The Trump administration has launched an investigation into a Los Angeles County welfare program that pays immigrants up to $18,000 per year over allegations it is “providing federal benefits to illegal aliens.”
The probe focuses on LA’s Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI) program, which the Golden State created to pay seniors or disabled who are barred from collecting Social Security based on their immigration status, the Department of Homeland Security announced Monday.
DHS has demanded the records of all people enrolled in the program in LA County.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many people participate in LA’s CAPI program, but statewide, there are about 16,500 people enrolled.
California says the program, which was launched in 1998, is funded entirely by state money — and that it is “not generally available” to undocumented people.
CAPI is designed to help support elderly, blind or disabled immigrants who have legal status to remain in the US. It pays about $1,100 per month for most elderly or disabled people who qualify, or $1,900 per month for couples. Payments for nursing home care can reach nearly $1,500 a month.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem slammed “radical leftist politicians in California for prioritizing “illegal aliens over our own citizens” through the program, in a statement Monday.
“If you are an illegal immigrant, you should leave now. The gravy train is over. While this subpoena focuses only on Los Angeles County – it is just the beginning,” she said.
As part of the probe, the Department of Homeland Security is demanding that the State of California hand over “all records from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services – who administers the state program – to determine if ineligible illegal aliens received” federally-funded Social Security benefits going back to the start of the Biden administration in January 2021, the agency said.
That includes all applicants’ names, dates of birth, copies of their applications, immigration status, proof of ineligibility from federal Social Security and affidavits supporting each application, according to DHS.
More than 2 million illegal immigrants received Social Security Numbers in fiscal year 2024, which ran from October 2023 to September 2024, according to DHS.
President Trump signed an executive order last month directing cabinet members “to ensure ineligible illegal aliens do not receive funds from Social Security programs and prioritize civil or criminal enforcement against states or localities for potential violations” of federal law.
