Almost half of households headed by immigrants are on traditional forms of welfare like food stamps, Medicaid, and subsidized housing, a new analysis from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) reveals.
The CIS analysis reviewed data from 2021 to 2025 of the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement, finding that 47 percent of immigrant-headed households in the United States are on one or more traditional forms of welfare.
Compare that to 28 percent of American citizen-headed households that are on one or more traditional forms of welfare — representing a 19 percent gap between welfare use among immigrants and Americans.
“We find that non-citizen households use one or more means-tested programs at substantially higher rates than the U.S.-born in virtually every state,” CIS researchers Steven Camarota and Karen Zeigler note.
In particular, states with large foreign populations see huge welfare use among immigrant-headed households. For instance, in New York, 61 percent of immigrant households are on one or more forms of welfare compared to just 33 percent of households headed by American citizens.
Likewise, 55 percent of immigrant-headed households are on welfare in Massachusetts, as well as 54 percent in California, 53 percent in Arizona, and 50 percent in Maryland.
Center for Immigration Studies
“Although most new legal immigrants and illegal immigrants are barred from accessing most means-tested programs, this analysis, like others going back decades, shows that these restrictions have not prevented a large share of non-citizen-headed households from accessing the welfare system across the country,” CIS’s Camarota and Zeigler write.
Other states, many of which have small foreign populations, see major gaps between immigrants on welfare versus Americans on welfare. In Idaho, for example, while 50 percent of immigrant-headed households are on welfare, half as many American citizen-headed households are on welfare.
Similarly, in Nebraska, 54 percent of immigrant-headed households are on welfare, while just 21 percent of American citizen-headed households.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected].
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