The US Department of Justice is requiring states to share more data on undocumented immigrants with federal authorities.

The Justice Department's new legal position indicates that the responsibility for informing federal authorities falls not only on agencies that handle social programs, but on the entire state government, writes The Guardian.

The US Department of Justice has ordered states to begin sharing more data on people without legal status with the federal government. This follows from a legal opinion published on September 1. It effectively overturns regulations that have been in place for nearly 30 years.

Under the new policy, any state that receives federal funds for low-income support programs, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), is now required to report undocumented immigrants through the entire state government system, not just the agencies that directly administer the relevant social programs.

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TANF and SSI are among the largest federal programs that support low-income families, as well as the elderly and people with disabilities.

The new regulation revises rules in effect since 1998, adopted during the Clinton administration. At that time, the data transfer requirement was limited to the state agency directly implementing a specific federal program.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General Joshua Craddock, the author of the new opinion, stated that the previous interpretation relied on flawed legal logic. He rejected the argument that Congress's long-standing lack of change constituted tacit acceptance of the previous, narrower interpretation of the rules.

"The fact that subsequent Congresses have not directly amended the 1998 interpretation of Section 404 does not change the literal meaning of the law," Craddock said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney General T. Elliott Gaither supported the new interpretation.

"When a state participates in the TANF program, it assumes responsibility for reporting undocumented immigrants in the country," he said. "Tax funds intended to help vulnerable Americans should not indirectly incentivize illegal entry into the United States."

The new policy will not be retroactive. Craddock noted that it "cannot retroactively change agreements" entered into under the previous rules, as the parties relied on different interpretations of states' reporting obligations.

The document also addresses the question of when a state should consider a person to be in the country without legal status. The 2000 federal regulation required a formal legal decision, confirmed by immigration authorities, to consider such a fact established.

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Craddock believes this standard is too high. He noted that the agency cannot shirk its responsibilities by "deliberately refusing to consider available information or by requiring a formal investigation where the law does not expressly require it."

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