Senate Republicans failed this week to block billions of dollars in taxpayer funding for refugees, as a coalition of Democrats and 20 GOP senators voted to keep the money flowing despite mounting concerns over cost, vetting, and the scope of federal benefits extended to non-citizens.
The vote dealt a setback to Sen. Rand Paul’s effort to fundamentally reshape how the United States finances refugee and migrant assistance.
Paul, a Kentucky Republican, introduced the End Welfare for Non-Citizens Act with the stated goal of ending taxpayer-funded benefits for refugees, asylees, and illegal immigrants. Taking to the Senate floor ahead of the vote, Paul framed the issue as one of fiscal responsibility and national priorities, arguing that compassion should not be conflated with open-ended welfare spending.
While acknowledging that many refugees become productive Americans, he insisted that sponsorship, not the federal government, should bear the financial burden of resettlement.
The Senate ultimately rejected that argument. As a result, nearly $6 billion in ongoing refugee funding is now set to continue, part of a dramatic expansion of refugee and entrant assistance programs that accelerated under the Biden administration.
Federal spending on these programs surged from less than $2 billion in fiscal year 2021, the final year of President Trump’s first term, to nearly $9 billion the following year. That increase coincided with the Afghan evacuation and a broader spike in migration, as well as admissions by the federal government that many arrivals had not been fully vetted.
Under current law and policy, refugees qualify for an extensive list of taxpayer-funded benefits. These include cash assistance programs such as Supplemental Security Income and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, food aid through SNAP and WIC, public housing and Section 8 vouchers, Medicaid and ACA subsidies, federal student aid, workforce training, childcare, transportation, language services, and legal assistance aimed at securing permanent legal status.
For those who do not qualify for certain programs, Refugee Cash Assistance provides up to 12 months of direct support.
Spending continued to climb even after the initial Afghan resettlement period. Federal assistance for refugee programs reached approximately $10 billion in fiscal year 2023 alone, with total refugee and migrant assistance spending under the Biden administration estimated at roughly $30 billion over four years.
Paul’s office warned that with the national debt now exceeding $38 trillion, Congress is allowing a vast welfare system for non-citizens to operate on what it described as “autopilot.” Despite those warnings, enough Republicans broke ranks to ensure the bill’s defeat.
