Report Finds Mixed-Status Citizenship in Many Families

Half of the children living in Los Angeles County have parents who are not citizens, a fact that under federal welfare reform costs U.S.-born youngsters substantial benefits and relegates them to “second-class” citizenship, according to a new study.

The high rate of Los Angeles County children living in so-called mixed-status families--those with at least one parent who is not a U.S. citizen--is nearly five times the national average, according to the study by the Urban Institute, a research group based in Washington, D.C.

By comparison, about 27% of children in New York City--another major magnet for immigrants--live in mixed-status families.

“It’s hard to think about issues related to families and kids in L.A. without thinking about immigrant families and kids,” said Wendy Zimmermann, co-author of the report, “All Under One Roof: Mixed-Status Families in an Era of Reform.”

The new study, based on 1998 census data, gives the clearest picture yet of the growing numbers of mixed-status families, an emerging demographic phenomenon.

Policymakers often assume that families in the United States are generally made up of either all citizens or all noncitizens. But the study says those presumptions are outdated.

Large-scale immigration and uneven naturalization rates have created a complex patchwork in which families with mixed citizenship status are “surprisingly prevalent,” particularly in California, the study says.

Nationwide, 75% of children in immigrant families are U.S. citizens.

A major reason for the high proportion of mixed families in Los Angeles County, experts say, is the large number of settlers from Mexico and Central America. Immigrants from those nations are generally younger than those from other nations and have higher birthrates.

The Constitution grants full citizenship to anyone born in the United States, regardless of the status of their parents. Authors of the study contend that legislation such as the 1996 federal welfare overhaul creates a two-tier system, victimizing U.S.-born children whose parents remain foreign nationals.

The 1996 law severely limited cash welfare, health insurance and food coupons for many noncitizens, including legal residents. But the study argues that the rapid growth in the number of families with combined status makes it virtually impossible to target noncitizens without inadvertently punishing citizen children.

Food stamps, for instance, are allotted by household size. Once noncitizen parents become ineligible, they lose the vouchers. That affects the food available not only to them, but also to their U.S.-born children.

“These families are among the most economically vulnerable, and they comprise a surprisingly large share of low-income families,” said Michael Fix, a co-author of the study.

The study shows that 59% of Los Angeles County’s poor families--defined as those whose incomes were below twice the federal poverty level--had mixed immigration statuses. The poverty level was $16,450 for a family of four in 1998.

Officials and policymakers in Los Angeles County said the findings show how immigration and social policy are increasingly entwined in the county and other areas with large numbers of immigrants.

“The fact that so many of our households are in fact mixed--you have citizen children living with noncitizen parents--demonstrates how policies that impact the parents eventually trickle down to the entire family,” said Miguel Santana, assistant chief deputy to Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina.

Advocates of reduced immigration levels called the economic dilemma of mixed families an indictment of an overly generous U.S. immigration policy. The country is letting in too many poor people who rely on public aid, said Ira Mehlman, West Coast representative of the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

“This just shows that we are bringing in large numbers of people who are ill-prepared to be self-sufficient,” said Mehlman.