“HATTIP NORTHSTARMOM) With refugee status you pay no income taxes for seven years....”
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Do you have a link for that?
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There’s probably some confusion here with assistance programs that expire after 7 years. FAIR, which favors an immigration moratorium, has a list of government programs for which refugees are eligible. It’s not so much that government assistance programs are egregious as much as they’re not well-monitored to make sure that money is being spent appropriately (i.e. not on fraudulent claims).
http://www.fairus.org/issue/legal-immigration/fiscal-cost-resettling-refugees-united-states
Most refugee/asylee resettlement expenditures come in the form of cash assistance, welfare programs and other social services. Federal welfare programs that refugees and asylees can access include the following:
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) formerly known as AFDC
Medicaid
Food Stamps
Public Housing
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Social Security Disability Insurance
Child Care and Development Fund
Job Opportunities for Low Income Individuals (JOLI)
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
Postsecondary Education Loans and Grants
Refugee Assistance Programs
Earned Income Tax Credit and Additional Child Tax Credit11
State and local welfare programs that refugees and asylees can apply for include but are not limited to:
Housing assistance
English as a Second Language programs
Special education programs
Job training and employment search assistance
Social services programs
Immigration assistance programs (aiding asylees in filing green card applications, citizenship applications, and petitions for relatives to immigrate to the U.S.)12
Eligibility for some of these programs expires seven years after an individual is admitted to the United States as a refugee or asylee. However, many welfare programs are available for as long as a refugee/asylee resides in the United States.13