Immigrants Use Less Welfare than Natives
There's a new study out by Alex Nowrasteh looking at immigrant welfare use. It busts some myths.
"Overall, immigrants are less likely to consume welfare benefits and, when they do, they generally consume a lower dollar value of benefits than native-born Americans. Immigrants who meet the eligibility thresholds of age for the entitlement programs or poverty for the means-tested welfare programs generally have lower use rates and consume a lower dollar value relative to native-born Americans.3 The per capita cost of providing welfare to immigrants is substantially less than the per capita cost of providing welfare to native-born Americans."
"The value of welfare benefits that each recipient group consumes by program shows that immigrant adults, including those who are naturalized and who are noncitizens, consume a lower dollar value in every program except for cash assistance"
This study seems fishy. It is based largely on Social Security which is presented to most people as a mandatory retirement program. The amount one receives from social security is affected by the amount one pays in.
For a study to be valid, it would need to compare the amount that people pay into welfare programs through their whole lives and compare that to the amount they receive.
I don't think including SS is unwarranted. In practice it amounts to transferring resources from the young to the old. That is definitely a form of welfare, even if the government also promises to transfer resources to the now-young in the future from the future young.
Interestingly, we have immigrants paying into SS, but collecting from it at lower rates.