Look, I could be wrong too, but this is what I learned from someone who knew what was going on.
We knew of two people in the mid 1900s, a man and a woman husband wife.
One of them explained what programs they were on. Housing, cash, food, medical care...
We figured out their income and they were making more than we were, two of us working full time at decent wages.
I believe they were going to school also, so that was probably on the public dime some way also.
These people seem to know every angle in the book, even if they are new to the country.
I went to take some classes at our local community college.
While I was standing in line, the guy in front of me was signing up for his classes. When it came time to pay his fees, he tossed up his hands and said something like indigent. Here was this well dressed young man, demanding the government cover his fees. And so it did.
I walked up to pay my fees and the lady look me right in the eyes, and transmitted volumes without speaking a single word.
I paid my fees and went on my way.
My Sister-in-Law, RIP, was pretty good at milking family and system, but she was an amateur compared to the anecdotes you just told.
Part of it is that the system is so milkable. I knew a woman who immigrated for marriage to a friend of mine, and got a green card. My friend died, and she had to go back to her home country in Eastern Europe. Every year or so she would come back, and remark on how the balance on her food EBT card had just ballooned into the thousands. Even though she wasn’t around, didn’t use the card, and was never asked to confirm her presence, credits kept piling up.