Trump pushed Congress to approve a classist budget-cut bill targeting Medicaid and SNAP, which he described as "a great and beautiful bill."
By: Alfredo García Almeida, journalist and international analyst, reporting from Mérida, Yucatán.
In the short time he has been in office, President Donald Trump has transformed the Oval Office into a corporate command center without providing strategic justifications for changes in domestic and international policy—something that remains solely within his conscience.
After zigzagging on his Ukraine policy, calling the European Union "leeches" that drain the United States, and making predatory threats to take control of the Panama Canal, Greenland, Gaza, and Canada, Trump's latest off-script remark as head of state was to call Russian President Vladimir Putin "crazy" and warn him that he was "playing with fire" for refusing to halt attacks on Ukraine. At the same time, Trump pushed Congress to approve a classist budget-cut bill targeting Medicaid and SNAP, which he described as "a great and beautiful bill."
Last Thursday, the House of Representatives passed the bill by a single vote (215 to 214), and it now moves to the Senate, where Republicans also hold a majority. If approved, the bill would result in the largest cuts to Medicaid, a program that provides medical assistance to low-income individuals in the U.S. Additionally, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would face its biggest reduction in nearly three decades. These cuts endanger children, especially those from Latino and historically marginalized communities.
A new report published by UnidosUS, AFL-CIO, and First Focus on Children reveals that nearly 45% of children in the U.S. (34 million) rely on Medicaid and SNAP for essential healthcare and food. Among them, 14 million children depend on both programs, exposing them to a double risk of losing access to medical care and nutrition.
"Twelve percent of U.S. children—approximately 9 million—have at least one noncitizen parent. The law removes benefits for those with a parent who is not a citizen or lacks permanent residency, including refugees, asylum seekers, TPS (Temporary Protected Status) beneficiaries, and DACA recipients who arrived as children.
Trump is redefining the "American Dream."
Currently, one in ten U.S. citizen children with American parents lacks health insurance, as does half of U.S. citizen children with non-citizen parents.
Beyond health insurance and food stamps, migrant families without Social Security numbers will lose tax exemptions for children, which the bill sets at $2,500 per child—potentially affecting between 2 and 4 million U.S. children.
