OLC: TANF/SSI states must report known unlawfully present people across all state agencies

The Office of Public Affairs, Wednesday, September 2, 2026, press release 26-1012: “The Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel has issued a legal opinion clarifying that when a state chooses to participate in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs, all agencies within that state — not only those that administer TANF or SSI benefits — must report individuals known to be not lawfully present in the United States to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).”

OPA: “The Office withdrew a Clinton-era opinion from 1998 that construed the reporting requirement much more narrowly. Under that prior interpretation, only the specific state agencies administering TANF or SSI were required to provide information to federal immigration authorities.” “All fifty states, the District of Columbia, and several U.S. territories currently participate in TANF and SSI, and federal TANF funding grants exceed $16.4 billion annually.” “The opinion applies prospectively. States will not face retroactive penalties for past reliance on the 1998 interpretation.” OPA adds that federal agencies “may rely on OLC’s advice to update TANF and SSI grant agreements and compliance processes.”

The slip opinion, signed Joshua J. Craddock, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, dated September 1, 2026, is titled “Reconsidering State Reporting Requirements in Section 404 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.” Headnotes: “The word “State” in section 404 … encompasses all component agencies within a state.” “Our Office’s prior advice to the contrary, which narrowly construed the term “State” to refer only to the “state agencies administering the particular federally funded program,” 22 Op. O.L.C. 204, 205 (1998), is hereby withdrawn.” The opinion states: “Our interpretation of section 404’s reporting obligations is prospective. It cannot retroactively alter agreements for TANF or SSI funds entered under the auspices of our 1998 Opinion.”

OPA quotes Deputy Assistant Attorney General Joshua Craddock as author of the opinion. How HHS or DHS will rewrite grant agreements, and any state-by-state compliance timeline, are not specified in the OPA release beyond that agencies may update agreements going forward.