Since Donald Trump returned to office last year, his administration has effectively sealed off the border while deporting hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens. But the millions of illegals that remain in the U.S. continue to be a net drain on our economy and resources, according to new research. The report from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) finds that nearly half of all non-citizen households in the U.S. are on welfare. Specifically, 47% of households headed by a non-citizen use at least one form of welfare. When adding in those who receive direct payments from the Earned Income Tax Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit, the number grows to 54% of households getting a public benefit of some sort.
This study measured all non-citizens, including illegal immigrants and lawful permanent residents or green card holders. But the results are similar to another CIS study from three years ago which found 59% of illegal immigrant households receiving welfare benefits. Steven Camarota, research director for CIS, warns these numbers will continue to grow even if we restrict welfare benefits to only U.S. citizens. "The U.S.-born children of non-citizens are all immediately eligible at birth for every single program, and there's no way around that because they're U.S. citizens," he tells KTRH. "So the presence of those citizen children, who number in the multiple millions, render those restrictions largely moot."
President Trump is trying to close that loophole by ending birthright citizenship, but that case is still pending before the Supreme Court.
Another key finding of the study is that most non-citizen households do have a job. However, it is not typically a high-paying job. "It's too simplistic to say well look, these are willing workers so what's the problem," says Camarota. "The problem is low wage workers use an awful lot of social services, and because they are low wage they don't pay much in taxes...so even if they're on the books, it doesn't make much difference."
"If you put it on a bumper sticker, it would be there's a high cost to cheap labor."
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