{"id":2404,"date":"2026-06-20T11:36:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T11:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2404"},"modified":"2026-06-20T11:36:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T11:36:20","slug":"11-suspected-migrants-charged-with-stealing-food-stamps-other-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2404","title":{"rendered":"11 suspected migrants charged with stealing food stamps, other benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Federal authorities announced charges Thursday against 15 people \u2014 including 11 suspected unauthorized immigrants \u2014 who they say stole food stamps and other welfare benefits in Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

Read more Iran deal doesn\u2019t look good for America or Israel<\/a><\/p>\n

The thefts ranged from relatively low-level, including one migrant accused of stealing an identity to collect $4,000 in food stamps, up to a man who is charged with stealing nearly $550,000 from food stamps, housing assistance, disability and Medicaid.<\/p>\n

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald, who leads the Justice Department\u2019s fraud enforcement division, called the unauthorized immigrant cases part of a \u201cdeeply troubling trend.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIllegal immigration carries real and substantial costs to American taxpayers and places enormous strain on our public benefits systems,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a press conference in Massachusetts, he said they still aren\u2019t even sure of the real identities of some of those charged, because they\u2019re clinging to identities that the government believes to have been stolen from citizens.<\/p>\n

In some cases, Mr. McDonald said, the citizens were blocked from getting the services because the migrants had already filed under their names.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerican citizens were boxed out of these programs because illegal aliens took their names, to then take their money \u2014 or, more accurately, your money, the American taxpayer\u2019s money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Leah Foley, the U.S. attorney in Massachusetts, said people are seeing \u201cunchecked, unbridled, rampant fraud\u201d in her state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are not one-off cases, these are not clerical errors,\u201d she said. \u201cIt should not be this easy to steal from the government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. McDonald singled out Puerto Rico as one source of stolen identities.<\/p>\n

Massachusetts has seen a raft of such cases over the years.<\/p>\n

Because Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, their identities make for juicy targets for unauthorized immigrants from Latin America. That\u2019s particularly true for migrants from the Dominican Republic, at least six of whom were among those whose charges were announced Thursday.<\/p>\n

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Mr. McDonald said some of the cases they identified were because people in Puerto Rico came forward to apply for benefits, only to be blocked. After all, someone in Massachusetts was already collecting under their name.<\/p>\n

Mr. McDonald also said they\u2019ve come across cases where unauthorized immigrants had racked up criminal records under the stolen identities.<\/p>\n

The programs at issue are generally run by states, but largely funded by taxpayers at the federal level.<\/p>\n

Authorities said once someone earns access to food stamps, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, they can then use that to access other welfare programs.<\/p>\n

Roberto Coviello, special agent in charge of Health and Human Services\u2019 Office of the Inspector General, said some states \u2014 including Massachusetts \u2014 are refusing to share information with the feds that could help expose more cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t have guardrails, they have, in some cases bad leadership, and they don\u2019t want to work with the federal government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Among those charged is Heriberto Rodriguez, accused of passport fraud and stealing $546,463 from four benefit programs.<\/p>\n

Four men were charged as \u201cJohn Does\u201d because their actual identities haven\u2019t been ascertained.<\/p>\n

Read more Rep. Thomas Kean set to return to Congress June 30 after three-month illness<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Federal authorities announced charges Thursday against 15 people — including 11 suspected unauthorized immigrants — who they say stole food stamps and other welfare benefits in Massachusetts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[1589,1590,97],"class_list":["post-2404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics","tag-colin-m-mcdonald","tag-leah-foley","tag-massachusetts"],"yoast_head":"\n11 suspected migrants charged with stealing food stamps, other benefits - Home Buyer Relocation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2404\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"11 suspected migrants charged with stealing food stamps, other benefits - Home Buyer Relocation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Federal authorities announced charges Thursday against 15 people -- including 11 suspected unauthorized immigrants -- who they say stole food stamps and other welfare benefits in Massachusetts.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2404\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home Buyer Relocation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-20T11:36:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=2404#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=2404\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b2ac56955b020950324cad4c6c27b42a\"},\"headline\":\"11 suspected migrants charged with stealing food stamps, other benefits\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-20T11:36:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=2404\"},\"wordCount\":552,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=2404#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/046c3cc5d35ced671d1220668b7ae22e.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Colin M. 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