Recently, the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) of Columbia University published a report which indicated that children of immigrant parents are confronted with high levels of poverty, despite the fact that their parents are employed.

“Immigrants come to the United States to become part of the American Dream, but the reality is that these families are working hard, while their children – most of them U.S. citizens – are getting less,” said Dr. Jane Knitzer, executive director of the NCCP.

This situation has several causes, according to the experts, but two main reasons are the government policies that reduce federal aid and the fear among immigrant workers of contacting government offices.

“Many of them fear that any contact with the government could endanger their status,” said Kinsey Dinan, the study’s author.

According to the report, 97 percent of immigrants with children have a job, and 72 percent of those are full-time. But their children have less access to federal aid and, thus, they cannot close the gap between their incomes and their needs.

Making the problem worse, according to the experts, is the fact that many of these workers’ employers offer no social benefits.

In 2003, Congress began the process of reforming welfare laws. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the reforms helped 4.7 million Americans to get off public assistance. The poverty line in the United States is $16,000 for a family of three.

Immigration experts propose enacting immigration reform legislation, taking into account the contributions of immigrants to the economy and creating more social programs.

States with highest rates of child poverty

District of Columbia 19.2 percent

Louisiana 13.3 percent

Mississippi 11.6 percent

Arkansas 10.5 percent

New Mexico 9.7 percent

North Carolina 9.7 percent

West Virginia 9.6 percent

New York 9.6 percent (35 percent are children of Latino origin)

Alabama 8.4 percent

Tennessee 8.4 percent

(Of the national total, 28 percent are Hispanic children. This includes the District of Columbia.)