Memorandum on Enforcing the Legal Responsibilities of Sponsors of Aliens
May 23, 2019
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the
Section 1 . Purpose. A key priority of my
Administration is restoring the rule of law by ensuring that existing
immigration laws are enforced. The immigration laws currently require that,
when an alien receives certain forms of means-tested public benefits, the
government or non-government entity providing the public benefit must request
reimbursement from the alien’s financial sponsor. These laws also require that,
when an alien applies for certain means-tested public benefits, the financial
resources of the alien’s sponsor must be counted as part of the alien’s
financial resources in determining both eligibility for the benefits and the
amount of benefits that may be awarded. Financial sponsors who pledge to
financially support the sponsored alien in the event the alien applies for or
receives public benefits will be expected to fulfill their commitment under
law.
Several major means-tested public benefits programs —
including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (
Sec . 2. Background. Since
Section 213A of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1183a) also requires that
upon notification that a sponsored alien has received any means tested public
benefit, the appropriate government or non government entity that provided such
benefit shall request reimbursement from the sponsor in an amount equal to the
unreimbursed cost of such benefit.
Section 421 of the Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1631) states that when an
alien with an affidavit of support under section 213A of the INA applies for
any benefit under a Federal means-tested public benefits program, the income
and resources of the sponsor and the sponsor’s spouse are deemed to be income
and resources of the alien for purposes of determining both the alien’s
eligibility for the benefits and the amount of public benefits that may be awarded
to the alien.
These deeming and reimbursement requirements are subject to
several important statutory exceptions for aliens who have been battered or
subjected to extreme cruelty (8 U.S.C. 1631(f)) or who would be unable to
obtain food and shelter without the public benefits (8 U.S.C. 1631(e)), for
children and pregnant women who are lawfully residing in the United States and
receiving medical assistance from a State under the Children’s Health Insurance
Program or Medicaid (42 U.S.C. 1396b(v)(4)), and for aliens receiving SNAP
benefits who are members of the sponsor’s household or are under 18 years old
(7 U.S.C. 2014(i)(2)(E)).
Currently, agencies are not adequately enforcing these
requirements. Some agencies have insufficient procedures and guidance for
implementing these reimbursement and deeming requirements of the immigration
laws. For example, the Department of Health and Human Services has not
adequately issued guidance on either sponsor reimbursement or sponsor deeming
for the Medicaid program. Even in cases in which some guidance exists — such as
for the Supplemental Security Income, TANF, and
Ensuring compliance with the rule of law requires renewed
efforts to enforce these requirements and the issuance of appropriate guidance
so agency practices and enforcement can be aligned with Federal law.
Sec . 3. Issuance of Guidance and Procedures;
Implementation. (a) No later than 90 days after the date of this memorandum,
the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services shall take all
appropriate steps to enforce section 213A of the INA. Such enforcement efforts
shall include:
(i) establishing or updating, as appropriate, procedures and
guidance on the reimbursement obligations of sponsors; and
(ii) providing such procedures and guidance to all entities
involved in enforcement effort actions, including the Federal and State
officials responsible for administering any means-tested public benefit
programs under the respective purview of each Secretary.
(b) The guidance issued pursuant to subsection (a) of this
section should include, as appropriate and consistent with law:
(i) procedures for recovering reimbursement from an alien’s
financial sponsor for means-tested public benefit payments made to an alien;
(ii) procedures for notification to the sponsor of amounts
owed in reimbursement and any procedures related to appeal, payment plans,
non-response, and non-reimbursement;
(iii) procedures for notifying the Attorney General and
Secretary of Homeland Security of sponsor’s non payment and procedures for
requesting that the Attorney General bring a civil action against the sponsor;
(iv) procedures for data sharing with Federal agencies, as
appropriate and consistent with law;
(v) procedures for how the income and resources of the
sponsor and the sponsor’s spouse will be deemed attributable to the alien in
determining eligibility for the means-tested public benefit and the amount of
benefits that may be awarded; and
(vi) procedures for determining whether any exceptions to
the deeming or reimbursement requirements apply to the alien.
(c) No later than 180 days after the date of this
memorandum, the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services shall
each submit a report to the President, through the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget and the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy,
detailing:
(i) all actions taken to establish or update the procedures
and guidance described in section 3(a) of this memorandum;
(ii) the methods used to track deeming and reimbursement
actions and the results; and
(iii) all actions taken to share information with other
Federal agencies pursuant to section 5 of this memorandum.
Sec . 4. Notification of Sponsor Reimbursement
Reponsibilities. (a) By the end of fiscal year 2019, the Secretaries of
Agriculture and Health and Human Services shall provide the appropriate and
respective Federal and State officials described in section 3(a)(ii) of this
memorandum with the procedures and guidance described in section 3 of this
memorandum for notifying sponsors of reimbursement obligations for means-tested
public benefits, as required by law.
(b) The Secretaries of State and Homeland Security, in
consultation with the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services,
shall advise the following parties about how the reimbursement and deeming
requirements will be enforced:
(i) all current sponsors and those seeking to become
sponsors who have signed or plan to sign an affidavit of support;
(ii) others who, under applicable provisions of law, may
become liable for reimbursing the cost of public benefits paid to a sponsored
alien; and
(iii) all current sponsored aliens and those seeking to
become sponsored aliens.
Sec . 5. Collection, Record-Keeping, and
Non-Reimbursement. (a) No later than 180 days after the date of this
memorandum, the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services and
the Commissioner of Social Security shall coordinate with the Secretaries of
State and Homeland Security to:
(i) establish and maintain records regarding each financial
sponsor’s reimbursement obligations and status, as appropriate and consistent
with law; and
(ii) establish information-sharing procedures to ensure that
records regarding each sponsor’s reimbursement obligations and reimbursement
status are made available to the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security for
consideration for the administration and enforcement of all applicable
immigration laws and regulations, as appropriate and consistent with applicable
law.
(b) No later than 180 days after the date of this
memorandum, the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security shall issue guidance
on the eligibility of a sponsor who is delinquent on the sponsor’s
reimbursement obligation to continue to serve as a sponsor or to sponsor
additional aliens.
(c) To the extent appropriate and consistent with law, the
Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services and the Commissioner
of Social Security shall coordinate with the Secretary of the Treasury to
establish information-sharing procedures with the Treasury Offset Program (31
(d) The Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of
Homeland Security shall refer all cases in which financial sponsors fail to
satisfy their statutory reimbursement obligations to the Attorney General for
enforcement of such statutory reimbursement obligation (8 U.S.C. 1183a(b)(2),
(e)).
Sec . 6. Protecting the American Taxpayer and
Preventing Abuse of the Immigration System . (a) The Secretaries of the
Treasury, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and
Urban Development, Transportation, and Education shall each submit a report to
the President, through the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and
the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, within 30 days of the date
of this memorandum, that includes:
(i) their review of their respective guidance and
regulations governing the issuance of Federal public benefits to non-citizens;
(ii) steps they have taken to comply with the eligibility
requirements set forth in 8 U.S.C. 1611(a);
(iii) an explanation of whether the Federal public benefits
that they administer are means-tested public benefits within the meaning of 8
U.S.C. 1183a and whether additional Federal public benefits they administer, if
any, should be regarded as means-tested public benefits; and
(iv) their review of any additional regulations or guidance
that should be updated to align with applicable statutes.
(b) The report described in subsection (a) of this section
should include, where applicable, coordination with the Secretary of Homeland
Security.
Sec . 7. Definitions. For purposes of this
memorandum, the following definitions shall apply:
(a) The term “sponsor” shall have the meaning set forth in
section 213A(f) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1183a(f)), including any joint sponsor
authorized by section 213A(f)(5)(A) (8 U.S.C. 1183a(f)(5)(A)) or member of
household under section 213A(f)(5)(B) (8 U.S.C. 1183a(f)(5)(B)).
(b) The term “sponsored alien” means an individual who was
required under section 212(a)(4)(C) or 212(a)(4)(D) of the INA to have a
sponsor execute an enforceable affidavit of support and whose sponsor’s
obligations under section 213A of the INA have entered into effect.
(c) The term “means-tested public benefit” shall have the
meaning set forth in 8
(d) The term “Federal public benefit” shall have the meaning
set forth in 8 U.S.C. 1611(c).
Sec . 8. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in
this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department
or agency, or the head thereof;
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative
proposals; or
(iii) existing rights or obligations under international
agreements.
(b) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create
any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in
equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
DONALD J. TRUMP