Are 90% of Middle Eastern refugees on food stamps in the United States?

Question

More than 90 percent of recent refugees from Middle Eastern nations are on food stamps and nearly 70 percent receive cash assistance, according to government data.

According to Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) data highlighted by the immigration subcommittee staff of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)— chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest — in FY 2013, 91.4 percent of Middle Eastern refugees (accepted to the U.S. between 2008-2013) received food stamps, 73.1 percent were on Medicaid or Refugee Medical Assistance and 68.3 percent were on cash welfare.

Are those figures accurate?

score 4 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 31 '17 at 07:51

4

Yes.

The best source of information is OFFICE OF REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS FY 2014.

According to table Table II-22: Public Assistance Utilization by Selected Refugee Groups by Year of Survey:

The percent of Middle East refugees receiving SNAP assistance was:

2014: 89.7
2013: 91.4
2012: 89.2
2011: 87.8
2010: 82.0
2009: 93.1

The data for each survey-year include a five-year window, in other words this is about refugees who have arrived in the past five years.

The table also provides percentages of refugees receiving housing assistance, Medicaid, and "cash assistance".

edited Jan 31 '17 at 07:51

ventsyv

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answered Jan 31 '17 at 00:21

DavePhD

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Should be noted that data over represents new arrivals. – ventsyv Jan 31 '17 at 03:15
Why is Eastern Europe on the table if there's no relevant data? – rootmeanclaire Jan 31 '17 at 23:10
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@ventsyv however it seems that Latin American refugees are 50% less dependent on food stamps, despite the same dataset – JonathanReez Feb 01 '17 at 09:04

Are 90% of Middle Eastern refugees on food stamps in the United States?

1 Answers1