Hard-working, low-income immigrant families can take a breath of fresh air now that President Donald Trump has expanded a federal rule ending welfare scams for people who are in the country illegally. For too long, Americans have been taken advantage of by non-citizens scamming the system.
Democrats and biased media outlets are already unleashing false propaganda that the Trump Administration is excluding working-class immigrants from lawfully becoming U.S. citizens. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“Through the public charge rule, President Trump’s administration is reinforcing the ideal of self-sufficiency and personal responsibility, ensuring that immigrants are able to support themselves and become successful in America,” acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli said.
The loophole that allowed illegals to penetrate the border and lie around like deadbeats while American taxpayers pay for their lifestyles has acted as a magnet. Liberal extremist Democrats have used the lure of “free stuff” to draw Central Americans to assault the U.S.-Mexico border knowing the life of milk and honey awaits them. The days of milking the system are fast coming to a close, and already thousands of dependent, welfare-bound migrants are being returned to their home country or a suitable third option.
Under the “public charge” rule, the policy was originally used to prevent illegal and dependent migrants from accessing only taxpayer cash benefits such as the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the Supplemental Security Income. But since the 1990s, the federal government has broken up entitlement and assistance programs into sub-groups that did not directly provide cash. The non-cash benefits were used as a backdoor to circumvent the intent of the public charge rule, which was to deliver taxpayer-funded benefits to American citizens only.
Federal immigration guidelines would now take into account whether green card, visa, and other applicants would become “primarily dependent on the government for subsistence.”
Ignoring the fact that welfare programs are paid for on the backs of everyday Americans’ labor, sidestepping the public charge rule emerged as one of the most grotesquely expensive scams in American history. The president has restored the intent and integrity of the rule by rightly applying it to all taxpayer benefits. Even a cursory glance at the enormous amount of wealth being scammed by immigrants is shocking. The following is a 2014 breakdown from the Center for Immigration Studies.
- 63 percent of non-citizen households take some form of tax-funded welfare
- 31 percent of non-citizen households take tax-funded cash
- 45 percent of non-citizen households take tax-funded food programs
- 50 percent of non-citizens enjoy Medicaid paid for by American citizens
In California’s so-called “sanctuary cities,” non-citizens now comprise upwards of 30 percent of the population, and nearly 70 percent are reportedly scamming the welfare system for at least one taxpayer-funded program. That figure is double the number of citizens claiming a government benefit.
Under the Trump Administration’s properly expanded public charge policy, dependency will be weighed as a factor for immigrants applying for legal status. Both illegal immigrants and those who use chain migration loopholes to get into the country are taking federal handouts and not gainfully contributing.
According to recently released data, the long-overdue correction to the public charge rule will reportedly save American taxpayers more than $57.4 billion each year in terms of welfare, crime, and the education of low and unskilled migrants. According to a study released by the National Academies of Science in 2017, taxpayers pony-up $1,600 annually for every single non-citizen each year.
Liberal Democrats are already funneling phony propaganda through the complicit left-leaning media. A statement by Washington state A.G. Bob Ferguson was picked up and quoted by NPR without a shred of supporting evidence.
“The proposed rules would cause extensive injury to our states’ economies and to millions of our states’ residents,” Ferguson stated. “If implemented as proposed, the rules will result in a reduction of total economic output, a drop in workers’ wages, and elimination of jobs in our states.”
Democrats such as Ferguson side with non-citizens, claiming economic calamity each and every time the Trump Administration reins in illegal and dependent immigration. But the facts are that the millions of unskilled illegals in the country have stifled wage growth for struggling families and stolen American jobs. The recent ICE raids in Mississippi demonstrated that companies are willing to hire cheap labor rather than pay American citizens a fair, living wage. Fortunately, the proactive measures taken by the Trump Administration will save taxpayers money and help buoy wages.
