As the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) run out of funding due to the government shutdown, more data is coming to light about the extent to which immigrants continuously receive such taxpayer-funded benefits.
During an interview with Fox News, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins revealed that the agency has uncovered “thousands and thousands” of cases where individuals have defrauded SNAP and WIC programs.
The revelation was the result of the Agriculture Department asking states to hand over food stamp data to weed out usage by illegal aliens. Rollins said only 29 states complied with the request.
“What this conversation has allowed is a national spotlight on a broken and corrupt program. We found one guy in about six different states getting benefits, we found about 5,000 people who are dead who are still getting benefits,” Rollins said. “It is time to drastically reform this program so that we can make sure that those who are truly needy, truly vulnerable are getting what they need, and the rest of the corruption goes away and we can serve the American taxpayer.”
Last year’s Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), analyzed by the Center for Immigration Studies, shows huge numbers of households headed by immigrants — many with United States-born children — securing SNAP and WIC benefits.
In particular, 47 percent of immigrant households with children under age six receive SNAP or WIC or both. Compare that to just 31 percent of native-born American-headed households with young children receiving the same benefits.
Center for Immigration Studies
“Many immigrants have modest levels of education and low incomes, so suspension of WIC and SNAP will impact a large share of this population,” researchers Steven Camarota and Karen Zeigler write. “This situation also raises important policy questions, including whether it makes sense to have an immigration system that allows in so many people who turn to taxpayers to support their children?” [Emphasis added]
Latin American immigrant-headed households use loads of SNAP and WIC benefits, the analysis shows, as 65 percent of such households are on at least one of the programs while 28 percent are on both programs.
Among all immigrant-headed households with young children in the United States, including those who are naturalized American citizens, 43 percent receive either SNAP or WIC benefits.
“These results indicate that immigrant communities are going to be hard hit if the shutdown continues,” the researchers note. “The results also are a reminder that once low-income immigrants settle in the country, it is very difficult to prevent their use of the welfare system.”
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter here.
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