Illegal Immigrants To Be Hit Hard As SNAP and WIC Benefits Expire

Federal funding for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition program and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also called food stamps, runs out on Saturday due to the government shutdown. The funding cut-off will hit illegal immigrants hard. The Center’s 2023 analysis of government survey data shows households headed by illegal immigrants make extensive use of the welfare system, particularly food assistance programs.

Among our prior findings:

• Of households headed by illegal immigrants, CIS estimated that 59 percent use one or more welfare programs — cash, food assistance, Medicaid, or housing.
• Illegal immigrant households have especially high use of food programs, with 48 percent enrolled in one or more of these programs — SNAP, WIC, or school lunch/breakfast.
• In particular, our analysis found that 17 percent of illegal immigrant households used SNAP.
• In addition to food programs, 18 percent of illegal immigrant households were enrolled in one of the cash programs; 4 percent were using a housing program; and 39 percent used Medicaid.
• Illegal immigrants often receive welfare on behalf of U.S.-born children, and illegal immigrant children can receive school lunch/breakfast and WIC directly. Some states provide Medicaid to illegal immigrants, and a few offer SNAP. Several million illegal immigrants also have been issued Social Security numbers allowing them to receive cash payments from the earned income tax credit if they work.
• Many immigrants have modest levels of education and low incomes, so suspension of WIC and SNAP will impact a large share of this population. But this situation 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.