Instagram and Twitter are abuzz with complaints about how the government shutdown is cutting SNAP benefits, and children in the U.S. are going hungry. Liberals blame Republicans for the shutdown and claim Republicans don’t care about Americans.
Of course, liberals omit the fact that the shutdown happened because Democrats refused to cut funding for illegal aliens. And as for children “going hungry,” only about 4 percent of American households face what’s called “food insecurity,” which is not the same as hunger. These households already qualify for federal assistance programs. In reality, there is almost no true hunger in the United States.
If Democrats are truly concerned about these people, they shouldn’t have allowed the government to shut down.
Moving from logic to data, liberal media claim that 89.4 percent of SNAP recipients are U.S.-born citizens and less than 11 percent are foreign-born, including 6.2 percent naturalized citizens, 1.1 percent refugees, and 3.3 percent other non-citizens (such as lawful permanent residents). Therefore, they say, Republicans are wrong to argue that benefits are going to illegals.
However, with statistics you must ask the right questions to get the right answers. The issue isn’t just individual recipients; it’s households. Illegal-alien parents can and do use their U.S.-born citizen children to qualify for benefits, and the numbers are staggering.
More than half of all illegal-immigrant households have at least one U.S.-born child through whom they can receive aid. Nearly 2.7 million households have at least one illegal head and one child, and more than 5.3 million U.S.-born children of illegal aliens hold Social Security numbers. The total estimated cost to American taxpayers of providing SNAP benefits to the children of illegal aliens is almost $5.8 billion.
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, data from the 2022 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) indicates that 54 percent of households headed by immigrants—including naturalized citizens, legal residents, and illegal immigrants, used one or more major welfare programs.
By comparison, 39 percent of U.S.-born households received such benefits. Among non-citizens, the rate rises to 59 percent, and for illegal immigrants, an estimated 59 percent use at least one welfare program. The American Enterprise Institute further reports that 59.4 percent of illegal-immigrant households receive welfare benefits, and compared to the U.S.-born, illegal-headed households use every major program at statistically higher rates, except for SSI, TANF, and housing.
At the start of 2023, the net cost of illegal immigration to the United States at the federal, state, and local levels was estimated at $150.7 billion. The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) reported that federal expenditures on illegal aliens alone totaled nearly $66.5 billion, including more than $23 billion in medical expenses and $11.6 billion in welfare benefits such as food stamps, child nutrition, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
An example of how disastrous federal, state, and local policies can converge into a perfect storm of benefits for migrants and illegal aliens is, of course, New York City, the city that may soon be run by a democratic socialist, Zohran Mamdani, who currently leads in the polls.
Biden’s 2021 American Rescue Plan provided states with $350 billion in flexible federal funds, which some states used to give unemployment payments to illegal immigrants. New York created a $2.1 billion program for illegal immigrants, paying benefits to 290,000 people who received the equivalent of $3,000 per week. This compensation was intended for those who lost their jobs during the pandemic, even though they were working illegally without a work permit.
Through September 30, 2025, New York City recorded migrant-related expenditures of $1.47 billion in FY 2023, $3.75 billion in FY 2024, $3.02 billion in FY 2025, and $498.7 million projected for FY 2026. Over a six-month period, the city distributed debit cards to more than 7,300 migrants at a total cost of $2.6 million.
Each card was loaded with $12.52 per person per day for 28 days. The $53 million contract with Mobility Capital Finance included $1.5 million in fees for the first $50 million distributed and $2.5 million for the next $100 million.
In May 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul’s administration quietly changed the state’s Safety Net Assistance eligibility rules to allow non-citizens with pending asylum applications to receive benefits. This made thousands of migrants eligible for cash payments.
Asylum-seekers can now submit their receipt notice to qualify for cash assistance of $180 per person per month, available for up to two years, along with non-cash benefits such as utility and housing vouchers, Fair Fares, and Medicaid. Approximately 7,400 migrant and refugee households in the city currently benefit from the Safety Net Assistance program, making up roughly 4 percent of all city cases.
Additional programs also provide support regardless of immigration status. NYC Care offers low-cost or free health care to residents who do not qualify for or cannot afford health insurance. Other available services include emergency Medicaid for urgent medical needs, free K-12 public school enrollment, free school meals, ESL classes, food pantries, and mental health services.
Conservatives sometimes make the mistake of saying they don’t want welfare going to illegal aliens. At that point, liberals are partly justified in responding that welfare doesn’t go to illegals, or that only a small portion does. However, many other benefits do flow to illegal aliens or reach them through their U.S.-born children. In reality, we should replace the word receive with benefit from, and replace welfare with taxpayer-funded benefits.
When we consider all benefits, including local, state, and federal taxpayer money spent on education, emergency medical care, and other services beyond traditional welfare programs, the true cost to U.S. taxpayers is roughly $150 billion.
During the government shutdown, President Trump has ordered several departments to conduct citizenship audits to ensure that benefits are only going to those legally in the country. Thanks to the Democrats, the flow of funds has been halted while the audits continue.
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