The financial impact of the millions of illegal immigrants flowing into our country is real and completely unsustainable. We have ballooning deficits, carry a record national debt and are struggling to afford the safety net programs we’ve promised to our own citizens — now is not the time to take on another $150 billion for people coming into our country illegally. This enormous cost calculation doesn’t even begin to account for the fact that millions of illegal immigrants will eventually have access to a slew of federal and state welfare programs, further burdening taxpayers.
While the safety and security implications of our border crisis are of the highest concern, it has also created an unbearable cost to taxpayers at the federal, state and local levels. We must hold President Biden accountable and ensure he can no longer ignore the catastrophic consequences of his self-inflicted border crisis.
As Chairman of the House Budget Committee, I convened an oversight hearing on the full cost of the border crisis, and I directed the Congressional Budget Office to provide a more comprehensive account of the fiscal implications of illegal immigration. Lawmakers must better understand these consequences to craft effective policy responses — and taxpayers deserve to know how much of the burden they are carrying.
The initial information our Committee has compiled is stunning and deserves more public scrutiny.
In testimony provided to the Committee, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimates illegal immigration now costs upward of $150 billion annually even after any potential tax contributions have been subtracted.
It is estimated that the lion’s share is borne by state and local governments, which must balance their budget budgets by either raising taxes or cutting essential services. This $150 billion, based on the estimated 22 million people in the country illegally, comes out to about $9,000 in tax dollars per illegal immigrant. That’s more than we spend on healthcare per Medicaid beneficiary, the most vulnerable American citizens. It’s also more than we spend on military retirement benefits for our veterans.
In my state of Texas alone, we spend more than $13 billion annually, which is about $4,500 per illegal immigrant. This spending spans several programs including $3 billion extra for Head Start, $10 billion for local education and $1.5 billion for criminal justice in Fiscal Year 2023 alone.
Then there is the strain on law enforcement resources. We received testimony from the county attorney for Kinney County, Texas, which has a population of only 3,200 residents, most of whom are farmers and ranchers. In 2020, the county reported 134 criminal charges for prosecution. In 2021, that number increased to 2,708. In 2022, this number exploded to 6,800 criminal charges. In 2023, there were 5,826 criminal charges.
The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted the massive immigration wave hitting America’s classrooms. “Millions of migrants, most seeking asylum, have crossed the border in recent years and have been allowed to settle in the U.S. until a federal immigration judge decides their fate, a process than can take years,” the Journal wrote. “Among the record numbers, federal data suggest, are as many as one million children who have arrived with their families or on their own since 2021.”
The consequences reverberate throughout the country and in our school systems. For example, Denver public schools announced a $17.5 million budget shortfall earlier this year due to the influx of migrant students. Many migrant students are missing foundational education and require special tutoring and translation services. These services are not only time-consuming but extremely costly.
Health care – including the costs of Medicaid, hospital uncompensated care budgets and additional spending on Obamacare subsidies – is another area where illegal immigration balloons costs. In California, the state’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, expanded to cover nearly one million illegal immigrants at a cost of $3 billion per year. All the while, California is carrying a state budget deficit of $68 billion — the largest in its history.
Even if the consequences are unintended, the costs are unsustainable. We have ballooning deficits, carry a record national debt and are struggling to afford the safety net programs we’ve promised to our own citizens – now is not the time to take on another $150 billion for people coming into our country illegally. This enormous cost calculation doesn’t even begin to account for the fact that millions of illegal immigrants will eventually have access to a slew of federal and state welfare programs, further burdening taxpayers.
This is a crisis that is costing taxpayers at the federal, state and local levels. We must hold President Biden accountable and ensure he can no longer ignore the catastrophic consequences of his self-inflicted border crisis.
Jodey Arrington is the Chairman of the House Budget Committee
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.
