Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) researchers dug deep into the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) database and found households headed by noncitizens are far more likely to depend on taxpayer-funded social welfare programs than those headed by U.S. citizens.

Focusing on the CPS’s Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC) segment, the researchers examined multiple usage data for multiple means-tested anti-poverty programs and noncitizen-headed households between 2021 and 2025.

“About half of non-citizens are illegal immigrants, with lawful permanent residents making up most of the remaining. 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. This is the case despite restrictions on non-citizens directly receiving some benefits, significant differences across states in non-citizens’ country of birth, and state welfare systems,” the CIS report states.

Program usage was examined by the researchers for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Women, Infants and Children (WIC), free/subsidized school meals, Medicaid, and public/tax-subsidized housing. The CPS database also tracks data for the refundable portion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), involving cash payments to low-wage workers who pay no federal income tax.

Key insights in the report demonstrate an across-the-board trend of higher social welfare program dependence among noncitizen-headed households at virtually every measured level:

• “Compared to the U.S.-born, non-citizen households are much more likely to use one or more traditional welfare programs in 48 states. Adding in EITC/ACTC eligibility, the non-citizen rate is higher in every state.

• “Non-citizen households use one or more traditional welfare programs or have incomes low enough to qualify for the EITC/ACTC or both in all of the states with the largest non-citizen populations. For example, the share is 65 percent in New York, 62 percent in California, 57 percent in Texas, 53 percent in Florida, and 51 percent in both Illinois and New Jersey.

• “In states with larger non-citizen populations, their receipt of traditional welfare and/or EITC/ACTC eligibility exceeds the U.S.-born by the largest margins in Maryland (59 percent for non-citizen vs. 28 percent for the U.S.-born), Arizona (60 percent vs. 30 percent), New York (65 percent vs. 37 percent), and North Carolina (59 percent vs. 33 percent).”

Other findings include the fact that noncitizen households’ welfare program dependence is highest in those states with the most generous benefits. In Massachusetts, for example, 61% of the noncitizen households do so, compared to 36% for citizen-headed households. In Illinois, the comparison is 51% versus 30%. In less generous states like Arizona, the same comparison patterns are seen. In Arizona, the comparison is 60% versus 30%, while in Florida, the numbers are 53% versus 30%.

The programs with the highest usage rates, according to the CIS researchers, are food assistance programs like SNAP and health care programs, chiefly Medicaid. On the other hand, traditional cash welfare programs like TANF and SSI do not produce significant usage rates between noncitizen and citizen households.

Eleven of the 13 states are either deep blue with Democratic voters in big majorities, or states that are deep purple-trending-blue such as North Carolina and Georgia. Two of the nation’s largest red states — Texas and Florida — are also among the 13. The numbers for Texas are 44% to 25%, and for Florida, 39% to 34%.

The CIS report also found that despite the high usage rates for social welfare programs, there are nevertheless many noncitizen households with at least one occupant having a job:

“There is a common misperception that welfare is primarily for those who do not work. In fact, one of the primary goals of the American welfare system is to assist low-wage workers, particularly those with children … The vast majority of households headed by non-citizens in every state have at least one worker. Overall, 87.5 percent of all non-citizen households have at least one worker, as do 70 percent of all native households. But this in no way means that they cannot use means-tested programs.

“Turning first to traditional welfare, 47 percent of non-citizen households with at least one worker use one or more welfare programs; the corresponding figure for working native households is 27 percent. These figures are virtually identical to those for all households, working and non-working. If we add in eligibility for the EITC and ACTC the figures increase to 57 and 34 percent, respectively, for working non-citizens and working U.S.-born households. Again, this is nearly the same as when all households are considered. Non-citizen use of means-tested programs is not explained by an unwillingness to work.”

The authors of the CIS report cautioned that their results should not be misused to paint a picture of chronic laziness among noncitizen-headed households in the U.S:

“Our findings may lead some to think of non-citizens disparagingly as having come to America to exploit the welfare system. But the evidence is pretty clear that most people come to America to work. Non-citizen men in particular have relatively high rates of employment. Moreover, there is no evidence in this data that non-citizens are using fraud to access programs. They are simply accessing programs for which they or their children are eligible at a time when the social stigma surrounding welfare has largely disappeared. It makes more sense to view non-citizens’ heavy reliance on means-tested programs as an unavoidable consequence of not enforcing immigration laws and having a legal immigration system that does not select people based on their skills and likely income.”