Immigration, Legal Status, and Public Aid Magnets

Legal and illegal immigrants are concentrated in U.S. border states. This paper asks to what extent geographic clustering is attributable to differences in state-provided public aid. California has been shown to have a disproportionate number of legal immigrant welfare users, but little evidence exists concerning illegal persons. Illegal immigrants may collect welfare benefits on behalf of legal children or by using false documents, and legal status verification is often unnecessary for education or public medical services. Evidence from a nationally-representative farmworker survey featuring direct legal status data does not support welfare migration for any immigrant group. Conversely, U.S. Census data on immigrants in industries with lower illegal concentrations are consistent with a welfare migration story, even after the 1996 federal welfare reform. Additional analysis of the locational choices of farmworkers reveals that personal and social networks are primary determinants of state choice and border enforcement is a deterrent; however, welfare benefit levels and education program values are uncorrelated with settlement patterns.