Do undocumented immigrants really abuse social/medical programs?

Question

A recent quote from the Texas State Comptroller: "Undocumented immigrants produced $1.58 billion in state revenues, which exceeded the $1.16 billion in state services they received."

Texas has no state income tax, so immigrants pay sales and property taxes, along with various state fees.

I'm not advocating any specific view, but you may have noticed that I cited my sources. Most stats compiled in the "War against illegals" has been compiled by partisan groups (on both sides) that skew data, so it would be endlessly useful to cite one's source.

Answer 1

What gets rewarded gets repeated. It’s the system that broken. The United States Congress and the bureaucrats that manage our social and economic resources allow conditions that encourage abuse of the system. We need better governance and oversight of our government and how it behaves. That starts at the ballot box and only ends when decent people cave in to defeatists and self serving bureaucrats.

Answer 2

In Oklahoma, just a couple of years has made a vast difference, and they are draining our social service dollars. Last weekend, an article was in the local paper telling how tax dollars has been made available to fix the teeth of the expectant mother immigrants. In the same paper, it stated there was a drastic decrease in funding of elderly dental care. Our elderly on social security should get their dental pain alleviated before illegals. My sister is a teacher at a school where free breakfasts are available for poor children. No American child gets the free breakfasts, because the school fills up with Mexicans, with mothers driving up in expensive cars, dropping off kids from high school to kindergarten, speaking no English. My daughter is a teacher. Her child became ill, and she had to really worry about her budget to pay the deductible portion of her insurance to take her little one to the doctor. When she arrived at the doctor's office, it was filled with Mexicans who paid nothing at all. Something is really wrong when the workers of America are paying taxes to benefit illegals, when they cannot have the same benefits. All the construction jobs around here are filled by illegals. Americans are suffering. This is wrong.

Answer 3

I had read that and I am pretty sure it did not include schools NOR account for support of children born here of illegals, which are used to support the parent as well, and anchor them here to have more children to be paid for by us. I had a number of rebuttals at the time I read this, and there are much more thorough studies out there. That also counted a gross domestic product rise, even if not a proportional rise to population, as an automatic increase.

Some are getting very rich off of this, no doubt about it. But their children don't go to public schools, Social Security is a tiny fraction of their estate and retirement planning, and they don't use HMO/PPO driven medical services.

Lucky them.

Answer 4

I'm sure that the number of undocumented immigrants that they show is somewhat exaggerated... especially since a year ago they passed a law that you have to prove citizenship... I'm sure that there are still immigrants that abuse social and medical programs... but I'm sure that just as many if not more citizens do the same thing. I know at least 17 or 18 people who abuse the system and I live in a small town... and every single one of them was born and raised in the states. I wish that people in general (not you specifically as your question was broad and open) would quit blaming our country's problems on the immigrants. They are part of the problem but they are not the whole issue.

Answer 5

If they can use fake documents for everything else why would they ignore this package. Worst that can happen is they get turned down or approved. No one can ask if they are illegal or they will get fired. So why people say no illegal aliens does are not in touch with reality

Answer 6

Yes they do.

That quote doesn't say that they haven't used state services. It says that they also generated a lot of state revenue. Considering that they do not deserve state services because they are not here legally, the money they generate doesn't make up for it.

Answer 7

Analysis of the latest Census data indicates Texas’s illegal immigrant population is costing the state’s taxpayers more than $4.7 billion per year for education, medical care and incarceration. Even if the estimated tax contributions of illegal immigrant workers are subtracted, net outlays still amount to more than $3.7 billion per year. The annual fiscal burden amounts to about $725 per Texas household headed by a native-born resident.

It seems someones facts are in dispute.

I live in Arizona
Arizona’s illegal immigrant population is costing the state’s taxpayers about $1.3 billion per year for education, medical care and incarceration. Even if the estimated tax contributions of illegal immigrant workers are subtracted, net outlays still amount to about $1.3 billion per year. The annual fiscal burden borne by Arizonans amounts to more than $700 per household headed by a native-born resident.

Answer 8

Of course they DO!!!! I live in Arizona, and have seen MULTITUDES of illegals abusing our welfare system!!!! They steal people's social security numbers to work, causing these LEGAL Americans numerous problems!!!

In Arizona ALONE, illegals have run up MILLIONS of dollars in UNPAID medical bills!!! They KNOW,that all they have to do is go to the e.r.,and they will receive medical treatment with NO questions asked!! Most of the women are pregnant,OF COURSE, so that when they pop that kid out, the kid is considered a citizen!! Then, the REST of them gets to stay, because the government isn't going to seperate the kid from it's parents.
My state is BROKE because of all these ILLEGAL LEACHES!!!

Answer 9

Geez. So people think that American citizens don't abuse social/medical programs. Wake up!!! Every race gets their fair share. People just get greedy cause they want to be able to get money from the government too. The people that are crying are the ones who don't have a good education, or job.

Answer 10

No they really don't. You can not even get food stamps if you are a legal resident. You have to prove citizenship. I do not know about medical but food stamps and welfare nope!