Report Shows 62 Percent of Illegal Alien Households Are On Welfare

Brittany M. Hughes | September 10, 2015
DONATE
Font Size

Photo Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

(Photo Credit: Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

About 62 percent of households headed up by illegal aliens living in the United States are on some form of welfare – more than twice the percentage of households headed up by native-born persons that receive government assistance.

The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) just released a report detailing the amount of welfare used by illegal aliens in the U.S. Using 2012 data, the CIS analysis showed roughly 57 percent of households headed up by an illegal alien received food assistance, and about half had at least one member on Medicaid.

Comparatively, about 30 percent of households under a native-born person in the U.S. receive welfare. About 22 percent of these households get food assistance, and about 23 percent have at least one person on Medicaid.


Graph Credit: Center for Immigration Studies

(Graph Credit: The Center for Immigration Studies)

CIS noted in its study that “illegal immigrant households primarily benefit from food programs and Medicaid through their U.S.-born children.”

The report also noted that about 87 percent of households headed by an illegal alien with children were on some form of government assistance.

Households under illegal aliens are less likely to receive cash welfare (five percent) or housing (four percent), CIS notes. This is likely because these types of welfare programs wouldn’t be as easily obtained through a U.S.-born child.

donate