President Trump’s efforts to crackdown on illegal immigration have proven somewhat successful, and a new report by the Associated Press reveals that fewer illegal immigrants are applying for food stamps for fear they may be deported if their immigration status becomes known.
In its report, the Associated Press takes a rather sympathetic view toward the illegal immigrants who have opted out of the food stamp program “under a president who has made immigration enforcement a priority.” The AP quotes a 52-year-old illegal in New York City who said she dropped a benefit that was supporting her teenage daughter, who is a U.S. citizen thanks to the United States’ “anchor baby” policy, “purely because she was afraid of being in the food stamp program, which requires applicants to state their immigration status.”
But Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, contends it is unfair to put American taxpayers in this position. He observes, “It is an attempted moral blackmail to say, ‘If you Americans don’t give me your money, I can’t stay here and feed my children,’” he said. “Well, it’s your choice. No one made you sneak into the United States.”
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Thus far, the federal government has failed to disincentivize illegal immigration and continues to subsidize undocumented immigrants through social welfare. Under current law, illegal aliens are not eligible to receive food stamps, but their children are, so illegals can apply for benefits for their children, who automatically qualify regardless of how they came to the United States.
However, with deportations up 38 percent under the Trump administration, many illegals are opting to stay under the radar, even if it means going without food stamps.
And while this is good news, as illegal immigrant households have long placed an unfair financial burden on American taxpayers through federal welfare benefits and other costs, the Department of Agriculture assures illegal immigrants that they “will not be deported, denied entry to the country, or denied permanent status because they apply for or receive SNAP benefits” in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Guidance on Non-Citizen Eligibility.
In fact, under the Obama administration, the Department of Agriculture even paid to run advertisements in Mexico that promised food stamps so that illegal aliens could access the benefit when they came to the United States, Breitbart News reports.
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, 51 percent of immigrant-headed households use at least one federal welfare program, in the form of cash assistance, food stamps, housing, or medical care, compared to 30 percent of native households. Immigrant households receive 57 percent more food assistance than native households, according to that study.
Image: U.S. Department of Agriculture
