Misinformation vs. Immigrant Experiences Using Health Insurance and Other Programs

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President Trump has continued his anti-immigrant rhetoric, recently claiming Haitian immigrants in Charleroi, Pennsylvania do not have legal status and have brought “massive crime” to the area. Republican Senator Camera Bartolotta from Pennsylvania and others have pushed back on these comments, noting that they came to the U.S. legally and have helped fill workforce shortages. This sharp divide in misinformation and immigrant experiences is mirrored more broadly in new KFF polling data and policy analysis.

The polling data show how elected officials and candidates, including President Trump, can amplify the spread of misinformation about immigrants. The data also show that much of the public incorrectly believes or is uncertain whether undocumented immigrants are eligible for health insurance programs paid for by the federal government, and that there are misperceptions and uncertainty about whether immigrants can access programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security as soon as they arrive in the U.S.

Immigrants’ experiences contrast these misperceptions. Undocumented immigrants are prohibited from accessing federally funded programs, including Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces, and Social Security, while many lawfully present immigrants are not eligible for these programs when they first arrive to the U.S. Our landmark KFF/LA Times Survey of Immigrants shows that, despite having lower incomes, immigrants are no more likely than U.S.-born citizens to say they used government assistance for food, housing, or health care.

Data also show that immigrants fill unmet labor needs, as seen in Charleroi and other areas, including playing an outsized role in the health care workforce. Moreover, while less than half of the public, and less than one in four Republicans, believe undocumented immigrants pay billions in taxes, data show that they contribute billions in federal, state, and local taxes, with a sizeable share going toward programs that they cannot access, like Social Security and Medicare. Research also shows that payments into the health care system from immigrants help to subsidize health care for U.S.-born citizens.