More than $617 million in taxpayer-funded cash welfare flowed last year to California households headed by illegal immigrant parents, according to a new federal report that is raising fresh scrutiny over the state’s use of public assistance programs.
The report, released Wednesday by the federal Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, found that California overwhelmingly dominated nationwide spending tied to so-called “child-only” welfare cases.
Those cases involve benefits formally issued on behalf of children because the parents themselves are ineligible for direct assistance due to factors such as immigration status.
Federal officials, however, sharply criticized the arrangement as a loophole that still channels taxpayer money into households led by non-citizens.
“Although the benefit is formally paid on behalf of the child, it still supports a household that includes an immigration-status-ineligible parent,” the report stated.
Nationwide, more than 85,000 households received immigration-related child-only cash assistance through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program during fiscal year 2024.
Nearly 60,000 of those households were located in California alone.
According to the report, California accounted for nearly 70% of all such households nationwide and roughly 81% of the total spending connected to the program.
Taxpayers shelled out approximately $617.5 million through the state’s CalWORKS system, representing about 16% of California’s overall TANF basic-assistance expenditures.
Monthly benefits reportedly climbed to $875 during the fiscal year.
Under standard TANF rules, most recipients face work requirements and a 60-month lifetime cap on benefits. But child-only cases are exempt from those restrictions.
“The result is a striking disparity: needy American families are held to TANF’s central work and time-limit rules, while households headed by immigration-status-ineligible parents can receive child-only cash assistance,” the report added.
Federal officials emphasized that no other state came close to California’s scale of spending.
The next highest state, New York, spent approximately $47.5 million on around 7,600 households — a fraction of California’s totals.
The HHS report called for greater scrutiny of the child-only welfare cases and warned about their growing impact on federal and state budgets.
More over at The California Post:
California main driver of welfare flow to illegal immigrants: HHS report https://t.co/tdMg4AXOrM pic.twitter.com/7UBHkZjg1V
— California Post (@californiapost) June 10, 2026
