So that Is why we limit it to 5 years. Some would say. "What youre doing here is sort of coercing people to become citizens." I think that is. frankly. not true. I do not think most refugees come here because they are looking for welfare benefits. I think most people come here because they are looking for the things that are on the Statue of Liberty. they are looking for the opportunity that is America. In fact. the vast majority of those people do not end up on welfare. for the long term. anyway. So what we do Is we say. "Look. we have an expectation in this country that people are not coming here for social services." and all we are doing is patterning a law to reflect that expectation. What I just described with respect to refugees also applies to asylees. Asylees are people like the two players from the Cuban baseball team last week. or the week before. who were in this country and escaped from their hotel and claimed political asylum and were granted that asylum. Those two players are probably not going to be needing any welfare benefits. given their talent level. But there are people who do claim asylum here and end up on welfare. and they are treated the same as refugees: 5 years until they are eligible for citizenship. and then the expectation is you can either decide to be a citizen of this country and avail yourselves of all the benefits and responsibilities of citizenship. or you take the option you are not going to be a citizen and no longer be eligible for these programs. That is a decision you make. It is not a decision we are forcing on anybody.
Identified stereotypes
Most refugees are not looking for welfare benefits.