Proposed Louisiana bill would require citizenship check for public benefit applicants

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — A proposed bill that would require state agencies to verify the citizenship or immigration status of those applying for public benefits has moved to the House floor.

House Bill 307, authored by Rep. Chance Henry (R-Crowley), passed the committee with amendments on Wednesday.

According to the proposed bill, all individuals looking for public assistance who are not citizens of the U.S. would be reported to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

If an applicant is found not to be a U.S. citizen, all public benefits, including welfare, food assistance, housing, and education assistance, would be cut off.

State agencies must submit an annual report with the number of individuals who were reported to ICE and those who lost their benefits.

“So this isn’t necessarily about benefits, it’s about informing people to the government so that they can be deported?” asked Rep. Mandie Landry (D-New Orleans).

Henry replied, saying, “Yeah, so I do not know what’s [going to] be done with that information once the feds have it. I can’t attest to that, but this is about notifying the proper entities of their being here illegally. Yes, ma’am.”

The bill will eventually be debated on the House floor.

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