HOUSTON, Texas — Tens of thousands of Central Americans have entered the country illegally since October 2013; most of them will be likely considered “refugees” and ultimately be allowed to remain in the U.S. Consequently, many of the migrants will receive welfare from the federal government, funded by taxpayers. Health and Human Services (HHS) documents, obtained by Breitbart Texas, show that significant federal funds go towards encouraging refugees to enroll in long term welfare programs, and towards administering such benefits directly.
HHS’ Office of Refugee and Resettlement (ORR) provides funding and grants to various organizations that help refugees collect welfare.
One such organization is ICF International, which claims that it helps foreign refugees develop “partnerships” with federal, state, and community-based programs–“especially related to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.”
TANF is a mammoth federal welfare program that gives cash assistance to needy U.S. families. But refugees can collect the benefits as well. “Refugees qualify for mainstream federal public benefit programs, including TANF,” HHS states on its website.
In 2014 alone, taxpayer shelled out about $17.35 billion on TANF payments.
In addition to promoting TANF assistance, HHS has also rolled out multiple initiatives to encourage foreign refugees to sign up for Obamacare (or the Affordable Care Act, “ACA”). ICF International is also involved in this effort, using tax dollars for the “translation of documents related to the Affordable Care Act into languages commonly spoken by refugees.”
Breitbart Texas obtained an HHS document for Fiscal Year 2014 that further states, “ORR populations are covered by the ACA to the same extent as US citizens.” Many refugees ” will be
able to purchase health insurance through a Marketplace at a discounted price.”
HHS also expands welfare for foreigners through its Matching Grant (MG) program. The program administers “but is not limited to, case management, employment services, maintenance assistance, cash allowance, and administration.” The goal of the MG program is for recipients to become self-sufficient within 120-180 days of program eligibility. But an HHS document reveals that the program is not successful.
During Fiscal Year 2012, 109,073 foreigners received benefits from the MG program–but only 7,903 were self sufficient after 180 days. In other words, only about seven percent of the programs recipients achieved the intended results.
It is easy to imagine that U.S. taxpayers are frustrated that their funds are being spent to provide long term welfare to individuals who entered the country illegally. Further disenchantment may be fueled by the fact that a significant number of U.S. citizens remain homeless and hungry.
So far tens of thousands of Central American immigrants–all of whom entered the country–have been released onto U.S. soil in states around the nation. At this time it is unclear how many of these individuals will be receiving federal welfare after being given refugee status.
Follow Kristin Tate on Twitter @KristinBTate.
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