About 11 percent of non-citizens have incomes less than 50 percent of the poverty line, compared to six percent of citizens. Refugees and elderly immigrants are more likely to receive cash and non-cash assistance than other immigrants. Five percent of AFDC recipients are immigrants, whereas 18.9 percent of aged SSI recipients are immigrants. Immigrant use of welfare appears to correlate with national origin. There is no reputable evidence that prospective immigrants are drawn to the U.S. because of its public assistance programs.
Most researchers believe that few undocumented immigrants illegally use public assistance programs.
However, the data are scarce, and firm conclusions cannot be drawn. Last month's enactment of the welfare bill highlights the political importance of immigrant use of public assistance, the topic of this inaugural issue of Research Perspectives on Migration . The bill dramatically curtails most non-citizens' access to the major welfare programs. Criticized even by the President for denying immigrants access to a necessary safety net, the bill nevertheless won broad support in Congress as a way of reducing public assistance costs and ensuring immigrant self-sufficiency. Its effects, whether for good or ill, are a matter of considerable controversy, but both detractors and supporters of the new law agree that its immigrant provisions are unprecedented in scope, collectively redefining what it means to be a member of U.S. society.