thinking about a plan of advocacy as well as exploring other funding sources to protect those impacted.
The changes are part of a multi-agency announcement rescinding an interpretation of federal law dating to former President Bill Clinton's administration, which had allowed immigrants in the country illegally to access some programs. The Education Department, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Labor announced similar changes affecting a range of workforce development and adult education programs.
The changes will affect community health centers that immigrants rely on for a wide range of services, said Shelby Gonzales, vice president of immigration policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
“People depend on those services to get cancer treatment, to get ongoing maintenance for a variety of different health needs," she said.
Students in the country illegally will no longer be eligible to participate in postsecondary career and technical education programs or adult education programs, the Education Department announced. The department also issued a notice to grant recipients to ensure programs receiving federal money do not provide services to immigrants without legal status.
Education advocates said the decision would harm young people who have grown up in this country. EdTrust Vice President Augustus Mays said the intention appears to be creating fear among immigrant communities.
“Policies like this don’t exist in a vacuum," Mays said. “They are rooted in a political agenda that scapegoats immigrants and uses fear to strip rights and resources from the most vulnerable among us.”
Head Start was started six decades ago as part of Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. It operates in all 50 states, providing preschool, developmental therapy and child care for families who are homeless or are in poverty.
Associated Press writer Cheyanne Mumphrey in Phoenix contributed to this report.
