The federal government estimates 60% of eligible households participate in the food stamp program nationally. In California, the participation rate drops sharply. A study of 2003 participation rates by Mathematica Policy Research, a nonpartisan research group, showed that 34% of California's working poor participated in the program that year, the third lowest percentage among the 50 states.
There are 30,000 households in Orange County that receive food stamps, federal officials said.
Sanders of the Community Action Partnership estimates more than three times that amount could qualify.
Aliso Viejo resident Jim Gilchrist, co-founder of the Minuteman Project, which fights illegal immigration, said the Orange County program encouraged illegal immigration.
These immigrants and their children "should only be given life-saving medical care," Gilchrist said.
"If we encourage illegal alien families to come forward and exploit the ... system, aren't we encouraging more illegal immigration? We have to cut these benefits off."
In 2004, Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service and the Mexican Embassy agreed to jointly disseminate brochures and create the public service announcements.
The agreement led Mexican Consul Luis Miguel Ortiz Haro to tout the food stamp program on Univision's KMEX Channel 34 six weeks ago. The newscast included the partnership's phone number. More than 1,200 people called the partnership in the following days, Sanders said.
Then, two weeks ago, the Department of Agriculture began to air a monthlong series of ads on Spanish-language television in Southern California and three other markets in the U.S.
When Sanders first saw the Spanish-language public service announcements, he asked the government if Orange County callers could be routed to his office. That led to hundreds more inquiries. Callers, which number about 2,000 calls a day nationwide, are only routed to nonprofit organizations in seven California counties. The others are directed to government offices.
In Orange County, several of those attending a recent "Food Stamps in Four Hours" class said they were convinced it was legitimate when they saw Ortiz Haro on television.
"This program is not welfare. It won't affect your immigration status," Ortiz Haro said on television.
"The program is a right, and if we don't use it, it's a privilege that will pass you by."
