The Department of Homeland Security announced the arrests of five illegal migrants for fraudulently exploiting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, calling it the first wave of a sustained ICE campaign to root out welfare fraud by people in the country unlawfully.
DHS said the five arrested were Cuban national Elizabeth Povea Rodriguez and Haitian nationals Jhensly Charles, Louis Jean, Wilbert Jean Baptiste, and Rubstony Junior Theodore. All are in the United States illegally.
“These arrests mark the opening salvo in a sustained, large-scale ICE operation specifically targeting illegal aliens who have fraudulently accessed SNAP benefits that American taxpayers fund exclusively for U.S. citizens in need,” DHS said in a statement issued Wednesday. “Every one of these individuals entered the country unlawfully, then proceeded to draw from a program designed to feed struggling American families, in some cases while carrying criminal records.”
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the program should never have been accessible to people without legal status in the first place.
“Illegal aliens who have no right to be here in the first place are the last people who should be using SNAP benefits and other forms of welfare,” Mullin said.
“These programs are for Americans only. Even non-violent illegal alien crime can still have devastating consequences when they’re defrauding the American taxpayer. The illegal alien fraudsters that we’ve already arrested and deported are just a drop in the bucket, and the Trump Administration is committed to going after all these thieves and bringing them to justice,” the statement said.
DHS said this first phase of the campaign has already uncovered nearly $42 million in SNAP fraud.
U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche tied the effort to a broader Justice Department push against fraud in federal programs, working in coordination with the Department of Agriculture.
“These schemes siphoned millions from taxpayers and robbed struggling Americans of the benefits they depend on so fraudsters could use them for their own selfish purposes,” Blanche said. “Through our partnership with the Department of Agriculture, this nationwide surge exposed and disrupted criminal networks that targeted vulnerable American families. The Department of Justice will continue working to root out fraud in every federal agency and program.”
DHS indicated that Wednesday’s arrests represent only the start of a larger, ongoing enforcement push against illegal migrants who have accessed SNAP benefits.
