(The Center Square) – Of the many priorities announced by Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler, several eliminate policies implemented by the Biden administration that diverted taxpayer money from American small businesses to illegal border crossers.
Loeffler’s policies support President Donald Trump’s America First agenda, including identifying wasteful, fraudulent or abusive spending of taxpayer money and reducing regulatory burdens on small businesses. The SBA was established by Congress to foster the “American dream of entrepreneurship” by providing a range of services to small businesses, including disaster relief.
Under the Biden administration, the SBA burdened entrepreneurs with bureaucracy and with programs “mired in fraud, waste, and abuse,” Loeffler said. Her priority is to rebuild the SBA “into an America First engine for free enterprise – by empowering small businesses and fueling economic growth” and “uphold the highest standards of accountability, performance, and integrity, where taxpayer dollars will be safeguarded, not squandered. We will streamline operations, drive efficiency, and ensure programs deliver real results.”
Included in this is banning illegal foreign nationals from receiving SBA assistance, restricting hostile foreign nationals from accessing SBA assistance, and relocating regional offices out of so-called sanctuary cities.
“Programs funded by American citizens should only benefit American citizens,” she said. The SBA will be complying with Trump’s executive order directing federal agencies to eliminate funding for programs supporting illegal border crossers. In February, Trump issued the order citing federal law, including the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 that “generally prohibits illegal aliens from obtaining most taxpayer-funded benefits.”
Since the law was enacted, Republican and Democratic administrations “acted to undermine the principles and limitations directed by the Congress through that law,” the order states. “Over the last 4 years, in particular, the prior administration repeatedly undercut the goals of that law, resulting in the improper expenditure of significant taxpayer resources.”
“My Administration will uphold the rule of law, defend against the waste of hard-earned taxpayer resources, and protect benefits for American citizens in need, including individuals with disabilities and veterans,” Trump said.
The SBA is implementing a policy “banning illegal aliens from receiving any taxpayer-funded assistance from SBA – putting U.S. citizens and America first,” Loeffler said.
To do so, the SBA is promulgating rule changes to require SBA loan applications to include a citizenship verification provision to ensure only legal, eligible applicants can access SBA programs. Lenders will be required to confirm that applicant businesses “are not owned in whole or in part by an illegal alien,” consistent with Trump’s order, she said.
“Over the last four years, the record invasion of illegal aliens has jeopardized both the lives of American citizens and the livelihoods of American small business owners, who have each become victims of Joe Biden’s migrant crime spree. Under President Trump, the SBA is committed to putting American citizens first again – starting by ensuring that zero taxpayer dollars go to fund illegal aliens,” Loeffler said.
The SBA is cutting off “access to loans for illegal aliens” and returning its focus “to empowering legal, eligible business owners across the United States – in partnership with the municipalities who share this Administration’s commitment to secure borders and safe communities,” she said.
Under the last administration, “lax guardrails allowed illegal aliens to both apply for and get approved for SBA assistance,” she said, citing examples. In one case, in June 2024, the SBA approved a $783,000 loan application for a small business that was 49% owned by an illegal foreign national. The Trump administration caught it, she said, after an internal SBA audit was performed and stopped the loan from being disbursed.
The SBA is also relocating six regional offices out of so-called sanctuary cities whose elected officials don’t comply with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation efforts and federal immigration law. Over the coming months, regional SBA offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York City and Seattle will be relocated to “less costly, more accessible locations that better serve the small business community and comply with federal immigration law.”
The SBA is also implementing measures to prevent hostile foreign nationals, especially those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, from accessing SBA assistance, she said.
This article was originally published at www.thecentersquare.com
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