FILE PHOTO: U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent looks on as he speaks to the media, following the trade talks between the U.S. and China, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia October 26, 2025. REUTERS/Hasnoor Hussain/File Photo/File Photo

(Reuters) -Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday that the U.S. Treasury was working to cut off federal benefits to "illegal aliens" at President Donald Trump's direction and preserve them for U.S. citizens.

Treasury "announced that it will issue proposed regulations clarifying that the refunded portions of certain individual income tax benefits are no longer available to illegal and other non-qualified aliens, covering the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Additional Child Tax Credit, the American Opportunity Tax Credit, and the Saver’s Match Credit," Bessent said on X.

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Toronto; editing by Christian Martinez)