Children Of Immigrants Less Likely To Get Benefits

Adriana, who did not give her full name because she is in the country illegally, recently came looking for help at CASA de Maryland, a nonprofit agency outside Washington, D.C., that assists immigrants. At the time, Adriana, 21, was a few days away from giving birth to her third child. She already had two little boys, ages 1 and 3, and their father had left them months before. And she was homeless.

Adriana and her children had been sleeping in the streets, but the night before, strangers took them in after seeing them out in the near-freezing cold. As Adriana spoke, her youngest son ran around the room, swinging his bottle. He wore one-piece pajamas over a turtleneck shirt. She looked tired and worn.

"She says, 'Today I really need somebody to help me out because the family who helped me yesterday — they can no longer help me, and I have no place where to sleep with my kids tonight."