No, Biden didn't sign an executive order that gives gift cards to migrants entering the U.S. illegally

An intense spotlight has remained on immigration and border policy because of the high numbers of border crossings and cities publicly struggling to accommodate growing migrant populations.

On Feb. 19, 2024, multiple viral posts on X claimed that President Joe Biden issued “Executive Order 9066,” purportedly giving people who illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border a $5,000 gift card to use as they wish.

THE QUESTION

Does a Biden-issued Executive Order 9066 grant people who illegally cross the border $5,000 gift cards?

THE SOURCES

• National Archives

• University of California, Santa Barbara’s American Presidency Project

• Congressional Research Service

THE ANSWER

No, a Biden-issued Executive Order 9066 does not grant people who illegally cross the border $5,000 gift cards. President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 in 1942, creating internment camps for Japanese Americans.

WHAT WE FOUND

Biden did not issue an executive order to grant people who illegally cross the border $5,000 gift cards. There is an Executive Order 9066, but it was not issued by Biden and does not address people who illegally entered the U.S. or grant gift cards.

There have been 14,115 numbered executive orders in U.S. history, according to the University of California, Santa Barbara’s American Presidency Project. Biden has issued Executive Orders 13989 through 14115 during his presidency.

None of Biden’s executive orders mention offering gift cards or money to migrants, according to the American President Project’s executive order database. 

President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on Feb. 19, 1942, according to the National Archives. The order authorized the forced relocation of Japanese Americans, including American citizens born in the U.S., to incarceration camps during World War II. Several government accounts, like the White House and National Park Service, tweeted posts on Monday, Feb. 19, to recognize the 82nd anniversary of the signing of the order, which could explain how this decades-old executive order started to trend online.  

Approximately 122,000 people, nearly 70,000 of whom were American citizens, were incarcerated in internment camps with no right to appeal and no charges filed against them. The internment camps officially came to an end in June 1946, the Harry S. Truman Library says. Many Japanese Americans returned home to find their belongings stolen or their property sold.

It’s unclear how Executive Order 9066 was combined with claims about Biden and gift cards for migrants. 

We previously VERIFIED that there are no federal programs that offer $5,000 gift cards to people who enter the country illegally. A November 2022 Congressional Research Service report says undocumented migrants are not eligible for most federal benefits. 

The federal benefits that are exceptions to this include: treatment under Medicaid for emergency medical conditions, emergency disaster relief, vaccinations, and community-level assistance services such as soup kitchens and housing programs, the Congressional Research Service says. 

This story is also available in Spanish / Lee este artículo también en español: No, Biden no firmó una orden ejecutiva que otorga tarjetas de regalo a migrantes que entran ilegalmente a los EE.UU.