An interim report from the House Republicans’ Committee on Homeland Security revealed that the Biden administration’s border policies could cost taxpayers as much as $451 billion.
“Every day, millions of American taxpayer dollars are spent on costs directly associated with illegal immigration and the unprecedented crisis at the Southwest border sparked by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ policies,” the report says. “Only a small fraction is ever recouped from the taxes paid by illegal aliens, with the rest falling on the shoulders of American citizens and lawful residents.”
The report notes that the $451 billion estimate comes from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS).
The document explains the estimate comes from different areas, including health care, law enforcement, education, welfare, and housing.
In discussing health care costs, the authors said that an Illinois program was initially estimated to cost between $2 million and $4 million.
The program is now expected to exceed $1.1 billion in costs.
“The state’s budget only accounts for about 20 percent of this overall cost, with no agreement on where the rest will come from,” the authors write.
“Numerous states have devoted substantial resources to respond to the crisis sparked by Mayorkas’ policies, especially given the Biden administration’s refusal to provide relief to these states or change its policies,” the report says, describing law enforcement costs. “These efforts have cost the states billions of dollars. States like Texas and Arizona have borne the brunt of this cost, with Texas spending the most—more than $4 billion as of November 2022. Texas is projected to spend more than $9 billion by the end of 2024 to secure its border.”
Education costs are also extreme due to the necessity of teaching illegal immigrant children English.
During the 2021-2022 school year, 6.5% of public school students were “children of illegal aliens or illegal aliens themselves.”
Only 25% of illegal immigrants are proficient in English, the report adds.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimates that “at least 3.8 million illegal aliens qualify as LEP students, costing taxpayers nearly $59 billion, while those children of illegal aliens not classified as LEP students cost another $16.9 billion,” according to the report.
When discussing the welfare costs of illegal immigration, the authors state, “Although most illegal aliens are ineligible for these taxpayer-funded benefits, many still receive them, because essentially all federal and state welfare programs available to the children of American citizens are also available to U.S.-born children of illegal aliens. There are also many recipients of benefits who obtain them by fraud.131 Other studies demonstrate that non-citizens, including illegal aliens, avail themselves of these benefits at a higher rate than American citizens.”
The report adds that welfare costs may be up to $3 billion annually beginning January 2026.
Billions of more dollars are owed from food stamp programs.
Regarding housing costs, the authors state that New York City is estimated to have spent $4.3 billion on housing services for illegal immigrants by July 2024.
This number is expected to increase to $12 billion by 2025.
There are also billions of dollars dedicated to unaccompanied migrant children and migrant transportation.
“It is morally unacceptable that American taxpayer dollars should be funneled to those who violate our laws and demand expansive, taxpayer-funded benefits like education, health care, housing, and more,” the report concludes. “Many of these individuals will likely represent a drain on American society for the remainder of their days in the United States, constantly absorbing more benefits from the state than they ever contribute—to say nothing of the fact that they have no lawful basis to remain in the country to begin with.”
