Myth-Busting Florida Report Sheds New Light On Latino Immigration

“Produced by FIU’s Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy, the report sheds new light on the impact of the immigrant population on the state, according to Emily Eisenhauer, one of its authors. The report uses data obtained from the US Census Bureau, and includes figures on both legal and illegal immigrants. The USCB estimates that Florida’s illegal population is somewhere between 850,000 and 1,000,000. The state’s total population currently is approximately 18,100,000.

Contrary to popular myths about immigrants, the study found that “ Immigrants contribute significantly to state and federal coffers but receive fewer government benefits than native-born individuals. Immigrants, legal and illegal, receive on average $1,619 per capita in public assistance like Social Security, food stamps and welfare, while non-immigrants average $2,217 annually.

The imbalance goes up when Medicare and Medicaid are factored in: Immigrants get $3,256 in health benefits on average, compared to nonimmigrants, who average $3,873.42. Some reasons for the gap, said Eisenhauer: Undocumented immigrants are ineligible for some programs, and others may have difficulty obtaining social services.””

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