In fact, just the opposite is generally true. Only refugees and elderly immigrants are more likely to receive welfare than natives. Working-age immigrants who have been in the United States for more than 10 years are less likely to receive welfare than natives, according to a 1998 Urban Institute study. Moreover, given that recent welfare rules enacted by Congress in 1996 will make newly-arriving immigrants ineligible for most welfare benefits, the net fiscal benefit of future immigrants will be higher than it is today. Of course, the value of immigrants is not primarily measured by the dollar calculation of their fiscal impact.
Immigrants contribute to America in many ways other than the size of their tax payments.
It is also worth emphasizing that many of the immigrants who have made the greatest contributions to our society in recent times came to the United States without the characteristics that often presage success. Andrew Grove, co-founder of Intel, and his family came to America as refugees with no money, no skills, and no special prospects for greatness. Probably no economist would have predicted the greatness he achieved. Just as with natives, it is impossible to predict with great accuracy who will succeed and who will fail in American society. Overall, the research findings cited in this report suggest, first, that the American economy is greatly enriched by immigrants of all educational levels and ethnicities and, second, that immigrants are a fiscal bargain for American taxpayers.