How much does it cost taxpayers to provide services and benefits to millions of unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S.? A new report by FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform) attempts to answer this question by estimating the fiscal impact of illegal immigration at the federal, state, and local levels.
According to the report, illegal immigration costs Americans $182 billion a year in education, health care, law enforcement, public assistance, and other expenses. This amount is partially offset by the taxes paid by illegal immigrants, which amount to about $32 billion a year. However, this still leaves a net fiscal burden of $150.7 billion a year, or $1,156 per taxpayer.
The report also shows that the cost of illegal immigration has increased significantly since 2017, when FAIR estimated it at $116 billion a year. This increase is due to several factors, such as higher numbers of illegal immigrants (15.5 million in 2023 vs 12.5 million in 2017), higher costs of services and benefits (especially health care and education), and lower tax contributions by illegal immigrants (due to lower wages and more tax evasion).
The report concludes that illegal immigration imposes a heavy financial burden on American taxpayers and calls for more effective border security and immigration enforcement measures to reduce this cost and protect the interests of U.S. citizens and legal immigrants.
For more, see FAIR.