Numbers show RI undocumented immigrants a small slice of those getting benefits. What we know.

USA Today

05-02-2025

Numbers show RI undocumented immigrants a small slice of those getting benefits. What we know.
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President Trump's radical immigration agenda takes shape
On Day 1 of his presidency, Trump sought to make good on his campaign promise to curb illegal immigration.
PROVIDENCE – President Donald Trump's threat to end birthright citizenship and conduct "mass deportations" has instilled fear and uncertainty into a population that is now driving Rhode Island roads legally, paying taxes and growing their families, some with state-paid – and legislature approved – health benefits.
How many of these undocumented immigrants are now living with the fear that all this will be snatched away?
Unclear.
At one point, a group calling itself the "Federation for American Immigration Reform" pegged the number at 35,000, based on an extrapolation of an estimated national number. The truth is: there is no reliable count.
But the numbers that are available indicate that undocumented immigrants – described in state law as those "unable to establish legal presence in the United States" – are just a tiny slice of those who are getting Rhode Island benefits.
What do we know about them?
Thousands of undocumented immigrants have intersected with state government in Rhode Island in recent years in their pursuit of "driver privilege cards," tax ID numbers that enable them to report their income and pay taxes and in some limited cases, state-subsidized benefits.
Here, at a glance, is the picture that can be drawn from the privileges and benefits Rhode Island lawmakers have approved:
MEDICAID
There were 5,090 undocumented women and children on the state-paid Medicaid rolls as of Dec. 5, when the Executive Office of Health & Human Services (EOHHS) ran the query for The Journal.
That number included 486 pregnant or postpartum women, 4,598 children and six infants.
Medicaid payments on behalf of those without Social Security numbers totalled $55.4 million last year, including the $16,106,050 paid for those officially determined to be undocumented immigrants.
Putting that $16.1 million in context, it's just a tiny piece of Rhode Island's Medicaid budget, which totaled $3.9 billion during the last fiscal year.
Kerri White, spokesperson for EOHHS, explained: "The only undocumented people in Rhode Island who qualify for coverage are either those who are currently pregnant or postpartum" or children covered by the Cover All Kids law adopted in 2022 to provide state-paid health insurance to all children in low-income families, regardless of their immigration status.
Removing any doubt, White said: The coverage for these undocumented women and children "is paid for by Rhode Island state general revenue only (not by federal funding)."
OTHER PUBLIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
As of Nov. 26, 2024, 1,625 people without verified Social Security numbers had received publicly-subsidized benefits from other Rhode Island assistance programs for low-income people, including: RI Works, Refugee Cash Assistance, SNAP and, in a handful of cases, for burials.
They fell into two categories: Those with what the state calls verified "alien status" (1,622) and those without (3).
Over the years, they have included: newborns, recent legal immigrants, asylum seekers, refugees, fostered or adopted children and whoever else might not have a SSN at the time of application.
As explained by Department of Human Services spokesperson James Beardsworth, the numbers include individuals with "qualified non-citizen status" which means the individual is in the country legally and is entitled to certain benefits even if there is no SSN."
The cost of providing benefits to those with a verified "non-citizen status" was $12,066,543 at that point in the year and only $1,058 for those with an "unverified status."
Of note: Beardsworth said state agencies are banned from denying some benefits because an individual does not have a Social Security number.
For example: The federal regulations governing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) prohibit a state agency from delaying the approval and issuance of SNAP benefits to verify a Social Security number to a household that is otherwise eligible.
Similarly, state agencies cannot 'deny, delay, or discontinue assistance' for cash assiatnce from the state's RIWorks program 'pending the issuance or verification' of SSNs if the applicant or recipients have applied.
Federal regulations governing the Refugee Cash Assistance program prohibit state agencies from asking applicants for a SSN.
General Public Assistance (GPA) burial assistance does not require the submission nor verification of a SSN.
Putting these numbers in perspective, the current number of enrollees in Medicaid is 305,463 with full benefits and 12,000 receiving partial benefits; SNAP, approximately 40,000 people; assistance to needy families, 8,323; refugee cash assistance, 750 and General Public Assistance, 533.
TAX ID NUMBERS
Based on the Division of Taxation analysis, the number of state personal income tax filers using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) is 9,174, according to spokesman Paul Grimaldi.
The "tax identification number" for most people in the United States is their Social Security number (SSN). But a "foreign person, who doesn't have and can't get a SSN, must use an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN),'' according to the IRS.
While the 9,174 may, in fact, include undocumented immigrants, Grimaldi notes, they are not the only ones reflected in the count. They may be, for example, a foreign national not eligible to receive a SSN but has "reportable income" other than wages.
DRIVERS PRIVILEGE CARDS
State officials say they do not keep any count of the look-alike drivers' licenses created specifically for people who are "unable to establish legal presence in the United States."
Gov. Dan McKee cited a number – "3,000" – during an appearance on Gene Valicenti's WPRO radio talk show. But when pressed, the administrators of the Rhode Island DMV insisted they did not know.
Who is eligible for a "driver privilege permit"?
More: How many driver privilege cards have been given out by the DMV? Why officials can't say.
With the approval of state lawmakers, "driver privilege cards" have been available since July 2023 to individuals "unable to establish [their] legal presence in the United States," who can nevertheless produce proof of their residency and identity, as well as a personal income tax return for the previous year that documents they were here working and paying taxes – or are the dependent of someone who was.
State law does not bar the DMV from keeping a running count of the number handed out. But the McKee Administration has taken the position that it does.
"The legislative intent when the statute was passed was to ensure that [Drivers Privilege Cards] were indistinguishable from non-REAL ID credentials [so] that individuals holding [the cards] would not be targeted," Grimaldi said.
But the DMV was willing to disclose in November, after multiple requests from The Journal around what is public information, that in the 17 months the DPC program has been active, here have been:
12,418 reservations
2,036 no-shows for reservations
Roughly 10,382 separate privilege card reservations
But even that 10,382 number does not accurately represent the number issued, Grimaldi explained because "many people" fail to show up for their first reservations. Or they may book multiple reservations. Or they may not have the right paperwork, or may not pass the test to get the privilege card, requiring "additional reservations."
Current privilege cardholders are now starting to make reservations to renew their cards, which adds to the queue but does not, Grimaldi notes, "add to the total number of credentials in circulation."