Welfare and immigrants: restricting the eligibility of legal immigrants for welfare programs.

Abstract

"The [U.S.] Congress and the Administration are currently proposing to revamp the nation's welfare system. As a result, increasing attention has focused on the participation of legal immigrants in welfare programs. Out of that scrutiny has come a debate about whether legal immigrants should be eligible for public assistance. Several members of Congress have offered proposals that would eliminate or at least seriously curtail the eligibility of legal immigrants for welfare benefits. This paper analyzes the participation rates of legal immigrants in major welfare programs as well as several such proposals."