A friend sent me an email today filled with facts and figures insofar as US tax dollars that support illegal immigrants just in Los Angeles alone. The email subject was ‘Just One State’, and you’ve probably gotten it too at some time or another, since it originated a pretty long time ago. As I’m reading it, I get more and more ticked off — especially in light of today’s challenging economic climate. Right before I forward it to all my friends, I decide to make sure that it’s not just a bunch of crap that someone has made up. You know the drill, you think Paul Harvey REALLY did say it, and you’ll choke on a pea at dinner unless you forward it to 1000 of your closest friends.
I found that in this particular email, some of the statistics were a bit outdated, and some of the data is subject to interpretation (like ALL statistics, right?), but when I think about it as a “whole”, I can’t help but say “wow” in a deep breath to myself. Here’s one reason why:
“Although illegal aliens are not generally eligible to collect public welfare benefits, an illegal alien may receive benefits under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Food Stamps programs on behalf of his or her U.S. citizen child. (Any child born in the United States is considered a U.S. citizen, regardless of the parents’ immigration status.) A 1997 General Accounting Office (GAO) report determined that in 1995 households headed by illegal aliens received a total of $700 million in AFDC benefits and $430 million in Food Stamps.”
For me, this information brings new meaning to Obama’s words in his inauguration speech, “The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works.”