President Donald Trump and his administration are working to crack down on all negative aspects of illegal immigration, which involves more than just apprehending and deporting migrants who are in the U.S. illegally.

On Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced two moves intended to financially cut off illegal aliens, including barring them from receiving federal tax benefits or using money transfer services, according to the New York Post.

Notably, all Bessent is doing is enforcing existing law, as one statute already largely prohibits illegal aliens from obtaining most taxpayer-funded benefits, while another requires money services businesses to report suspicious activities, including transferring more than $2,000 out of the country in a single transaction, among other things.

No more refundable income tax benefits for illegal aliens

On Thursday, President Trump posted on social media a lengthy "Happy Thanksgiving" message in which he declared that his administration would redouble its efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and the myriad ways illegal aliens use to exploit and defraud the nation's systems and programs.

The next day, Secretary Bessent shared Trump's message and wrote in an X post, "At @POTUS @realDonaldTrump's direction, we are working to cut off federal benefits to illegal aliens and preserve them for U.S. citizens."

"@USTreasury announced that it will issue proposed regulations clarifying that the refunded portions of certain individual income tax benefits are no longer available to illegal and other non-qualified aliens," he added, "covering the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Additional Child Tax Credit, the American Opportunity Tax Credit, and the Saver’s Match Credit."

Law prohibits "federal public benefits" for illegal aliens

Just a week earlier, the Treasury Department issued a press release to announce that it would soon issue new regulations pertaining to the enforcement of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, or PRWORA, which generally bars illegal aliens from receiving any "federal public benefits."

With the aid of a new legal opinion from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, and beginning with the 2026 tax year, the Treasury Department aims to treat "certain refundable individual income tax credits" as being "federal public benefits" under the PRWORA, thereby preventing illegal aliens from obtaining them.

"Under President Trump’s leadership, we are enforcing the law and preventing illegal aliens from claiming tax benefits intended for American citizens," Secretary Bessent said in a statement at that time. "Treasury’s Office of Tax Policy and the Internal Revenue Service have worked tirelessly to advance this initiative and ensure its successful implementation."

"Their diligence and professionalism reflect this Administration’s determination to uphold the integrity of our tax system," he added. "We will continue to ensure that taxpayer resources are directed only to those who are entitled under the law."

Cutting illegal aliens off from financial services

Meanwhile, in a separate post on X, Secretary Bessent wrote, ".@POTUS @realDonaldTrump is right—if you’re here illegally, there’s no place for you in our financial system."

"Illegal aliens that use our financial institutions to move their illicitly obtained funds is exploitation, and it will end," he added, along with a link to an alert from the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN.

The alert noted that money services businesses are already required to report certain suspicious activities to federal authorities, including the cross-border transfer of $2,000 or more, especially when those businesses "know, suspect, or have reason to suspect" that the transactions are a "possible violation of law or regulation," or if the transferred funds were "derived from unlawful employment" or otherwise "illicitly obtained" in the U.S.

"Money services businesses should be vigilant in identifying suspicious financial activity involving illegal aliens who present significant threats to national security and public safety," John Hurley, the undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement. "At Treasury, we will continue to protect the American people by faithfully upholding the laws of the United States."