Arizona Migrant Households Use Welfare at High Rate, Report Says

Arizona Republic: A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that wants to restrict immigration, says that immigrant households with children in Arizona use welfare programs at a higher rate than in any other state. Sixty-two percent of immigrant households with children in Arizona use at least one welfare program, edging out Texas, California and New York, all with about 61 percent, said the report, based on census data for 2009. In comparison, nearly 39 percent of native households with children in Arizona use at least one welfare program, said the report, which drew criticism from some immigrant-and children's-advocacy organizations for making what they said were unequal comparisons. Nationwide, the report found that immigrant households with children use welfare programs much more often than native households with children, 57 percent compared with 39 percent. The report also found that households headed by illegal immigrants used welfare programs more often than households headed by legal immigrants, 71 percent compared with 52 percent.