Questions on Recently Reported Projection of Newly Arrived Aliens Receiving Supplemental Security Income

Responses were supplied to questions relating to the number of newly arrived aliens who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Of 23,000 SSI recipients surveyed by GAO, 1,084 were identified as aliens. It was estimated that 214,000, 5.1 percent of SSI recipients, were aliens for the sampling period. Of the 1,084 aliens, 199 were newly arrived. One hundred forty-eight of these lived in California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey and New York. One hundred sixty-one of the newly arrived aliens were elderly. The newly arrived aliens resided in 25 States and were from 37 countries. Countries accounting for 163 of these aliens were Cuba, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Philippines, Portgual, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Of the newly arrived aliens, 37 were refugees. The following lengths of residence were identified for the aliens: less than 1 month--18; 1 to 6 months--62; 6 months to 1 year--38; 1 to 3 years--68; 3 to 5 years--13. The following lengths of residence were identified for the refugees: less than 1 month--5; 1 to 6 months--4; 6 months to 1 year--7; 1 to 3 years--19; 3 to 5 years--2. The SSI quality assurance sample, selected by State, was used for estimates.