Census: Most illegal alien families on government dole JIM KOURI

Census: Most illegal alien families on government dole

• April 6th, 2011 3:15 pm ET
  

Jim Kouri

• Law Enforcement Examiner

The
latest Census Bureau data reveals that most U.S. families headed by
illegal immigrants use taxpayer-funded welfare programs on behalf of
their American-born anchor babies, according to a public-interest group
that investigates government corruption and fraud.

Even before the recession, immigrant households with children used
welfare programs at consistently higher rates than natives, according to
the extensive census data collected and analyzed by the Center for
Immigration Studies, a nonpartisan Washington D.C. group dedicated to
researching legal and illegal immigration in the U.S. The results,
published this month in a lengthy report, are hardly surprising.

According to analysis by Judicial Watch, the majority of households
across the country benefiting from publicly-funded welfare programs are
headed by immigrants, both legal and illegal. States where immigrant
households with children have the highest welfare use rates are Arizona
with 62%, Texas, California and New York with 61% each and Pennsylvania
at 59%.

The study focused on eight major welfare programs that cost the
government $517 billion the year they were examined. They include
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for the disabled, Temporary
Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), a nutritional program known as
Women, Infants and Children (WIC), food stamps, free/reduced school
lunch, public housing and health insurance for the poor (Medicaid).

Food assistance and Medicaid are the programs most commonly used by
illegal immigrants, mainly on behalf of their American-born children who
get automatic citizenship. On the other hand, legal immigrant
households take advantage of every available welfare program, according
to the study, which attributes it to low education level and resulting
low income.

The highest rate of welfare recipients come from the Dominican
Republic (82 %), Mexico and Guatemala (75%) and Ecuador (70%), according
to the report, which says welfare use tends to be high for both new
arrivals and established residents.

Among the CIS findings:

• In 2009 (based on data collected in 2010), 57 percent of
  households headed by an immigrant (legal and illegal) with children
  (under 18) used at least one welfare program, compared to 39 percent for
  native households with children.
  
• Immigrant households’ use of welfare tends to be much higher than
  natives for food assistance programs and Medicaid. Their use of cash and
  housing programs tends to be similar to native households.
  
• A large share of the welfare used by immigrant households with
  children is received on behalf of their U.S.-born children, who are
  American citizens. But even households with children comprised entirely of immigrants (no U.S.-born children) still had a welfare use rate of 56 percent in 2009.
  
• Immigrant households with children used welfare programs at
  consistently higher rates than natives, even before the current
  recession. In 2001, 50 percent of all immigrant households with children
  used at least one welfare program, compared to 32 percent for natives.
  
• Households with children with the highest welfare use rates are
  those headed by immigrants from the Dominican Republic (82 percent),
  Mexico and Guatemala (75 percent), and Ecuador (70 percent). Those with
  the lowest use rates are from the United Kingdom (7 percent), India (19
  percent), Canada (23 percent), and Korea (25 percent).
  
• The states where immigrant households with children have the highest
  welfare use rates are Arizona (62 percent); Texas, California, and New
  York (61 percent); Pennsylvania (59 percent); Minnesota and Oregon (56
  percent); and Colorado (55 percent).
  
• We estimate that 52 percent of households with children headed by
  legal immigrants used at least one welfare program in 2009, compared to
  71 percent for illegal immigrant households with children. Illegal
  immigrants generally receive benefits on behalf of their U.S.-born
  children.
  
• Illegal immigrant households with children primarily use food
  assistance and Medicaid, making almost no use of cash or housing
  assistance. In contrast, legal immigrant households tend to have
  relatively high use rates for every type of program.
  
• High welfare use by immigrant-headed households with children is
  partly explained by the low education level of many immigrants. Of
  households headed by an immigrant who has not graduated high school, 80
  percent access the welfare system, compared to 25 percent for those
  headed by an immigrant who has at least a bachelor’s degree.
  
• An unwillingness to work is not the reason immigrant welfare use is
  high. The vast majority (95 percent) of immigrant households with
  children had at least one worker in 2009. But their low education levels
  mean that more than half of these working immigrant households with
  children still accessed the welfare system during 2009.
  
• If we exclude the primary refugee-sending countries, the share of
  immigrant households with children using at least one welfare program is
  still 57 percent.
  
• Welfare use tends to be high for both new arrivals and established
  residents. In 2009, 60 percent of households with children headed by an
  immigrant who arrived in 2000 or later used at least one welfare
  program; for households headed by immigrants who arrived before 2000 it
  was 55 percent.
  
• For all households (those with and without children), the use rates
  were 37 percent for households headed by immigrants and 22 percent for
  those headed by natives.
  
• Although most new legal immigrants are barred from using some
  welfare for the first five years, this provision has only a modest
  impact on household use rates because most immigrants have been in the
  United States for longer than five years; the ban only applies to some
  programs; some states provide welfare to new immigrants with their own
  money; by becoming citizens immigrants become eligible for all welfare
  programs; and perhaps most importantly, the U.S.-born children of
  immigrants (including those born to illegal immigrants) are
  automatically awarded American citizenship and are therefore eligible
  for all welfare programs at birth.
  
• The eight major welfare programs examined in this report are SSI
  (Supplemental Security Income for low income elderly and disabled), TANF
  (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families), WIC (Women, Infants, and
  Children food program), free/reduced school lunch, food stamps
  (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), Medicaid (health insurance
  for those with low incomes.

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Special thanks to Judicial Watch's Jill Farrell, director of communications.

Jim Kouri, CPP, formerly Fifth Vice-President, is
currently a Board Member of the National Association of Chiefs of
Police, an editor for ConservativeBase.com, and he's a columnist for
Examiner.com. In addition, he's a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox
News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com). Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington
Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the
1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New
Jersey university and director of security for several major
organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and
trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri
writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police,
Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He's a news writer and
columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and
he's syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. Kouri appears regularly as on-air
commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Fox
News Channel, Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, etc.

To subscribe to Kouri's newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write "Subscription" on the subject line.

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