Q&A – What’s the Quality of Life like For Illegal Immigrants?
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
Social: @brianmuddradio
iHeartRadio: Use the Talkback feature – the microphone button on our station’s page in the iHeart app.
Today’s Entry: Hello Brian, my name is Joe. I listen to your show every morning. I just want to know your opinion on why American Citizens like myself have to work harder and pay more for these illegal immigrants to have better lives then us hard working American citizens. My grandparents were immigrants but came to the US Legally. I am sick and tired of these criminal democrats getting away with everything. In the meantime, they are trying to convict President Trump for anything and everything. I have never in my 53 years of life have seen a president ruin this country like Crooked Joe and his Crooked party. Thanks for all the truth you tell the American people who don't understand what's really going on. Even though a lot of them are being brainwashed by the radical left. Thank you and keep up the great work.
Bottom Line: I hear your frustration loud and clear and understand it as well. What you’ve introduced with your note is a dynamic of illegal immigration we’ve not specifically discussed. What the average quality of life is like for the average illegal immigrant and how that compares to the average American. What I have regularly shared is information related to how many illegal immigrants are on government programs and what the cost of facilitating it is to us. Here’s a refresh:
Based on data from the Center for Immigration Studies:
- 63 percent of households headed by a non-citizen use at least one welfare program
- Compared to native households, non-citizen households are more than twice as likely to end up on government assistance
- The longer an illegal immigrant is in the US, the more likely they are to end up on assistance (of households headed by non-citizens in the United States for fewer than 10 years, 50 percent use one or more welfare programs; for those here more than 10 years, the rate is 70 percent)
The programs being exploited run the gambit of welfare programs. Among them...
- Financial welfare
- Housing
- Medicaid
- SNAP
- WIC
- School lunch
The hard cost to the average federal taxpayer last year was $1,156. But what does that translate to in terms of quality-of-life considerations? Last year the Kaiser Family Foundation studied this dynamic by surveying 3,358 immigrants ranging from legal immigrants to illegal immigrants. Unsurprisingly quality of life was lower for those who were undocumented. Quoting the study: Challenges are more pronounced among some groups of immigrants, including those who live in lower-income households, Black and Hispanic immigrants, those who are likely undocumented, and those with limited English proficiency. Among likely undocumented immigrants, seven in ten say they worry they or a family member may be detained or deported, and four in ten say they have avoided things such as talking to the police, applying for a job, or traveling because they didn’t want to draw attention to their or a family member’s immigration status.
Still, with record millions pouring into this country annually due to President Biden’s open border policies you know that the word in the third world is that life is generally much better here. Here’s what KFF found...
- 79% say education opportunity is better
- 78% say their financial situation has improved
- 75% say their employment situation is better
- 65% say they are safer
Altogether 77% cite an improved quality of life. And it’s easy to see why. According to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget, the average household headed by “low-skilled and/or illegal immigrants” now receives $44,800 in government provided benefits annually. That’s independent of income produced by the household. That’s one heck of a head start relative to the average American family trying to may their way in life.
What the data shows is that due to the extensive government provided benefits received by the average non-citizen household, the floor for quality of life is high while the ceiling for earning opportunity often is limited as those lacking legal status seldom see high paying job opportunities. However, that floor is also exponentially higher than the average situation in native countries. For example, in Guatemala the median annual income is $5,350 and that’s one of the highest annual incomes in the region (for example, Venezuela is about half that). It’s hard for even poor Americans to imagine.
So back to what this means to you. As I’ve previously illustrated, the average federal taxpayer pays $1,156 (as of last year) to support illegal immigration in this country. However much additional work you must conduct for that level of net income to be realized is, at a minimum, the direct impact to you. The average full-time salary for a Floridian is $55,980. Net of taxes most people are working about a week and a half a year exclusively to facilitate illegal immigration into this country. In my view your frustration is certainly justified.