A recent analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies reveals that households headed by illegal immigrants access welfare benefits at significantly higher rates than those headed by U.S.-born citizens.
This is according to data from the 2022 Survey of Income and Program Participation.
The report, published in December 2023, provides detailed insights into welfare usage patterns across different demographic groups.
The comprehensive study found that 54 percent of households headed by immigrants used one or more major welfare programs, compared to 39 percent for households headed by U.S.-born citizens.
This represents a 15 percentage point difference between the two groups.
The disparity becomes even more pronounced when examining non-citizen households specifically, which showed a 59 percent usage rate, indicating that legal status plays a role in welfare utilization patterns.
The data indicates that immigrant-headed households demonstrate particularly high utilization across multiple benefit categories when compared to their U.S.-born counterparts.
Food program usage reached 36 percent among immigrant households, compared to 25 percent for U.S.-born households, representing an 11 percentage point gap.
Medicaid usage followed a similar pattern, with 37 percent of immigrant households participating versus 25 percent of U.S.-born households, showing a 12 percentage point difference.
The Earned Income Tax