Welfare use by population was 87% of illegal immigrant households, and 52% of citizens. That’s what I was referring to.
An estimated 49 percent of households headed by legal immigrants used one or more welfare programs in 2012, compared to 30 percent of households headed by natives.
Households headed by legal immigrants have higher use rates than native households overall and for cash programs (14 percent vs. 10 percent), food programs (36 percent vs. 22 percent), and Medicaid (39 percent vs. 23 percent). Use of housing programs is similar.
Legal immigrant households account for three-quarters of all immigrant households accessing one or more welfare programs.
Legal immigrant households are a bigger problem. This was the whole point of the article and the CIS study.