Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told Newsmax on Tuesday that Congress should stop providing welfare benefits to refugees and immigrants, arguing that U.S. taxpayers should not be responsible for supporting newcomers through federal programs.
Paul's remarks came as lawmakers advanced a consolidated appropriations package to end a partial government shutdown, legislation that President Donald Trump signed into law earlier Tuesday.
On "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE," Paul criticized provisions he said included billions in funding for refugee assistance.
"We should build a wall around our welfare system," Paul said.
"No legal or illegal refugee should be getting welfare. None," he said.
He framed the issue as a fiscal and moral question, saying the country should prioritize Americans before expanding benefits to others.
"We ought to ask ourselves the question, can we pay for our own people, much less paying for welfare for people who just got here?" Paul said.
He pointed to what he described as recent fraud uncovered in Minnesota, claiming billions had been improperly taken from welfare programs.
"What's one of the biggest news stories of the last month?" Paul said.
"Young kid goes to Minneapolis, and he finds $9 billion worth of fraud, a lot of it in the Somali community.
"But $9 billion worth of welfare fraud. What does Congress do?
"They renew the money. I think it's crazy," he said.
Paul said such findings should trigger an immediate halt to spending until accountability is established.
"If you find $9 billion in fraud, you should stop any spending on the program until you've gotten to the bottom of it," he said.
Paul also rejected the idea that government welfare spending should be viewed as charity.
"And it gets me that people think, 'Oh, this is charity,'" he said.
"No, charity is when you give your own money.
"When you give the taxpayer's money, that's not charity, that's appropriation."
Paul said he voted against the appropriations package in the Senate and offered an amendment aimed at removing $5 billion in refugee welfare funding.
"My amendment … would have cut less than 1% of the annual deficit," he said.
"And yet, 20 big government Republicans said, 'Oh no, we've got to keep funding refugee welfare.' Insane."
He argued that without such cuts, balancing the federal budget remains out of reach.
"If you cannot vote to get rid of $5 billion in spending," Paul said, "how do we ever have hope of balancing a budget that's $2 trillion in the hole every year?"
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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