The Department of Homeland Security has confirmed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has started a nationwide operation aimed at undocumented immigrants accused of fraudulently collecting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. DHS told Fox News the agency has already made its first arrests.
The four people arrested so far are Haitian nationals: Rubstony Junior Theodore, Wilbert Jean Baptiste, Louis Jean and Jhensly Charles. According to DHS, Theodore’s prior arrests include larceny, obstruction of officers and trespassing. DHS says all four entered the country unlawfully and then accessed SNAP benefits fraudulently.
ICE described the arrests as the start of a much larger effort. “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,” the agency said. “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 gave a similarly direct statement to Fox News.
“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.”
Part of a broader anti-fraud push
The operation comes as the Trump administration expands efforts to recover taxpayer money lost to fraud across federal programs. Earlier this week, Trump announced a new Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program offering rewards to Americans who help expose fraud in federal programs. The program includes a $25 million fund, advertised rewards of up to $30,000, and a potential commission tied to the amount of fraud uncovered. Tips can be submitted through America.gov/fraud.
The scale of the broader problem is significant. The Government Accountability Office estimates that fraud across federal programs costs taxpayers between $233 billion and $521 billion annually. Those figures cover federal fraud generally and are not specific to SNAP.
DHS has drawn a distinction between legal and fraudulent benefit use. Some noncitizens are legally eligible for SNAP, and benefits can be available to U.S.-citizen children in mixed-status households. According to DHS, the new ICE operation is targeting people accused of obtaining benefits through fraud, not those receiving them lawfully.
Officials indicated the recent arrests are an early step in what is expected to be a larger, sustained enforcement effort.
