Rick L. Falk: Immigrants dependence of welfare should factor in debate

The U.S. law Immigration and Nationality Act (section 212(a)(4)) forbids the admission of any immigrant likely to depend on public assistance. The Obama administration, like the George W. Bush administration, refuses to enforce the law. What should the next president do?

The Center for Immigration Studies, which favors limiting future levels of immigration, issued a study under the wonky title “Welfare Use by Immigrant and Native Households: An Analysis of Medicaid, Cash, Food, and Housing Programs,” that might just form the basis of a new debate over the number and type of immigrants coming to the United States in years to come.

The study found an immigrant’s home country makes a big difference in whether he or she is likely to use at least one welfare program in a year. “Households headed by immigrants from Central America and Mexico (73 percent), the Caribbean (51 percent), and Africa (48 percent) have the highest overall welfare use,” wrote author Steven Camarota, who reported that 30.2 percent of native Americans used such programs. “Those from East Asia (32 percent), Europe (26 percent), and South Asia (17 percent) have the lowest.”

Hopefully, the upcoming presidential debates will deal objectively with this issue.

This story was originally published September 9, 2015 at 5:19 PM with the headline "Rick L. Falk: Immigrants dependence of welfare should factor in debate."