Washington DC - President Donald Trump's administration is enacting sweeping restrictions to ban undocumented migrants from taking advantage of federal benefits.

On Thursday, the administration's Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shared a press release announcing that they have "formally rescinded a 1998 interpretation of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act... which improperly extended certain federal public benefits to illegal aliens."

While migrants are already barred by law from receiving most public benefits, for decades the act granted some exclusions, allowing migrants access to some community-level programs such as Health Center and Health Workforce programs, and Head Start, which provides educational and childcare services for low-income families.

HHS will reclassify such programs as "Federal public benefit," which will ensure that enrollment "is reserved for American citizens from now on."

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"For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans' tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration," said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "Today's action changes that – it restores integrity to federal social programs, enforces the rule of law, and protects vital resources for the American people."

That same day, several other agencies – including the Department of Education, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Labor – announced similar changes affecting nationwide programs.

HHS said its new policies will be effective immediately, noting, "Any delay would be contrary to the public interest and fail to address the ongoing emergency at the Southern Border of the United States."