Keep Factually independent

Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.

Loading...Goal: 1,000 supporters
Loading...

Number of any category of non citizen recieving any us goverment funding, kealthcare,housing, food, education, any goerment benefit in dollars. Per year from 20 20 thru 2024

Checked on November 9, 2025
Disclaimer: Factually can make mistakes. Please verify important info or breaking news. Learn more.

Executive Summary

The available analyses show no single, authoritative dataset that lists the number of non‑citizens receiving each category of U.S. government funding (healthcare, housing, food, education, other benefits) in dollars per year for 2020–2024; estimates vary widely by source and by what is counted. Government eligibility rules, program-by-program totals (for all participants), and several independent estimates give partial figures and ranges, but they do not produce the requested per‑year, per‑category dollar totals for non‑citizen recipients across 2020–2024. For definitive annual dollar counts by immigration status you must consult multiple federal program reports (CBO, CMS/Medicaid, USDA/SNAP, HUD, Department of Education) and reconcile differing inclusion rules and time frames [1] [2] [3] [4].

1. What claimants said — sweeping spending on non‑citizens quantified in billions

The assembled analyses advance several explicit quantitative claims: that SNAP cost approximately $100 billion and served about 42 million people in fiscal 2024; that Medicaid emergency spending for unauthorized migrants totaled roughly $16.2 billion from 2020–2024; that advocacy or interest groups produce multi‑billion annual estimates for “welfare” and medical costs tied to unauthorized immigrants (examples include a $66.5 billion federal expenditure estimate for 2023); and that other compilations place annual education and health costs for unauthorized populations in the tens of billions [4] [5] [6] [3]. These claims are presented as totals or ranges, not as precise counts of non‑citizen recipients by program and year, which is the original request.

2. What federal rules and consensus actually establish — eligibility, exceptions, and contribution context

Federal law and program rules create clear boundaries: undocumented immigrants are generally ineligible for most federal public benefits, though they qualify for emergency medical care, K‑12 public education, certain state/local programs, and some narrowly defined federal benefits; lawful permanent residents can qualify for many benefits after waiting periods, and some programs use categorical or residency-based eligibility [1] [2] [7]. Several analyses emphasize that immigrants overall use public programs at lower rates than U.S.-born citizens and contribute tax revenue (one estimate cited $97 billion in taxes paid in 2022 by unauthorized immigrants, or $11.74 billion to state and local economies in another compilation), complicating any simple cost‑only accounting [2] [3].

3. Where numbers exist — useful program totals but not the per‑status breakout requested

Program‑level totals and estimates are available and inform magnitude but do not resolve the question as posed. SNAP’s FY2024 totals (~$100 billion, 42 million participants) provide context for food‑assistance scale but do not say how many recipients were non‑citizens [4]. Congressional and partisan committee summaries attribute about $16.2 billion in Medicaid spending for unauthorized migrants over 2020–2024, but this figure covers emergency care claims and depends on definitions and attribution methods [5]. Independent groups publish widely varying totals (e.g., $66.5 billion in federal expenditures in 2023), illustrating methodological divergence and the wide confidence intervals around any single headline number [6] [3].

4. Why a precise 2020–2024 breakdown by program and immigration status is elusive

Three structural obstacles prevent a definitive answer from these analyses: programs differ in data collection and reporting (many federal datasets do not record immigration status or only record legal status for narrow purposes), state/local programs vary in coverage and publish unevenly, and interest groups apply divergent inclusion rules (counting federal, state, local, emergency, indirect costs, or related services differently). Several of the provided analyses explicitly note the absence of a single comprehensive dataset and warn that estimates rely on assumptions about eligibility, utilization, and tax offsets [1] [8] [9] [3]. That methodological fragmentation produces the broad ranges and partisan variance seen in the cited estimates.

5. Bottom line and where to go for defensible figures

The defensible finding is that no single cited source in these analyses delivers the requested per‑year dollar totals by benefit category for non‑citizens from 2020–2024; instead you get program totals, targeted estimates (e.g., Medicaid emergency costs, SNAP totals), and conflicting aggregated estimates from advocacy groups and committees [4] [5] [6] [3]. To assemble a rigorous answer you must combine program administrative reports and federal data releases (CBO, CMS/Medicaid expenditure reports, USDA SNAP outlays, HUD rental assistance statistics, Department of Education spending), reconcile definitions of “non‑citizen,” and separately account for state and local programs and emergency care. The analyses offered here identify the contours and ranges but stop short of the year‑by‑year, category‑by‑category dollar accounting the original query requested [2] [7] [3].

Want to dive deeper?
What percentage of US federal budget goes to non-citizen benefits 2020-2024?
How has immigrant access to Medicaid and SNAP changed from 2020 to 2024?
State-level spending on housing and education for non-citizens in the US
Legal eligibility rules for non-citizens receiving US government aid
Impact of non-citizen benefits on US national debt 2020-2024