Is California Running A Shadow Welfare System For Illegal Immigrants

The state of California spends billions of state and local tax dollars each year on welfare benefits for illegal immigrants through programs built to sidestep federal restrictions on public assistance, according to a new report from City Journal.

The report estimates that California taxpayers spent at least $11 billion subsidizing illegal immigrants during the last fiscal year. Federal law prohibits states from spending federal money on illegal immigrants, so Sacramento built a shadow welfare system financed with state and local funds and opened it to anyone who walks in. Residents paying the nation’s highest tax rates cover the tab. The pool of potential beneficiaries keeps growing, with more than a quarter of California's residents today foreign-born.

Reporters for the outlet visited four public-services offices across Southern California to see how the system works on the ground. Officials at every stop confirmed that illegal immigrants can sign up for benefits themselves or collect them through their children. Nobody seemed concerned about who might be asking.

The authors described the reception they got from caseworkers in Glendale and Los Angeles, where staff walked them through the eligibility rules for noncitizens.

Local officials were remarkably transparent. In Glendale, we spoke to a welfare officer about California’s Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI), a state-funded alternative to Supplemental Security Income that provides monthly cash assistance to low-income noncitizens who are elderly or disabled.

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Originally reported by ZeroHedge News

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