Some proponents of comprehensive immigration reform (including amnesty) are trying to find support for their position in Heritage Foundation papers from long ago. In the first paper they point to, from March 2006, Heritage rejected amnesty but also considered the economic effects of immigration. Since that time, there are two …
According to the Boston Herald and other news sources, the family of the Boston Marathon bombers received large amounts of welfare benefits. This calls attention to the policy principle that immigrants should be net contributors to the government and society and should not be a fiscal burden on American society. …
Across the country, states are courting participants for food stamps (now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP). The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) even has a webpage dedicated to helping states create “SNAP Outreach Plans.” The argument from the USDA is that “Food Stamps Make America Stronger” …
Our nation is going broke, and now is not the time to increase burdens on American families. The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744)—commonly called the “Gang of Eight bill” after the eight Senators who came up with it, Charles Schumer (D-NY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Robert …
In discussing comprehensive immigration reform in recent days, some commentators have discussed The Heritage Foundation’s previous and anticipated work looking at the costs of unlawful immigration and amnesty. Heritage’s Robert Rector, who helped spearhead welfare reform in the 1990s and is one of the nation’s top experts on government assistance …
Most Americans believe “work is the best solution for poverty,” according to a recent Rasmussen Report. A full 80 percent of Americans agree with this statement (9 percent disagree and 11 percent are undecided). Using work to fight poverty was the driving force behind the welfare reforms of 1996. Temporary …
According to a statement by the Obama Administration in March, a House bill that reinforces the welfare work requirements of the 1996 reform act equates to an “unnecessary bar to innovative welfare-to-work strategies.” What are these “innovative” strategies? Last year, the Obama Administration simply waived compliance with the already lenient …
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported last week that even with improvements in the economy, food stamp participation rates have reached all-time highs. Since 2008, enrollment has increased by 70 percent, reaching a record 47.8 million this past December. Funding for the food stamp program—or, as it’s now called the …
