A new Brookings study finds that non-citizens use less public support programs than U.S. citizens, despite being disproportionately more low income.
The study looked at programs like Supplemental Security Income, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Medicaid. Programs were divided into two categories based on eligibility, since some programs are determined by individual income and household income.
Of the individual programs, immigrants used less Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) assistance than U.S. citizens.
According to researchers Tara Watson and Sasha Snyder, immigrants likely received more reduced-price or free lunch because there is an “absence of eligibility restrictions for school lunch.”
This study debunks the claim often used by President Trump and many Republican party officials that immigrants are rampantly using welfare at the expense of the American people.
“Somalians, illegals, and even legal immigrants are getting free handouts at the expense of American taxpayers. That is insane, it is immoral, and it must stop,” Congressman Randy Fine once stated. “Hardworking Americans should not be paying for non-citizens’ healthcare, free housing, food stamps, Medicaid, or anything else for that matter.”
New data shows this is not the case.
The study also found households with at least one immigrant used higher rates of SNAP, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and housing vouchers at slightly higher rates than U.S. citizens.
Households with all U.S. citizens used more Earned Income Tax Credit than households with one or more immigrants.
The Trump administration continues to crackdown on government assistance programs for both citizens and noncitizens, despite data showing fraud is not as widespread as the administration claims.
The results come from a Brookings Institute study that looked at the 2023 American Community Survey data, which was gathered and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.
