Washington DC - President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order placing new limitations on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF.)

On Friday, the White House released a statement announcing the order, which aims to end "the subsidization of illegal activities, including illegal immigration, human smuggling, child trafficking, pervasive damage to public property, and disruption of the public order, which threaten the security and stability of the United States."

The PSLF program, which began in 2007 under the bipartisan College Cost Reduction and Access Act, is set up to help government employees, such as police officers and teachers, and nonprofit organizations to receive student loan forgiveness after making 10 years of consecutive loan payments.

The program has since provided loan relief for millions of public servants.

Donald Trump Trump threatens to escalate Canada trade war with hefty new tariffs

The order tasks Linda McMahon, the recently confirmed Secretary of the Department of Education, with proposing revisions to the program to redefine "public service" to exclude "organizations that engage in activities that have a substantial illegal purpose."

Trump also claimed the administration of his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, "abused" the program "through a waiver process, using taxpayer funds to pay off loans for employees still years away" from the required 10 year period.

"The PSLF Program has misdirected tax dollars into activist organizations that not only fail to serve the public interest, but actually harm our national security and American values, sometimes through criminal means," the statement adds.