Apple Pie and Dave:
Space kept me from commenting on illegal immigration in the body of the column, so I will now.
The other major illegal immigration states (AZ, FL, TX, and NM) don’t have welfare utilization rates that are very different from the rest of the US. In fact, TX and FL are way BELOW the national non-Cali average of 1.02%.
Specifically (recipients as of 12/31/07, pop as of 7/1/07):
- AZ — 1.2% (79K, 6.34 mil)
- FL — 0.4% (79K, 18.3 mil)
- TX — 0.4% (128K, 29.3 mil)
- NM — 1.7% (33K, 2.0 mil)
It would take more investigation, but it could be AZ and NM may be as high as they are because of the situations on Indian reservations.
So if it is indeed the case that large numbers of illegals are getting welfare benefits in Cali, it’s because Cali is not taking steps to prevent them from getting on the rolls that other states apparently are.
There is also the fact, which I confirmed late last year, that Cali supplements federal welfare benefits with its own, and is one of few states to do so (maybe the only one?). That changes the equation of whether it’s worth it to get into the workforce in favor of staying at home and doing nothing (or working under the table if you can get away with it).
Keep in mind that we’re only talking about “welfare” (TANF), and not Food Stamps or any other forms of assistance.
I agree that the Federal government has not done its job to keep illegals out.
