For full context, "more" was a comparison to what is available now versus when my grandparents came over. The department of health and human services runs 31 social benefit / welfare programs, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Medicaid, though they are not immediately available (5 years residence or 40 quarters employed).

26 states run their own programs as well which may or may not have different time requirements for accessing them.

Per the most recent census, a majority of non-citizen households utilize some public benefit (most often medicaid and food assistance) likely due to the difference in education (63% at 10 years living here).

If my grandparents had come here today, they would also certainly be making use of these programs. Since they came over roughly 20 years before the New Deal was passed, local community support was the best they had.

Pre-WWI US is so different as a country that I'm not certain it's useful as a comparison.

FFS, re-read the thread. The conversation was literally about how little there was for immigrants way back then in terms of safety nets but there was more opportunity for unskilled labor.