Trump “Illegally” Slashes Immigrant Services, Medicaid Halted
NEWS & RESEARCH
In September 2026, President Donald Trump canceled nearly $1 billion in spending that Congress had already approved for immigrant services and diversity-focused initiatives, much of it set aside for nonprofits that serve refugees and unaccompanied minors. Particularly alarming is how he did it, invoking a rare and contested maneuver known as a “pocket rescission,” which the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has deemed illegal. Under federal law, Congress has 45 days to approve or reject a president’s request to cancel funding, and the money stays frozen in the meantime. However, Trump submitted the request with just five days left in the fiscal year, ensuring that the funds would expire before lawmakers could act. And this was not the only blow to immigrants in fall 2026. As of October, legal immigrants without green cards were no longer eligible for Medicaid, the health insurance program for individuals with low incomes. Many of those affected—including refugees and people who have been granted asylum or parole—have already applied for permanent residency in the US, but are still waiting for a decision as the Trump administration has slowed visa processing. (Of about 150,000 pending green card applications filed by refugees, US Citizenship and Immigration Services completed only about 3,800 between October 2025 and June 2026.) While awaiting a decision, these immigrants will be forced off their health care plans.
SOURCES: The Guardian | The New York Times
ANALYSIS & OPINION
Trump’s cancellation of $1 billion in funding has led to bipartisan outrage. Senators such as Susan Collins, a Republican, have called the move “illegal,” saying that “It is a usurpation of Congress’s appropriations powers…[The executive branch] does not get to decide which programs are worth funding.” Others, like Democratic Senator Patty Murray, say “These are funds Congress has delivered on a bipartisan basis and should be helping people—not cut off by a president more focused on building a ballroom than investing in families.” Meanwhile, the decision to end Medicaid for legal immigrants without green cards is also expected to have far-reaching effects. According to the Congressional Budget Office, at least 100,000 people will become uninsured, and Leighton Ku, the director of the Center of Health Policy Research at George Washington University says that these individuals will likely wait until they become “horribly sick” before seeking treatment in emergency rooms—which provide care regardless of immigration status. Says Ku, “This will create additional strains for emergency rooms that could even have repercussions for citizens who are trying to get care.”
SOURCES: The Guardian | The New York Times
HOW TO FIX IT
Federal action:
Pass the Congressional Budget Reform Act, which would bar the White House from requesting rescissions or withholding funds within 90 days of their expiration, ending pocket rescissions. It would also require 60 votes in the Senate to approve a president’s rescission requests, making it harder for a narrow majority to rubber-stamp cuts to programs Congress has already funded.
The Congressional Power of the Purse Act and the Protecting Our Democracy Act take a similar approach from another angle, requiring the White House to release approved funds at least 90 days before they expire, and they add penalties for officials who illegally hold money back.
Pass the Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act, which would repeal the provision that stripped Medicaid from refugees, asylees and other lawfully present immigrants.
Pass the LIFT the BAR Act, which guarantees access to Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and other federal benefits for lawfully present immigrants. The Health Equity and Access under the Law (HEAL) for Immigrant Families Act would do the same for Medicaid and CHIP.
Pass the Case Backlog and Transparency Act, which would require the Department of Homeland Security to publish quarterly reports on immigration application backlogs and require the GAO to assess the causes of delays, evaluate the agency’s efforts to reduce backlogs, and recommend improvements. It is a partial fix, as obtaining a green card could restore Medicaid eligibility for affected immigrants, but the bill would not directly restore their coverage.
State action:
Fund state-only health coverage for refugees, asylees and other lawfully present immigrants who lose federal Medicaid eligibility. California’s 2026–27 budget keeps refugees, asylees and survivors of trafficking and domestic violence on full Medi-Cal through July 1, 2027. Other states should adopt similar protections, and California should make its coverage permanent.
Litigation:
Support a lawsuit filed by seven states, which alleges that the cuts violate the Impoundment Control Act, the 1974 law that limits a president’s power to withhold money Congress has approved, along with the Constitution’s Spending Clause, which gives Congress control over federal spending. An association of migrant education programs has filed a similar suit over the cuts to programs that help children of migrant farmworkers finish high school and attend college. These challenges may fare better than last time: when Trump used a pocket rescission in 2025 to cancel $4.9 billion in foreign aid, the Supreme Court let the cuts stand largely because of the president’s broad authority over foreign affairs, which doesn’t apply to domestic programs like these.
The Government Accountability Office, Congress’s nonpartisan watchdog, can sue to force the release of the canceled funds. The GAO concluded in September 2026 that the president lacked the legal authority to withhold the money past its expiration date—as it also found during Trump’s first term—and federal law authorizes it to sue to enforce that finding.
Legislation: H.R. 5220 - Congressional Power of the Purse Act | S. 2838 - Protecting Our Democracy Act | S. 2556 - Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act | S. 2038 - LIFT the BAR Act | S. 2149 - HEAL for Immigrant Families Act | H.R. 9225 - Case Backlog and Transparency Act
