In Illinois the Federal district court in Chicago is considering a suit filed against the State concerning the 1year residency requirement for eligibility to receive welfare benefits. If this Illinois law is ruled unconstitutional it will open up a Pandoras box for an estimated 5.000 families in Illinois. who have recently moved to Illinois from other States. to apply for welfare benefits and thereby increasing Illinois cost for public assistance by $15 million. It could also attract a greater number of migrants to move to Illinois in order to obtain better welfare benefits than they are receiving in their own States. This same condition could be applied to other States who have established meaningful welfare programs. should the U.S. Supreme Court uphold the Federal court ruling in Connecticut concerning the constitutionality of the residency requirement in Connecticut. With the "freeze" and the constitutionality ruling of a States residency requirement. those States with meaningful welfare programs could face a huge deficit in their budget for public assistance because the newcomers may well bring them above the level of the freeze. and there is no way to send these people back. Thus. these northern industrial States attracting the southern rural migrants would be taxed to support the welfare cases coming from the southern rural areas. and thereby relieving those southern States of their responsibilities in this area. It would be a most inequitable arrangement. It could well be that special allowances may have to be made for the effect of migration.
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migrants