The Department of Justice issued a new legal opinion on Wednesday requiring all states to report undocumented immigrants to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or risk losing federal funding for programs meant to aid low-income individuals. ^[1] The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel said states receiving funding through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Supplemental Security Income must report people unlawfully present in the US to the Department of Homeland Security. ^[2] The US Justice Department warned states that they could risk losing billions of dollars in federal welfare funding if state agencies fail to report immigrants known to be in the country illegally. ^[3] Assistant Attorney General T. Elliot Gaiser of the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel stated that when a state chooses to participate in TANF, it accepts the obligation to report illegal aliens in the United States. ^[4] The Department of Justice stated that the Office of Legal Counsel's Sept. 1 opinion explains that Congress defined 'State' broadly in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. ^[5] The new opinion revises the Office of Legal Counsel's prior opinion from 1998, which found that only specific state agencies administering TANF and SSI needed to provide information to federal immigration authorities. ^[6] Federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families grants total more than $16.5 billion annually, while federal Supplemental Security Income benefits exceed $60 billion each year. ^[7] The new interpretation expands the reporting requirement beyond the state agencies directly responsible for administering the federal programs to include other state bodies such as universities and departments of motor vehicles. ^[8]