Each year about 6,000 aliens cross into Texas to give birth in El Paso hospitals, making their U.S.-born children citizens who are eligible for federal welfare benefits. Zavala County has the highest percentage of Texas residents receiving Aid to Families With Dependent Children, is third in Texas in the proportion of food stamp recipients and fourth in the percentage of Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries.
Economists see little hope for job creation in the area.
Many may be U.S.-born, but the majority of these students may be assumed to be either immigrants or the children of immigrants. Spanish-speaking students accounted for 90.8 percent of the state's LEP enrolment. Data on enrolment in LEP programs is collected by the federal government from school systems that receive Title VII funds for these special instruction programs. The data on LEP and Non-LEP enrolment are understated because data on enrolment in private schools that do not apply for Title VII assistance are sketchy. In mid-May, the INS rounded up 28 legal immigrants in El Paso who are deportable for criminal felonies.