Rise in public benefits to children of illegal immigrants in L.A. County has supervisor 'very concerned'

Welfare payments to children of illegal immigrants in Los Angeles County increased in July to $52 million, prompting renewed calls from one county supervisor to rein in public benefits to such families.

The payments, made to illegal immigrants for their U.S. citizen children, included $30 million in food stamps and $22 million from the CalWORKS welfare program, according to Los Angeles County figures released Friday by Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.

The new figure represents an increase of $3.7 million from July 2009 and makes up 23% of all county welfare and food stamp assistance, according to county records.

Last year, welfare and food stamp issuances totaled nearly $570 million, an amount projected to exceed $600 million this year. In addition, county taxpayers spend $550 million in public safety -- mostly for jail costs -- and nearly $500 million for healthcare for illegal immigrants, Antonovich said.

“The supervisor is very concerned,” said Antonovich spokesman Tony Bell. “He believes we have an economic catastrophe on our hands.”

Shirley Christensen of the county Department of Public Social Services said the number of households with illegal immigrant parents and U.S. citizen children receiving welfare increased by 7% from January to June of this year.

“With the economy the way it is, a lot of people have had to avail themselves of programs they may not have needed before,” Christensen said. “Everyone is taking a hit, including undocumented immigrants.”

Amid continued economic gloom, debate has intensified over the public cost of providing benefits to illegal immigrants and their U.S. citizen children. In recent months, calls have grown for a constitutional amendment that would effectively deny citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants, whose numbers have increased from 2.7 million in 2003 to 4 million in 2008, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

At present, U.S. citizenship is automatically granted to children born on U.S. soil. Last month, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announced he might introduce a constitutional amendment to deny citizenship to children of illegal immigrants. Antonovich and several legal scholars, however, argue that a federal statute is sufficient to change the law.

But even some immigration hawks are wary of such a move. Steven Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based research organization that supports immigration restrictions, said ending birthright citizenship would hurt children for their parents' misdeeds, require new federal registration systems and create other problems. The ultimate solution, he said, is to continue driving down illegal immigration with tough enforcement.

-- Teresa Watanabe

Comments

[peter]

"A fire that blackened nearly 900 acres in San Diego County was caused by illegal immigrants who were apparently lost and set off a signal fire.
The Campo Fire did not burn any homes or cause injuries. More than 1,300 firefighters battled Friday's blaze."

"Authorities said they were still trying to find those who sparked the blaze. The illegal immigrants had called Mexican officials "and advised them that they had been lost for two days, were stranded, dehydrated and were going to light a signal fire to attempt to get some help,'' Cal Fire spokeswoman Roxanne Provaznik told Fox 5 San Diego. "Investigators from Cal Fire and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service determined that there was evidence near the area of origin [of the blaze] of illegal aliens traveling through that area, which supports this report."

ACLU, pro-illegal- alien activists, sierra club, will blame US border patrol, ICE, DHS for not providing illegals with proper wilderness training/fire prevention manuals and for making it difficult to cross thru US, forcing these 'poor' illegal invaders to start a 'rescue' fire.

[Carlos]

DEMOCRATS SELLING OUT AMERICA TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

The real story is not the brush fire caused by illegal aliens, but the intentional strategy by democrats to flood America with illegal aliens.
Why, these illiterate, unskilled, very poor people will need lots of services:

Title 8 Housing
Title #1 Schools
Welfare
Food Stamps
Medicaid
Phone Subsidies
Electric Subsidies
Gas Subsidies

Democrats promise US Citizenship to illegals so they will vote democrat for the next 100 years.

Democrats selling out their own country!

[Carlos]

REAL COST TO CALIFORNIA FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS?

Rice University did a five year macro economic study and found that the average illegal immigrant is illiterate, unskilled and poor costs taxpayers $20,000 a year for every year they are here, (taxes paid minus services received). That comes to an average of $1 million each, or:

$20 Billion+ per year for California alone!

What is the budget deficit for California $20, Billion!
Yet we have the LA City Council issuing a boycott of ARizona. All these politicians are selling out their own country.

The cost to America every year over $300 billion a year!

WAI TILL YOU SEE TH ETAXES OBAMA WANTS TO PAY FOR THESE
ILLEGAL ALIENS:

Higher Federal Taxes
VAT Tax
Higher State Tax

WAKE UP AMERICA DEMOCRATS ARE SELLING OUT AMERICA!

[Carlos]

DEMOCRATS SELLING OUT AMERICA TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

The real story is not the brush fire caused by illegal aliens, but the intentional strategy by democrats to flood America with illegal aliens.
Why, these illiterate, unskilled, very poor people will need lots of services:

Title 8 Housing
Title #1 Schools
Welfare
Food Stamps
Medicaid
Phone Subsidies
Electric Subsidies
Gas Subsidies

Democrats promise US Citizenship to illegals so they will vote democrat for the next 100 years.

Democrats selling out their own country!

[jayjaycameron]

wow...i posted with the (public) email addresses of city council members but LAT censored it. why? these addresses are on the public website of the LA City Council.

only public outrage and flooding the politicians with calls and emails will give them the backbone to stop this NOW.

this is not a racism issue; it is and always has been a money issue.

[jack]

Being illegal seems to be a very good deal. Somethings got to be done, although changing the 14th Amendment is not the answer. Massive border enforcement, increased financial benefits to Mexico when those kids follow their parents back home- they can always come back as adults. They can be wards of the US residing in Mexico, recieving payments as such to cover education, etc. But the illegal immigrants gotta go, plain and simple. I'm as liberal as the next guy, but not stupidly, or irrationally, so.

[Patrick Goldstein]

Why are no news outlets covering this story?

Really pathetic.

And to "Disgusted Constituent," this IS county business.

[No to Illegal Aliens]

Time for a revolution.

[No to Illegal Aliens]

As my government professor/author told me in the late 90's, it will take the organized revolution of the people to change the US government. The voting polls won't do it. Our government's broken. Revolution anyone?

[No to Illegal Aliens]

A commenter this morning said that eventually workers will have to take to the streets. They already are. But we on the left don't seem to realize that it is the working class that is up in arms and turning out for Tea Party events.

[No to Illegal Aliens]

Illegals are not entitled to our money.

[Collis P Huntington]

It is the responsibility of every American to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) identify, detain and deport illegal immigrants.

[DAN]

Welfare programs need to be abolished completely. It makes no difference to me wether the recipients are white, brown, black, etc. I have to work for a living and so should everyone else. I remember when I was a teller a long time ago and you would have the Armenian, Persian business owners in the jewelry district come in to make deposits and a good number would be welfare checks, some in their own names. ABOLISH WELFARE.

[Bradley Edwards]

These undocumented workers pick the crops that feed America.
The" figures being released" is a smoke screen to cover poor job performance by a Mike Antonivch.

[Jazz]

I agree with the post of two people who said deport the parents and give the parent the choice of leaving their children here to enter the foster system or take them home with them.

We need to stop enabling illegal immigrants. Use some of the welfare money and send them home!!!!

To DISGUSTED CONSTITUENT who posted that Antonovich should worry about County business. You need to work on your reading comprehension. The entire story is about "LOS ANGELES COUNTY" welfare system making payments to illegal immigrant on behalf of their anchor babies.

READ BEFORE YOU POST.

As for CALIHATER, Los Angeles is just a drop in the bucket to what it being paid to illegal immigrants nationwide.

Nationwide, Americans pay around $22 billion annually to provide illegal immigrants with welfare benefits that include food assistance programs such as free school lunches in public schools, food stamps and a nutritional program (known as WIC) for low-income women and their children. Tens of billions more are spent on other social services, medical care, public education and legal costs such as incarceration and public defenders.

SO CALIHATER HOW MUCH OF THAT $22 BILLION DOLLARS IS YOUR STATE PAYING? Remember, Mexicans are not the only illega immigrants in this nation.

Do you know that if an American citizen goes abroad for 6 years and have a child and return to the U.S. that child is not a citizen and would not qualify for welfare benefits?

One parent has to had have to lived in the U.S. within 5 years of the child's birth for that child to be a citizen. Many people have jobs with defense contractors who live in war zones for years and unless they have their children in a U.S. Military hospital their children are not U.S. Citizens and if our laws conflict with the other country's the child is without a country.

Also, if a young woman moves with her parents to another country when she is 12 and marries and has children when she is 18 her child is not a citizen of this country even if she marries another American citizen. (Look at the rules on the U.S. Department of the State website)

Every country in the world does not automatically grant citizenship to people born in their country.

[charles849]

Oh finally it comes to light .Everyone was saying all they wanted was a better life and now it seems they want welfare too what a shock add the untaxed income the undue stress on the educational system not to mention the sewer system,the new prisons, graphiti and gangs yes we can do without them Thank you

[LW]

NO MORE ANCHOR BABIES!!!!!!!

[Steve Richards]

What about the Health Status of Illegal Immigrants ?

For those who are championing work permits that circumvent the immigration processes, they should give serious thought to the impact on public health; particularly for infants and small children, who are not of age to having received their full regiment of vaccinations. Fundamental components of international travel and legal immigration are physicals and immunizations. A Person must provide verifying documentation as a condition of acceptance, that such Person has received all of the immunizations/boosters needed to protect the Citizens of the destination Countries and Their Country of residency upon return.

If, work permits for those who have crossed into this Country illegally were to become a reality, the conditions for having acceptable levels of health and immunization must still apply. These Applicants must also be financially responsible to pay for these examinations, vaccinations or any investigation to verify vaccination and health; just as those who visit (Vacationers, Students and Business Travelers), or Persons who immigrate legally do. The Tax Payer and Public Health Care System cannot be held financially responsible.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are responsible for providing the technical instructions to Civil Surgeons and Panel Physicians who conduct medical examinations for immigration. These instructions are developed in order to implement the Immigration and Nationality Act regulations regarding the health-related grounds for inadmissibility of persons into the U.S..

Health-related grounds for inadmissibility into the U.S. - include persons who have a communicable disease of public health significance, persons who fail to present documentation of having received vaccination against vaccine-preventable diseases, persons who have or have had a physical or mental disorder with associated harmful behavior, or those who are a drug abuser or an addict.

The medical examination procedure consists of a physical examination, an evaluation (skin test/chest x-ray) for tuberculosis, and blood test for syphilis. The vaccination requirements recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

What are the communicable diseases of public health significance that would cause an applicant to fail a medical examination or be inadmissible? Tuberculosis, Syphilis, Chancroid, Gonorrhea, Granuloma, Inguinale, Lymphogranuloma Venereum, Hansen's Disease (Leprosy). And the following two disease categories—(1).Quarantinable diseases designated by any Presidential Executive Order. Current diseases include: cholera, diphtheria, infectious tuberculosis, plague, smallpox, yellow fever, viral hemorrhagic fevers, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and influenza caused by novel or re-emergent influenza (pandemic flu). (2). Reportable public health emergencies of concern to the World Health Organization under the International Health Regulations (currently polio, smallpox, sars, influenza, and other public health emergencies of international concern.) If necessary, CDC can deny ill persons with these diseases entry to the U.S.

Vaccines protect against a disease that has been eliminated or is in the process of being eliminated in the U.S. What vaccines/boosters are required for immigrants in the U.S.? The following vaccine-preventable diseases: mumps, measles, rubella, polio, tetanus and diphtheria toxoids, pertussis, haemophilus influenzae type B, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal disease, varicella, influenza, and pneumococcal pneumonia. Persons already in the U.S. applying for adjustment of status for permanent residency, including refugees, are also required to be assessed for these vaccine-preventable diseases.

The Food Industry is a prime example of how circumventing the immigration process is unsafe behavior. The USDA and Public Health Departments continuously inspect fruits, vegetables and meat products; wholesalers, retailers and restaurateurs - facilities and processing equipment for bacteria and disease. Once accepted, many Food Processors, Marketers and Preparers have Illegal Employees handling these products, who may not have proper immunizations. Are the Employers who hire Illegal Workers willing to pay for these Workers’ physicals and missing immunizations? Or is protecting Their own family’s, workforce, customer’s and community’s health being overlooked for profits.

I am surprised with the near-silence about this subject by Health Care Providers! What incurred cost of treating un-immunized Immigrants and the illnesses that they spread are being transferred to other Patients, Insurance Providers and the Public Health Care System

[kuruc]

ameri kans are the dumbest people in the world! look around you, put down the joint!

[Edge]

And they called us in AZ xenophobes for wanting to enforce the law. I don't blame your average Angelino, you are good people and I still miss you everyday. I blame your leaders for pandering for votes, and who stick you w/ the bill.

[Me]

Let's feed the whole world

[yesenia]

IF THE UNITED STATES HAVE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO SPEND ON WARS WHY NOT TO FEED THE NEEDY CITIZENS OF ITS COUNTRY??? THE U.S.A. IS FULL OF IT!!

[fred garvin]

ARREST AND DEPORT

[Independent from North Carolina where lots of illegals are sucking us dry as well]

Everybody knows this is WRONG! A huge majority of US citizens say NO and hell no! Why is the Federal Govt telling states and municipalities that they have use tax money and go in debt to pay these illegals for anything? It's WRONG and is bankrupting the counties, states -- just like the illegal wars we have had no say in as well.

[lisa]

I have a question in regards to stereotype and It's not a nice one ... If the L.A. Times posts it I'll be shocked ... Here I go .
Unfortunately stereotype exists and comes with some aspect of truth why is it that the phrase " I sell you my mother she's a virgin " been applied to the Hispanic non White culture ? In my mind the phrase comes across as survivalist and based on an idealism that money is earned by any means necessary ... Lie. Cheat, or just come across as stupid ... How did this phrase/stereotype come to be ?