Thread: Immigration and Welfare

Facts, Figures
Sylvia Cochran – 1 hr 28 mins ago

"'Public charge' has been part of U.S. immigration law for more than 100 years as a ground of inadmissibility and deportation." (1999 USCIS Fact Sheet http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/public_cfs.pdf )

There is a general consensus that illegal aliens are costing taxpayers quite a bit of money when it comes to welfare and social services. How much of this allegation is an urban myth and how much is cold, hard reality?

Citing the Census Bureau's "Income, Poverty and Health Insurance in the United States: 2008," the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) finds that 17.8 percent of immigrant households fall below the poverty line. This figure is remarkably high when compared to the 12.6 percent of American-born householders.

Overall, the U.S. allocates approximately $11 billion to $22 billion per year for indigent immigrants via myriad social services.

Faithful readers will remember that we mulled over the possibility that immigrants may actually hold the key to the national debt problem just last year. Against that particular backdrop the question of the "public charge" determination arose; this particular immigration hurdle is supposed to weed out lawful immigrants without a means of support.

Yet if FAIR is to be believed, there are still plenty of immigrants who receive public assistance. How is this possible?

First and foremost, there is the Immigration and Nationality Act's §237A(5), which specifies that deportation is not likely if the public charge determination a) occurs after five years of entry or b) results from life situations arising after entering the United States.

The initially quoted fact sheet explains that "instances of deportation on public charge grounds have been very rare." To parse the terminology even further -- and add to the confusion -- there is the demarcation between cash and non-cash benefits.

Cash benefits are considered the litmus test of a public charge determination, while noncash benefits do not mark the immigrant for deportation. Such noncash benefits include food stamps, child care services and participation in the school lunch program, energy assistance, WIC, job training and also housing assistance, such as Section Eight.

These are benefits available to permanent residents, refugees, asylum filers and also immigrants from Cuba or Haiti. There is also the possibility for illegal aliens to obtain welfare. It is at this juncture that the so-called anchor baby debate heats up.

While illegal immigrants are barred from receiving the majority of benefits, children born on American soil are citizens, and undocumented immigrants may file for benefits on behalf of their minor children. (Illegal) immigration advocacy groups specifically state that "when applying, be clear that you are applying only for your children, and not for yourself." In addition, the parent should withhold any mention of her or his own immigration status. In so doing, the undocumented immigrant does not jeopardize future possibilities of a proper green card qualification.

It is this welfare and benefits do-si-do that might just explain the $10 billion figure the Center for Immigration Studies apportions to the federal cost of welcoming illegal immigrants. It is questionable if immigration reform with the oft-mentioned pathway to citizenship can put a damper on the expenditures: the agency estimates that an amnesty would actually raise the expected expense to $29 billion.

Sylvia Cochran offers an insider's perspective of the American immigration system. Having gone through the steps of becoming a citizen -- and currently living in a border state -- she brings hands-on familiarity with hot-button issues to the table.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110126/...acts_figures_1