49% of legal immigrants in the US use welfare programs – This is against federal law.
Does anyone care?
(Guardian)
The Center for Immigration Studies released a new report on welfare use by immigrants in America.
- An estimated 49 percent of households headed by legal immigrants used one or more welfare programs in 2012, compared to 30 percent of households headed by natives.
- Households headed by legal immigrants have higher use rates than native households overall and for cash programs (14 percent vs. 10 percent), food programs (36 percent vs. 22 percent), and Medicaid (39 percent vs. 23 percent). Use of housing programs is similar.
- Legal immigrant households account for three-quarters of all immigrant households accessing one or more welfare programs.
- Less-educated legal immigrants make extensive use of every type of welfare program, including cash, food, Medicaid, and housing.
- The overwhelming majority of illegal immigrants have modest levels of education; therefore, the high use of welfare associated with less-educated legal immigrants indicates that legalization would likely increase welfare costs, particularly for cash and housing programs.
- Restrictions on new legal immigrants’ access to welfare have not prevented them from accessing programs at high rates because restrictions often apply to only a modest share of immigrants at any one time, some programs are not restricted, there are numerous exceptions and exemptions, and some provisions are entirely unenforced. Equally important, immigrants, including those illegally in the country, can receive welfare on behalf of their U.S.-born children.
This is against the law…
It is against current immigration law to be admitted to live in the United States, or allowed to stay if you are, a public charge — meaning dependent on welfare.
It is a law ignored wholesale by the federal government. So the Treasury is being illegally plundered.
Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) issued a statement in February 2013 accusing the Obama administration of waiving of federal law with respect to welfare restrictions for immigrants.
“The law that excludes immigrants from entry if they are likely to become a public charge is not being enforced, a response from DHS to four Senate committees reveals. The response exposes a major weakness in our immigration system and violates core immigration principles of the United States, and indeed the principles of most developed nations. This failure further demonstrates the dysfunction in our immigration system. We turn down countless people seeking to immigrate who have every prospect of being successful and self-sufficient while admitting large numbers who are statistically likely to become dependent on federal assistance.”
