An executive order issued by President Donald Trump in February is resulting in the protection of roughly $40 billion in public benefit programs from illegal aliens, according to the White House.

In February, Trump issued his executive order titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders,” which directed agencies to identify federally funded programs that allow “illegal aliens to obtain any cash or non-cash public benefit.”

On Thursday, the White House issued a release announcing that illegals would no longer have access to a number of public benefits within five different agencies following the review, including the departments of Agriculture, Education, Health and Human Services, Justice, and Labor. 

“Past presidents sat by and allowed illegal aliens to steal public benefits at the expense of hardworking American taxpayers – that ends now. Under President Trump, it’s America first always,” White House assistant press secretary Taylor Rogers said in a statement to Breitbart News.

More than half of the roughly $40 billion in benefits preserved are in 13 HHS programs, including $11.3 billion in Head Start, $7.1 billion in the Health Center Program, $2.7 billion in the Health Workforce Programs, and $2 billion in the Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant to name a few examples, according to White House figures obtained by Breitbart News.

Funds protected in other HHS programs include:

• Community Mental Health Services Block Grant–$1.6 billion
• Community Services Block Grant (CSBG)–$770 million
• Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers–$553 million
• Title IV-E Prevention Services Program–$519 million
• Title X Family Planning Program–$286.5 million
• Title IV-E Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program–$280 million
• Title IV-E Educational and Training Voucher Program–$143 million
• Project to Assist Transition from Homelessness Grant Program–$110 million
• State Personal Responsibility Education Program–$75 million

Moreover, the Department of Agriculture is blocking illegal aliens’ access to food assistance programs that are federally funded, including protecting $1.6 billion in grants and funds for food banks, per the data. Meanwhile, the Education Department is nixing “free tuition for illegal aliens at post-secondary career and technical education programs,” the White House release notes. 

It further notes that the Labor Department “is barring illegal aliens from accessing federal workforce development resources and grants,” and the Justice Department “is closing longstanding loopholes that have allowed illegal aliens to access taxpayer-funded benefits.”