In a recent study, the Federation for American Immigration Reform demonstrated that an estimated 15.5 million illegal aliens and their 5.4 million U.S.-born children cost American taxpayers a net annual sum of $150.7 billion as of the start of 2023. That is a whopping 30% increase since 2017. The average American taxpayer is thus on the hook for $957 per year – and that’s after any taxes paid by illegal aliens are factored in. Given that tax season is upon us, it is worth pointing out this additional fiscal burden foisted upon working- and middle-class Americans, as well as the important things that this money could (and probably should) be funding. Not to mention, in the context of historically high deficits, potential budgetary savings.
FAIR’s analysis is the only comprehensive fiscal cost study of illegal immigration. We have undertaken this immense effort because the mass-immigration lobby misleadingly depicts unlawful migration as a net boon to the U.S. economy – both by increasing the labor supply while lowering the price of (some) goods and services (read wages), and by referencing taxes paid by some illegal aliens – while conveniently glossing over the costs. However, the reality is that federal, state, and local taxes paid by illegal aliens cover only about 17% of the total costs they impose on American taxpayers. For every dollar illegal aliens pay in taxes, it costs American taxpayers six dollars to cover the costs of uncompensated medical care, various welfare and healthcare benefits, incarceration and justice enforcement, as well as the single largest expenditure: K-12 public education.
Between January 2021 and January 2023, the average American family effectively lost $7,400 in annual income due to high inflation and rising interest rates, according to the Heritage Foundation. An extra $957 could at least offset part of the financial pain stemming from the loss of that purchasing power. And there is no doubt the average American can think of many things they would rather spend their money on than funding what is essentially a cheap labor subsidy for unscrupulous employers who hire illegal aliens at the expense of American workers. What could you do with an extra $957 this year?
Taxpayer dollars lost to illegal immigration last year alone could have paid for construction of the Southwest border wall several times over. In fact, one year’s worth of federal spending on medical care for illegal aliens alone ($23.1 billion) would easily cover full construction of a border wall (which the Biden administration halted as soon as it got into office). In an age of rising crime, we could pay the salaries of more than 300,000 police officers for the $18.86 billion states and localities spend on policing, trying, and incarcerating illegal aliens. Moreover, the funds dedicated annually to the K-12 public education of the (overwhelmingly non-English-proficient) children of illegal aliens by state and local budgets ($70.4 billion) could pay for the salaries of at least 1.1 million teachers.
The entirety of the current spending on illegal aliens and their U.S.-born offspring could also pay for at least 58% of the cost to overhaul America’s strained infrastructure (which the American Society of Civil Engineers had assessed at $2.6 trillion over a ten-year period, or $260 billion annually).
Thus, regardless of what open-borders apologists would have you believe, illegal immigration has clear opportunity costs that might otherwise be realized. It is most certainly not a “free lunch.” While concentrated benefits accrue to special interests and illegal aliens themselves, the American taxpayer is stuck with the intentionally hidden bill. And if that’s not enough, these costs will only keep growing in the near future because the Biden administration refuses to secure the border or deport foreign nationals here illegally, and has zero concern for the financial strain this puts on American taxpayers.
Pawel Styrna is Senior Researcher at the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and a legal immigrant.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.