Illegal immigration is a hot-button issue in the U.S., and much of the rhetoric aimed at strengthening the borders includes claims that undocumented people are receiving government welfare, food stamps and health care. These claims are generally proved to be false as state and federal laws prohibit such taxpayer-supported assistance.
Children born in the U.S. to non-citizen parents are eligible to receive welfare, food stamps and other forms of assistance because, under the U.S. Constitution, they are citizens. This could be the source of much of the condemnation as non-citizen parents, say, make purchases with food stamps on behalf of their citizen children.
Pell grants, which are education grants that the federal government awards based on need and do not have to be paid back, are the government's largest grants. Snopes.com, which debunks Internet hoaxes, reports that one email that has gone around claims to be from a teacher or professor who discovered "non-citizen" students with no intention of ever becoming U.S. citizens were receiving Pell grants. Actually, reports Snopes.com, the government only provides these grants to U.S. citizens and eligible non-citizens.
In the wake of hurricanes, earthquakes or other disasters, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) can provide cash assistance to non-citizen nationals and "Qualified Aliens" (those with green cards). You do not have to be a U.S. citizen or Qualified Alien to receive other short-term, non-cash emergency assistance from FEMA, which directs undocumented immigrants to local and state agencies that may be able to provide various types of cash assistance.
Matthew Lesko, the professorial-looking infomercial star who wears suits covered in question marks and writes books offering tips on where to get free or cheap goods and services, writes in his online newsletter Government Programs for Immigrants and Non-Citizens that non-citizens can apply for U.S. government grants to buy or rehabilitate a house, purchase prescription drugs or cover day care while seeking work. Free legal help for non-citizens can also be obtained through the government, Lesko writes.
Lesko demonstrates how confounding distribution of some government funds to non-citizens can be. "Mohammad Atta, the head of the 9/11 terrorists, was in the country legally and was eligible to walk into a government office in Florida and apply for $650,000 to retrofit a crop duster airplane," Lesko writes. "The government didn't give it to him, but he was eligible."