the majority of the Section 8 residents that moved in were foreigners
Rob, I think this really depends on where you live. The majority of people I personally knew that were on Section 8 were not foreigners, and most of them happened to be white. I myself had Section 8 for a couple of years. I lived in public housing for a year, then was lucky enough to get a Section 8 voucher. I say lucky, because at that time it was very hard to get a voucher.
At that time, they had a special program with Section 8 the gave you a huge incentive to better your situation. Basically, as your income went up, your portion of the rent went up. What the plan did was taken the difference that they were no longer paying, as the tenent rent portion went up, and put it in an account. If you were able to get off section 8 and other public assistance for at least a year, you could request the money in the account. I wanted to get off of welfare anyway, but it was a huge incentive, and motivated me even more. I got a check for $4000 when all was said and done. And I have not ever gone back on welfare.
I don't know if this was a country wide program, (I was under the impression it was), but it was stopped after a couple of years. I asked my section 8 case worker if a lot of people took advantage of this program. She signed and said, many did, but not as many as they hoped and expected. That boggled my mind.
I bring this up because there are people on welfare that are very content being on welfare. They don't look at it as a safety net, but a way of life. I don't believe this is the majority, but it is a high enough percent that we constantly see familes that generation after generation stay on welfare. It is a high enough percent so that welfare gets drained, and everyone on welfare, regardless of why they are on it, are all labeled as lazy.