Thread: County Spent Millions on Welfare for Illegal Immig's Amer. C

This is a relatively old article, but I could not locate it in a search.

County spent millions on welfare for illegal immigrants' American children

Stephen Wall, Staff Writer

Posted: 01/18/2010 05:11:43 PM PST

San Bernardino County spent nearly $64 million in state and federal money last year to provide welfare benefits to the American-born children of illegal immigrants.

Illegal immigrants aren't entitled to welfare. But their citizen children are.

Nationwide, one in three immigrant-headed households uses at least one major welfare program, compared with 19 percent of citizen households, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that advocates immigration reduction.

In California, 192,660 citizen children are getting welfare checks passed through their illegal immigrant parents. That costs $546 million a year in state, federal and county funds, officials say.

Some lawmakers say it's an expense California can't afford as the state struggles to close a nearly $20 billion budget gap.

"We should never be giving benefits to people in this country illegally," said state Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga.

County officials provided data from August 2009 to show the funding and number of American-born children of illegal immigrants receiving aid in the CalWORKs and food stamp programs.

Information for all of 2009 was not easily retrievable, officials said, but the August figures are an accurate reflection of a monthly total during the year.

The county's Transitional Assistance Department runs the CalWORKs program, which provides cash aid and services to needy families, as

well as the food stamp program.

The maximum CalWORKs grant for a family of three in the county is $661 per month. The maximum amount of food stamp assistance that a family of three can get is $526 a month.

The American-born children of illegal immigrants made up 15.5 percent of the CalWORKs caseload and 6.5 percent of the food stamp caseload in the county last year.

About 15,000 citizen children of illegal immigrants in the county received either CalWORKs or food stamps in a typical month last year. More than 11,000 used both programs in an average month in 2009, according to county data.

In August, the county spent nearly $3.3 million for CalWORKs and about $2 million for food stamps for the American-born children of illegal immigrants. The two programs totaled nearly $64 million when multiplied over 12 months.

The county contributes roughly $1.7 million a year of its own funds to run the programs, officials say.

"This is a huge burden on our state," said Assemblyman Steve Knight, R-Palmdale, whose district includes Victorville and northwestern San Bernardino County. "Obviously, these kids are U.S. citizens and that's fine. But when you look at it, these parents should have never been here in the first place."

The welfare expenses don't count pregnancy-related services that were provided last year to about 2,350 illegal immigrant women in the county through Medi-Cal, a health-care program for low-income California residents.

The welfare costs also don't include the roughly $11 billion the state spends annually for education, unreimbursed health care and incarceration of illegal immigrant criminals, said Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation of American Immigration Reform, a Washington D.C.-based group that favors strict immigration limits.

"The American people are fed up with illegal aliens depleting our tax dollars by overrunning our schools, our hospitals and our welfare system," said Raymond Herrera, founder and president of We The People California's Crusader, a Claremont-based anti-illegal immigration group.

This month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed a nearly 16 percent grant reduction to CalWORKs caseloads, a move that could save the state almost $590 million.

Dutton said the CalWORKs program has failed.

"I don't think it's done a good job," he said. "People are on it too long. They've become dependent. If the program doesn't work, you need to get rid of it and try something different."

There is a five-year time limit for adults receiving CalWORKs. But children are still entitled to their share of benefits after their parents are cut off.

There is no time limit for the food stamp program.

The county did not have data on the average length of time an illegal immigrant parent with an American-born child receives CalWORKs or food stamps.

Supporters of the CalWORKs program say the proposed cuts would have devastating consequences.

"What they're attempting to do is cripple the future prosperity of our community by denying legal benefits to these American-born children," said Gil Navarro, a member of the San Bernardino County board of education.

"You are creating havoc in the community because now people have to survive in a different way," said Navarro, who is running for a state assembly seat in the June Democratic primary against Assemblywoman Wilmer Amina Carter, D-Rialto. "Hungry people are forced to do things they may not normally do."

Not all illegal immigrants take advantage of public services like welfare that are available to their U.S.-born children.

Freddy Munguia, a 34-year-old illegal immigrant from Honduras, said he won't ask for public assistance for his 2- and 3-year-old American-born daughters.

"I don't want my kids to get any help from the government," said Munguia, a day laborer who came to this country four years ago. "Instead of helping the country, I'm taking away from it."

Critics of illegal immigration call the children "anchor babies" whose citizenship allows their illegal immigrant parents to gain a foothold in this country and receive welfare and other benefits for their kids.

"In some cases, people do come here with the intent of having children in this country because they believe it will work to their advantage," Mehlman said.

Others have a different view.

California could reap an economic boon worth $16 billion by legalizing its 1.8 million Latino illegal immigrant adults, helping fix the state's financial problems, according to a report released last week by the USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration.

"Our immigrants are an asset economically, politically, religiously and culturally," said the Rev. Patricio Guillen, a retired Roman Catholic priest who is executive director of Libreria del Pueblo, a San Bernardino nonprofit that helps immigrants.

http://www.sbsun.com/ci_14217638?source=most_emailed

California could reap an economic boon worth $16 billion by legalizing its 1.8 million Latino illegal immigrant adults, helping fix the state's financial problems, according to a report released last week by the USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration.

Is that so? Please provide facts to back this up. Will their wages suddenly and magically increase? Will they finally get off welfare? Will they begin to pay taxes on what they actually earn or will they still be "too poor" to pay taxes? Will they suddenly stop sending money back to their countries?

Here's the answer: NO, they will not!

We would save way more than $16 billion by deporting them, along with their anchors.

Enforce and deport NOW!

Citizenship for these anchor babies needs to be redefined, as I believe a child should not be granted anything just because of the location of their birth. And as far as being under the jurisdiction of the United States, they are under the jurisdiction of their illegal parents, who owe allegiance to whatever country they slithered in from.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM9uH4Xg ... r_embedded


This will make you sick.

In August, the county spent nearly $3.3 million for CalWORKs and about $2 million for food stamps for the American-born children of illegal immigrants. The two programs totaled nearly $64 million when multiplied over 12 months.

The county contributes roughly $1.7 million a year of its own funds to run the programs, officials say.

"This is a huge burden on our state," said Assemblyman Steve Knight, R-Palmdale, whose district includes Victorville and northwestern San Bernardino County. "Obviously, these kids are U.S. citizens and that's fine. But when you look at it, these parents should have never been here in the first place."

The welfare expenses don't count pregnancy-related services that were provided last year to about 2,350 illegal immigrant women in the county through Medi-Cal, a health-care program for low-income California residents.

Just pathetic! &^%$ criminal!

If pregnant illegal aliens were reported and then deported, a tremendous financial burden would be lifted from this country.

I like the ring of, "Report and Deport". If only it were that was ICE's motto and it were that simple!

But this story offers encouragement:
NE: Pregnant Women Who are Illegal Aliens No Longer Eligible for Medicaid
http://www.alipac.us/article-4854--0-0.html

Quote:
"However, federal officials have told (NE) state leaders that federal law prohibits Medicaid coverage for people who are not documented except for emergency care. That means no prenatal care for pregnant moms."

If this is so, I wonder how they explain the virtual 24-hour-a-day "pre-natal care for expectant illegal alien mothers" industry they run out of Parkland Hospital in Dallas? This is followed by free gifts of Pampers and baby formula (unavailable to U.S. citizen parents whose babies are born there) at taxpayer expense after the little anchor or anchorette arrives. I guess that must be allowed under a separate Texas statute, which was the route the Nebraska legislators were told they would have to go to continue providing it.

Please take action here:

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-186080.html

Study: 25% of LA's Welfare Goes to Undocumented Immigrants

L.A. County Supervisor Mike Antonovich says the county spends more than $1 billion a year on benefits to undocumented immigrants . . .

http://ktla.trb.com/news/ktla-welfare-a ... 1573.story

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-114431

Welfare is a Federal program administered by the County.

The Federal Government writes the rules and the County must give Welfare to whom ever the Federal rules dictate or the County and the State lose the program.

US Welfare System -
The US welfare system includes state aid and federal help through TANF. For those struggling through the hard ... Learn more on the welfare program here.
www.welfareinfo.org/