The Center for Immigration Studies released a new study showing that households headed by an immigrant uses on average around $6,234 in welfare benefits, a 41% increase compared to households headed by a native. The study used information from the Census Bureau’s 2012 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), which is a survey used by the government that provides the most accurate picture of welfare utilization.
CIS’s Executive Director, Mark Krikorian, explained that, “Immigrants are such heavy users of welfare not because they don’t work, but because, on average, they have little education and thus earn low wages. If we continue to permit large numbers of less-educated people to move here from abroad, we have to accept that there will be huge and ongoing costs to taxpayers.”
The CIS study also found that:
- The average immigrant household (legal or illegal) consumes 33% more in cash welfare, 57% more in food assistance, and 44% more in Medicaid dollars than native households.
- Illegal immigrant households cost an average of $5,692 (collected largely on behalf of their U.S.- born children) while legal immigrant households cost taxpayers around $6,378 per year.
You can read the full report at CIS.org.
