A Mythical Florida Mom (And Other False Claims About Immigrants)

http://m.factcheck.org/2010/05/a-mythical-florida-mom-and-other-false-claims-about-immigrants/

FULL ANSWER

Just about everything this chain e-mail claims regarding benefits to illegal immigrants and refugees is pure bunk. The photo, however, is of a real person, d’Lynn Morrison of Chelan, in central Washington state. He confirms that he originated the message and sent it to 14 to 16 friends and fellow veterans, after which it became an Internet phenomenon. He says some of what appears in the current version has been added or modified by unknown persons who forwarded his message. In an exchange of e-mail messages, he told us:

d’Lynn Morrison: I had no ill-intent to misled in my original email. I used what was sent to me from contacts - and to say the least, I was extremely pissed-off at what I had read.

Unfortunately, the claims that Morrison passed on are simply wrong. His message claims that there is "a 25-year-old illegal immigrant woman living in Florida, with eight kids" who "receives just shy of $1,500 per month per kid, plus medical, plus food stamps." There is no such woman. The state doesn’t provide benefits anywhere near that large to anyone, native or immigrant, legal or illegal. And illegal immigrants qualify for no cash benefits at all. This message has gotten such wide distribution that the Florida Department of Children and Families has prepared a form letter responding to it:

Florida DCF: Under federal and state law, only “qualified immigrants” are eligible for these benefits. Qualified immigrants must provide documentation of certain legal statuses, so individuals without legal status are not eligible.

The letter also explains why the mythical mother of eight is an impossibility. Under state law, even a citizen or legal resident with eight children couldn’t qualify for anything close to the $12,000 a month ($1,500 times eight) claimed by the message.

Florida DCF: Your email specifically asks if it is true that a woman would receive $1,500 per child in Florida. I can assure you this information is incorrect. … The maximum benefit for a family with one mother and eight children would be $671 a month.