How much does illegal immigration cost the United States annually?

Question

I've heard different numbers, from 10 billion to over 50 billion, what's your opinion?

'big daddy' is posting form letters...same hype, over and over again...

Answer 1

When you have approximately 11-12 million undocumented immigrants spread throughout the US, 50 billion annually sounds about right.
Pre-kindergarten through the 12th grade (bilingualist must be hired), medical/hospital expenses (that employers' do not pay); rent subsidies; utility expenses; food stamps, etc....

Answer 2

A lot of the figures from federal numbers only include costs to the federal government. They don't include state or county costs for education or health care, etc.

Supervisor Antonovich testified at a recent House Hearing that Los Angeles County alone spent $1 Billion dollars last year on services for illegal immigrants, and that the state spent $10 billion. Neither of those figures, nor the state and local costs from elsewhere, were calculated into the 'high' Congressional Office of Budget estimate of $126 billion over the next 10 years for the Senate Bill, if it is adopted.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/21/AR2006082101539.html

Pancha (if that is her) is right that they pay taxes but those are taken into account in the Wall Street Journal study earlier this year that concludes they cost the Federal government $10 billion a year, net. That is ON TOP of the cost of services which are mostly born by states and localities.

Answer 3

Illegal immigration is a global problem - we have it here in Europe in big numbers as well. The figures quoted in the answers so far for costs in the US are enormous but are they gross or net? I wonder what the economic benefits which illegals add to industry and business. What would be the cost to US industry and the services US citizens if all the illegals went home. What would be the social costs in the countries from which they come and to which they often send money to keep families above starvation level. The illegal immigration situation isn't satisfactory and anywhere and I don't feel we are even near to solving it - but we ceratinly can't just count the gross outlay and ignore the income side as simplistic politicians try to do.

Answer 4

Another solution to one of our country's problems...
Bring all our troops home from Iraq to guard the border. When they catch an illegal immigrant crossing the border, hand him a canteen, rifle, and some ammo and ship him to Iraq .

Tell him if he wants to come to America then he must serve a tour in the military.

Give him a soldier's pay while he's there and tax him on it.

After his tour, he will be allowed to become a citizen since he defended this country. He will also be registered to be taxed and be a legal patriot.

This option will probably deter illegal immigration and provide a solution for the troops in Iraq and the aliens trying to make a better life for themselves.
If they refuse to serve, ship them to Iraq anyway without the canteen, rifle, or ammo.
Problem solved

Answer 5

You ask how much illegal immigrants cost the U.S., I tell you how much they contribute?

"However,since illegal immigrant workers are here illegally, and ostensibly presented fake ID to the US employer, they will never collect Social Security benefits. "For illegal immigrants, Social Security numbers are simply a tool needed to work on this side of the border. Retirement does not enter the picture," reports the New York Times.
The Social Security Administration remains solvent in large part due to deductions taken from the paychecks of illegal immigrant workers, yet Social Security will never pay benefits to those workers. The workers pay in, but they never receive back. "

"Wouldn't the federal government detect fake Social Security numbers? According to that April 6, 2005 New York Times article, "Starting in the late 1980s, the social Security Administration received a flood of W-2 earnings reports with incorrect---sometimes simply fictitious---Social Security numbers. It stashed them in what it calls the 'earnings suspense file' in the hope that someday it would figure out whom they belonged to. The file has been mushrooming ever since: $189 billion worth of wages ended up recorded in the suspense file over the 1990s, two and a half times the amount of the 1980s.

In the current decade, the file is growing, on average, by more than $50 billion a year, generating $6 billion to $7 billion in Social Security tax revenue and about $1.5 billion in Medicare taxes."

Answer 6

1/3 of illegals live in California. They cost 10.5 billion. Multiplied by three, illegals in America cost 31.5 billion.

Answer 7

The federal government reimburses localities and states for services they provide to illegal immigrants, but the payments don't come close to matching the localities' costs, the report says. For example, Department of Justice records show Arizona's four border counties asked the federal government for $23.2 million last year to cover the cost of jailing thousands of illegal immigrants. The counties were reimbursed $731,000.

In California, San Diego County spends $50 million a year to arrest, jail, prosecute and defend illegal immigrants, and is reimbursed about $2 million, says county Supervisor Greg Cox, president of the border counties coalition. The $48 million shortfall cuts into the $600 million a year the county has for discretionary spending, he says. "That's money that would support libraries, parks and public safety."

The rest of the story:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-03-07-immigrants-health_x.htm

Answer 8

Billions and billions just in ER visits alone since they don't have insurance or money to pay for the visits, and this affects care and cost for the rest of us.

Answer 9

I don't know but the war in Iraq has a price tag of about 500 billion dollars.

Answer 10

Billion's......yes....Billions.......,yet a bullet only costs, .10 cents , in one year we could solve the illegal mexican crisis... for the same cost. wear hearing protection...