The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA; P.L. 104-193) shaped welfare as we know it today in the United States. In addition to creating Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), PRWORA made changes to child care, the Child Support Enforcement program, food stamps, and Supplemental Security Income for children. The law also restricted which legal immigrants could receive federal public benefits; to qualify, immigrants must fall under the definition of “qualified alien.” Prior to 2025, definitions of “federal public benefit” had largely been unchanged from the initial guidance released after PRWORA’s passage.
A February 2025 executive order directed all executive departments or agencies “to identify all federally funded programs that currently permit illegal aliens to obtain any cash or non-cash public benefit” and to take action to make sure that only qualified aliens receive those benefits. Several agencies subsequently released guidance on the matter, reinterpreting historical definitions of “federal public benefit.” Most of these agency directives have been challenged in court, and on September 10, a preliminary injunction was granted that prevents them from taking effect. Nevertheless, the guidance represents the administration’s view of how PRWORA should be applied and could come into play at the conclusion of court challenges.
This issue brief addresses three questions:
- Who is deemed a qualified alien?
- What is a federal public benefit?
- Which programs are subject to PRWORA eligibility rules?