(ConservativeSense.com) – According to a new study released this week, illegal immigration now costs American taxpayers $151 billion every year, an increase of 30% over the last five years.
The study was conducted by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and called “The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on United States Taxpayers 2023.” The results found that U.S. taxpayers are paying roughly $182 billion every year for benefits and services to migrants crossing the border illegally, although the costs were offset by $31 billion in taxes collected from an estimated 15.5 million of the illegal immigrants now residing in the country.
In 2017, FAIR calculated the annual net cost was about $116 billion, meaning the 2023 study indicates a staggering 30% increase in five years.
Even though illegal immigrants are technically not eligible for most federal welfare assistance programs, the study accounts for services like education, food assistance programs, and state-level programs. K-12 education accounted for the largest cost, according to the study, an estimated $78 billion annually. Healthcare accounted for about $42.7 billion, and $47 billion goes toward federal, state, and local criminal justice systems, including federal immigration enforcement.
$13.5 billion a year goes toward food assistance programs, such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
Dan Stein, the President of FAIR, said in a statement that as the country “struggles to meet countless societal needs” in the face of “our staggering $31 trillion national debt,” paying for “millions of people who have no legal right to be in the United States” is growing “at an alarming rate.”
Paying for the care of illegal immigrants is exacerbating the financial burden on taxpayers, and “the open borders advocates at every level of government” are making the problem worse, according to Stein, who placed blame on President Biden for failing to deal with the problem and whose policies have only made it worse.
After the recent kidnapping and killing of U.S. citizens at the U.S.-Mexico border, Biden is now being forced to reconsider his policies.
Copyright 2023, ConservativeSense.com
