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By By Peter Malbin  From Newsmax

A new study on immigration indicates that 59% of undocumented people living in the U.S. used one major welfare program. That compares to 39% for U.S.-born households.

An analysis conducted by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) reveals that immigrants have especially high use of food programs (36% vs. 25% for the U.S.-born), Medicaid (37% vs. 25% for the U.S.-born), and the Earned Income Tax Credit (16% vs. 12% for the U.S.-born).

Illegal immigrants can receive welfare on behalf of U.S.-born children, and illegal immigrant children can receive school lunch/breakfast and WIC directly. Some states provide Medicaid to some illegal adults and children, and a few provide SNAP. Several million illegal immigrants also have work authorization (e.g. DACA, TPS, and some asylum applicants) allowing receipt of the EITC.

The high welfare use of immigrant households is not explained by an unwillingness to work, the CIS analysis states: “Immigrants’ higher welfare use relative to the U.S.-born is partly explained by the larger share with modest education levels, their resulting lower incomes, and the greater percentage of immigrant households with children.”

The U.S. welfare system is designed in large part to help low-income families with children, which describes a large share of immigrants, CIS researchers Steven Camarota and Karen Zeigler note.

The use of taxpayer-funded welfare among undocumented immigrants as well as legal immigrants is significant as the nation’s foreign-born population hits new record highs under President Joe Biden.

CIS researchers last month revealed that 49.5 million foreign-born residents now live across the U.S., compared to 9.7 million in 1960.

The foreign-born population has increased by 4.5 million since January 2021.

CIS survey analysts state that immigrant welfare dependence means that current immigration is unlikely to improve the fiscal picture of the government.

Some states argue that even providing limited services to unauthorized migrants comes with a price tag, CBS News reported. Texas, for example, claims that its taxpayers spend $850 million annually owing to migrants who cross the border without proper documentation. 

Texas officials say their biggest costs stem from providing healthcare services to unauthorized migrants, CBS reported.

“Public hospitals pay as much as $717 million each year for uncompensated care for this group, while emergency Medicaid covers as much as $90 million in costs, according to the state,” according to CBS.

The CIS report concludes: “If we wish to avoid high use of welfare by the foreign-born in the future, then moving to a system that selects immigrants based on their education or skills would likely be the most effective way of doing so. Since about one-fifth of all immigrant households using welfare are headed by an illegal immigrant, enforcing immigration laws, and reducing the size of the illegal immigrant population would also be helpful in lowering future immigrant welfare use.”

The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit research organization founded in 1985. It is the nation’s only think tank devoted exclusively to research and policy analysis of the economic, social, demographic, fiscal, and other impacts of immigration on the U.S.

Peter Malbin | [email protected]

Peter Malbin, a Newsmax writer, covers news and politics. He has 30 years of news experience, including for the New York Times, New York Post and Newsweek.com. 

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