Non-Citizen Use of Welfare by Region and Country of Birth
High levels driven by lack of education, not unwillingness to work
By Steven A. Camarota and Karen Zeigler on March 18, 2026
This report uses the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC) to examine welfare use (means-tested anti-poverty programs) for households headed by non-citizens in the U.S. by country and region of birth. Non-citizens in the CPS ASEC are primarily lawful permanent residents and illegal immigrants. The CPS ASEC provides the most detailed information on welfare use by country of birth of any government survey, which is the focus of this analysis. We find that use of means-tested programs is high for non-citizens from many sending countries and regions. We also find significant variation in program use across countries that is closely linked to educational attainment.
Among the findings:
Of households headed by non-citizens, 47 percent use one or more traditional welfare programs. This rises to 54 percent when eligibility for payments from the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or the Additional Child Tax Credit are added. The corresponding figures for U.S.-born households are 28 percent and 31 percent.
Major means-tested anti-poverty programs include traditional welfare: TANF, SSI, SNAP, WIC, free/subsided school meals, Medicaid, and public/subsidized housing. The CPS ASEC also calculates eligibility for the “refundable” portion of the EITC or ACTC — cash payments to low-wage workers who pay no federal income tax.
Restrictions on non-citizen access to welfare have only a modest impact on overall use rates, primarily because: 1) non-citizens can receive benefits on behalf of U.S.-born children; 2) the bar does not apply to all non-citizens or all programs, nor does it apply to non-citizen children in some cases; 3) most legal immigrants have lived here long enough to qualify for welfare; 4) some states provide welfare to otherwise ineligible immigrants on their own.
By sending region, non-citizen households that are most likely to use traditional welfare or have incomes low enough to qualify for the EITC/ACTC, or both, are from Central America (74 percent), the Caribbean (65 percent), South America (53 percent), the Middle East (51 percent), and Sub-Saharan Africa (46 percent). Non-citizens with the lowest percentages are from East Aisa (38 percent), Europe (34 percent), and South Asia (19 percent).
Among the top sending countries, non-citizen households that are most likely to use traditional welfare or have incomes low enough to qualify for the EITC/ACTC, or both, are those from Afghanistan (87 percent), Dominican Republic (78 percent), Guatemala (77 percent), Honduras (75 percent), and Mexico (67 percent). Percentages are lowest for non-citizens from Korea (30 percent), United Kingdom (25 percent), Canada (21 percent), and India (16 percent).
Heavy non-citizen use of means-tested programs is not explained by an unwillingness to work. Most are employed, but the relatively low education level of many and the resulting low incomes means they or their U.S.-born children often receive traditional welfare and/or are income-eligible for the EITC and ACTC.
If we look at only non-citizen households with at least one worker, 46 percent use traditional welfare. The number rises to 53 percent when those who are income eligible for EITC/ACTC payments are added in. The corresponding figures for households headed by the U.S.-born are 27 and 31 percent.
When non-citizens are grouped by country, there is a strong negative correlation between years of schooling and use of traditional welfare and/or eligibility for the EITC/ACTC or both (r = -83). Further, a one-year increase in a country’s average years of schooling is associated with nearly a seven percentage-point decrease in benefits use or eligibility.
https://cis.org/Report/NonCitizen-Use-Welfare-Region-and-Country-Birth
