illegal immigrants, intruders People who have entered the US as part of the record-breaking migrant crisis are eligible for a range of services, assistance and benefits across a complex network of federal, state and local programs and taxpayer-funded providers.
There were 2.4 million migrant crossings into the US in fiscal year 2023, a new record, and more than 7 million have entered since 2021. While some of them have been turned back or deported, many others have been processed and released into the US. Overall, about 7.3 million migrants have crossed the southern border under President Biden’s watch, according to a report. Fox News Analysis Found earlier this year.
When they arrive at the border, migrants who cannot evade Border Patrol agents and are taken into custody are processed and, if they cannot be removed, are often eventually released into the U.S. with a notice to appear in immigration court — usually several years later due to the sheer number of cases backlogged in the courts, which has currently reached nearly 3.6 million cases.
Migrants left in the interior are currently unable to work legally for six months after filing a claim for asylum, which not all illegal immigrants do. Many have spent thousands of dollars paying smugglers to reach the southern border and so will often have limited resources.
Some people will be able to get help from family members already living in the US, but others will not. As they move into the country, there are many resources available to them that they can turn to for help.
Immigrants wait to be processed by the US Border Patrol after crossing the border from Mexico into Yuma, Arizona, on August 6, 2022. (Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images)
Conservatives have warned that providing such benefits to illegal immigrants is a draw for immigrants and costs American taxpayers.
“Illegal aliens who come to the United States want five things: to enter the United States; to stay here; to work; to send money home; and to bring or settle family here. All of these benefits help illegal aliens stay in the United States, so, yes, these benefits are an attraction factor,” Lora Reiss, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Border Security and Immigration, told Fox News Digital.
He said, “Another benefit that should be added is legal services for civil deportation hearings, a benefit that US citizens do not receive. Given the millions of people coming to the US under the Biden administration, US taxpayers will see significant tax increases to pay for all the services that are given to people who shouldn’t be here. This means Americans will have even less money to spend on gas, groceries, and rent.”
On the border
Migrants are taken to the border Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or those held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody will be cared for and given treatment as needed. In addition to shelter and food, they will also be provided with necessary medical care. When an illegal immigrant held in ICE custody anywhere in the country needs health care, they are usually treated on the spot by medical professionals. However, if specialist or emergency care is needed, they may be taken to an independent private provider. ICE’s Health Services Corps will reimburse providers at Medicare rates.
If migrants are being released, they will often be handed over to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at the border, who will care for the migrants and help them enter the US.
While services and support are being provided by NGOs, in many cases it is being done with the help of federal dollars. In addition to caring for migrants at CBP stations, the federal government is providing hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to NGOs and communities receiving migrants. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), it is providing $640.9 million in fiscal year 2024 through its Shelter and Services program to allow “non-federal entities,” including city governments and NGOs, to recoup expenses incurred from the arrival of migrants they are caring for. Recently, DHS raised the cap for both hotel and airfare to 10 percent of the total funding requested, and allowed NGOs to apply for a waiver to that cap due to operational necessity.
“SSP grants have provided critical assistance to communities receiving migrants, and the need for this assistance continues,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement in September.
The NGOs will help migrants with hotel rooms and travel, which typically includes bus and train tickets but in some cases can also include flights. Some migrants will book their own flights, while others will use bus travel coordinated by the office of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has set up buses to transport migrants to “sanctuary” cities across the US for free.
2023 Government Accountability Office The report found that the Federal Emergency Management Agency provided more than $282 million in humanitarian relief grants to NGOs in fiscal years 2019, 2021, and 2022.
According to that report, services provided to migrants included food, clothing, transportation to airports or bus stations, medical care, legal aid, translation assistance, and assistance with travel bookings. Those nonprofits said migrants generally pay for their own travel. Most of the more than $10 million included in the report was spent on food and shelter (about 58%). The next two categories were per capita expenditures (personal food, shelter, health care) and transportation.
Meanwhile, another DHS pilot program – Case Management Pilot Program — Provides case management and other services to people involved in immigration removal proceedings. Services include mental health services, school enrollment, legal aid, “cultural orientation programs” and connections to social services — as well as human trafficking investigations and departure planning for people being deported.
state, local level
When migrants arrive at destinations across the country, what they can find varies. Many “sanctuary” cities will offer shelter to migrants as part of their broader safety net, and some have special programs for migrants to help them build a life in the U.S. Some of those cities have still tried to limit the length of time they can stay, with New York City and Chicago earlier this year limiting stays for families to 60 days due to ongoing capacity problems.
In Denver, immigrants can enroll in a program that provides “housing assistance options” for up to six months, as well as pre-work authorization readiness training, case management, language instruction, career pathway exploration, and “work-based learning opportunities.”
If an expat moves to New York City, he or she can get a prepaid debit card. A pilot program there includes $53 million Families with two children are being given $350 a week to spend. The cards can only be used at grocery stores, bodegas and convenience stores and migrants must promise to spend it only on food and baby supplies. Officials there said they would like to see the program expanded to all migrant families currently staying in hotels. A family of four could be given about $1,000 a month, or $35 a day for food, the New York Post reports. The cards are refilled every 28 days.
New York State also offers state-funded Medicaid coverage to individuals age 65 and older, regardless of their immigration status.
Asylum seekers line up in front of the historic Roosevelt Hotel, which has been converted into a city-run shelter for newly arrived migrant families in New York City. (Selcuk Akar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
New York City has also offered migrants one-way plane tickets, including “Re-Ticketing Centre” Tickets for migrants were opened last year, with a spokesperson saying the city would “redouble efforts to purchase tickets for migrants” who want to travel elsewhere.
In California, this is the first year illegal immigrants are eligible for Cal-Health. Since 2019, illegal immigrants have been allowed to receive free health insurance if they are under the age of 26, but in 2024 eligibility was expanded to include residents between the ages of 26 and 49.
“In California, we believe everyone deserves access to quality, affordable health care coverage — regardless of their income or immigration status,” Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said in a statement.
In Washington, D.C., illegal immigrants can obtain health coverage through the long-running Healthcare Alliance program. In Oregon, the Cover All People Act provided state-funded healthcare coverage to all low-income adults who were not eligible because of their immigration status. A similar effort has been made to extend state-funded health insurance to illegal immigrant children In Virginia,
Some cities and states will also provide assistance with illegal immigrants’ legal costs. In Chicago, the Legal Defense Fund was established in 2017 and is funded by taxpayers through partnerships with the city government and NGOs to provide “community-based outreach, education, legal counsel, and in-court representation for thousands of immigrants each year”.
Federal Level
Generally, illegal immigrants cannot receive federal benefits, including for new immigrants. However, they can receive some benefits on behalf of their children if they are U.S. citizens. They are also eligible for emergency medical treatment under Medicaid if they otherwise meet eligibility requirements. There are also a number of emergency nutrition assistance programs they may be eligible for, including the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children and the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
Additionally, the Biden administration has proposed allowing illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children and those eligible for protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to apply for Obamacare.
Additionally, if millions of illegal immigrants were given a path to citizenship, they would stand to reap a number of additional benefits. In early 2021, the Biden administration proposed a sweeping immigration reform bill that would grant amnesty and a path to first green cards and then eventually citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants already living in the country — though in its current form it would not apply to anyone who entered the U.S. after 2021. That legislation was rejected in the face of significant Republican opposition, but the Biden administration has repeatedly touted the bill as an example of comprehensive immigration reform they believe will fix the “broken” immigration system.
