The U.S. Begins Requiring Immigrant Sponsors to Repay Public Benefits

Aray Karim
1 day ago
2 min read

The Trump administration has begun enforcing rules requiring immigrant sponsors to reimburse the government for public benefits received by sponsored immigrants, including taxpayer-funded welfare and health care programs.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill has started issuing repayment demands to sponsors in cases where immigrants they sponsored accessed public benefits funded by taxpayers.

This requirement is based on longstanding federal law that existed for years but was largely not enforced during the Biden administration.

As explained by O’Neill, financial responsibility rests with the sponsor when a sponsored immigrant uses public benefits.

How this works in simple terms:

If you signed Form I-864 (Affidavit of Support), you agreed to take financial responsibility for the immigrant you sponsored.
If that individual receives taxpayer-funded public benefits, the government may seek reimbursement directly from you.

Repayment demands are currently being issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Public benefits that may be subject to reimbursement include:

Medicaid
SNAP (food stamps)
TANF
SSI

How long does a sponsor’s obligation last?

The sponsor’s responsibility continues until the immigrant:

✔️ becomes a U.S. citizen

✔️ earns 40 qualifying quarters of work (approximately 10 years)

✔️ permanently leaves the United States

✔️ or passes away

Purpose of this enforcement

The goal of this measure is to ensure that the cost of supporting immigrants is borne by their sponsors, not U.S. taxpayers, when a private financial guarantee has been signed.