Welfare to kids of illegals at $276 million (Los Angeles County)

[AliceInWonderland]

Welfare to kids of illegals at $276 million (Los Angeles County)
Los Angeles Daily News ^ | 04/26/2006 | Troy Anderson


Posted on 05/02/2006 5:20:30 AM PDT by kingattax


Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich said Tuesday that he will tell Congress that close to 100,000 children of illegal immigrants in the county collect $276 million in annual welfare benefits.

Antonovich, who is in Washington with the Board of Supervisors, will meet with congressional representatives and provide information about the impact of illegal immigration on county services.

Antonovich said 98,703 children of 57,458 undocumented parents received Cal-WORKS welfare checks in January, or a total of 156,161 recipients.

"If incorporated into a city, it would be the sixth-largest city in Los Angeles County," Antonovich said in a statement Tuesday. "While legal immigration is a positive influence on our culture and economy ... in public safety, health care and public social services, illegals cost county taxpayers nearly three quarters of a billion dollars a year."

Shirley Christensen, spokeswoman for the Department of Public Social Services, said her office provided the data to Antonovich.

"What I want to make clear is the children we aid are legally eligible to be aided," Christensen said. "They are the children of undocumented parents, but they themselves are not undocumented. They were born in this country."

come amid a debate in Congress and across the nation about illegal immigration.

No reliable studies have been conducted on the economic impact illegal immigrants have on California government budgets, according to a study by the Public Policy Institute of California.

In 2004, the Government Accountability Office concluded there was insufficient information to establish the costs to states of educating illegal immigrant children.

Some in the immigration debate say illegal immigrants are a drain on public coffers. Others say illegal immigrants pay more in taxes than they receive in services.

Illegal immigrants are not eligible for many government services, but they can use the public health care system and their U.S.-born children are eligible for welfare.
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I wonder how much the fat, stupid and lazy legal citizens in the country who make a living sucking off welfare are costing the middle class?!?

[Grimmlok]

Well, those citizens are legally entitled to suck off welfare.. the others aren't.

One has the law on their side, the other doesn't.

*shrug*

I still say illegal immigration isn't fair to those who fight their way through the system fairly, and it lets companies get away with slave labor.

[AliceInWonderland]

then I guess we need Welfare reform; thats been a long known fact for years; welfare is a total joke in this country and its sickening!

[Grimmlok]

The cut and dried solution would be to have them become legal citizens, not just dump welfare on them. There's no way to deport them all (if it were possible, I'd say do it because they're in the country illegally) and letting them suck on the teat of welfare and the health system (basically the same benefits that come with citizenship, that's why we HAVE citizenship in the first place) to the detriment of people there legally is not a solution.

[AliceInWonderland]

Congress needs to raise the federal minimum wage as well! and go after employers abuses.

[Grimmlok]

Most people pay illegals under the table, so that won't do squat. Minimum wage only works for people with a social security number.

[AliceInWonderland]

no not "most" are paid that way; i don't know any figures b/c they're hard to calculate, but all the illegal aliens I know are using SSN's that they bought and get taxes and Social Security taken out their checks; now these are restaurant and hotel workers, not landscapers and nannies who are most likely paid in cash.

and if the minimum wage is raised to a liveable standard than people can afford health care and the like, and not be qualifying at Poverty levels which is where the federal minimum wages leaves you if you're paid that and still work full time.

[ralphycnan]

Or maybe they'll even be able to afford daycare. Someone mention before that their child couldn't get into preschool because of their finances. Try living off of $6.75 and hour, paying rent, buying food, gas, utilities and daycare. Daycare is pretty much over $100.00 a week, that's almost half of their paycheck, pre-tax.

[Grimmlok]

how in the hell do you BUY an SSN. Don't you need to be a citizen?

That's how it works up in Canuckia. You're either a citizen with proof of birth and then the gov issues you card, or you go have fun with the black market to forge one.

[SVZ]

The new line of HP printers makings forgery as easy as a click of a button.

[NoDayButToday]

You can also be provided with a "tax number", it isn't a true social security number, but you better believe they'll still give you an ID number so they can take your taxes.

[AliceInWonderland]

oh you just get hooked up w/ a corrupt lower-level govt. worker or other people who have SSN's available to sell/give; i just saw a story on the news last nite about gvt. workers selling children's ssn's to identity thieves, well illegal aliens use them to secure jobs mostly and utilities for their homes. I know a friend of mine that this happened to where a guy w/ a family used his name (they had the same name) and SSN to get cable at his house and some other shit. Many illegal aliens have a network of friends and acquatanances who help each other out with matters like this.

[Grimmlok]

Wow, freakshow.

This is why a stronger central government is needed

[AliceInWonderland]

I hate govt. but thats only b/c I have major issues with authority of any kind.

[UndercoverGator]

how in the hell do you BUY an SSN. Don't you need to be a citizen?

Very easy. My wallet was snatched in Manassas, Virginia once ten years ago and turned in to the post office only missing the drivers license card and the social security card. Later both turned up in the possession of an illegal who'd apparently purchased them off someone else. They left my charge cards alone, only taking cash and the ID. Thankfully I reported it and person that had my Ids was caught because Social security had flagged my account.