This week we were told that veterans could not enter open air memorials that have already been bought and paid for by the American taxpayer during a government shutdown. At the same time, illegal aliens and supporters of amnesty were allowed to gather on the same National Mall to demand amnesty for those whose first step into this country was a violation of the law. This comes as a result of the supposed push for “immigration reform” (loosely translated, amnesty for illegals).
We have been told that we cannot afford deporting illegals and that our economy is dependent upon them, even though we have massive unemployment. I want to remind you about the Department of Homeland Security’s claim back in 2010, that for a little over $100 billion Immigration and Customs Enforcement could apprehend, detain and remove the nation’s entire illegal immigrant population.
From a 2010 report by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), they address the first thing government is concerned about and that is tax collections.
take our poll - story continues belowCompleting this poll grants you access to DC Clothesline updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to this site's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.“When the estimated tax collections from illegal aliens in the state are subtracted from the estimated expenditures, the result is the net fiscal burden. Compared to the federal net fiscal burden of about $19.3 billion, the collective net burden at the state and local level is about 4 times larger at about $80 billion.
It bears repeating that the estimated tax collections from illegal alien workers would not disappear if the illegal alien population were to markedly decrease as a result of restriction on access to jobs and more effective interior enforcement. Experience with immigration enforcement at job sites with many illegal aliens on the payroll has shown that those employers do not go out of business; they find other workers. That means that the tax collections continue after the deportation of the illegal alien family. Experience also shows that when illegal workers are replaced with legal ones, wages, and consequently tax collections, tend to increase. Additionally, social assistance outlays presumably decrease as newly legally hired replacement workers become self-sufficient.”
That’s a pretty significant claim, don’t you think? Consider that many Americans who want to work and are unemployment could have jobs which have been taken by illegal immigrants. Additionally, we know that our government hands out food stamps and other welfare goodies, courtesy of the American taxpayer to illegals. Additionally, corporations are profiting from the welfare state. The federal government has even been giving back hundreds of thousands of dollars to illegals in income tax returns.
The study discovered that the state and local governments shelled out about $84.2 billion annually in various services for illegals (law enforcement, schools, social services, etc). California, where Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) doesn’t want DHS to enforce the law, spent roughly $21 billion on illegals every year.
The question comes to mind, just what would it cost to have the law fully enforced, all illegals rounded up, including family members they brought here illegally, and deported? That’s a good question, especially if you want to see just what it would take in light of what you are spending, right? That is just the request that several senators, including Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) asked Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs Nelson Peacock.
Fox News reported at the time, “The cost of harboring illegal immigrants in the United States is a staggering $113 billion a year — an average of $1,117 for every ‘native-headed’ household in America — according to a study conducted by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).”
Did you get that American taxpayer? In 2010 it was costing every American over $1,100 to maintain law breakers in the United States. How does that make you feel? I’ll bet it costs far more today and we are the ones paying for it, not just in taxes, but in the area of jobs.
Peacock wrote to the senators and said:
“Our conservative estimate suggests that ICE would require a budget of more than $135 billion to apprehend, detain and remove the nation’s entire illegal immigrant population.”
Imagine that! Rounding up and deporting all illegal aliens in the United States would pay for itself in less than a year when you consider the costs mentioned above, along with the massive fraud that takes place in the welfare and income tax system.
Granted, this was three years ago and costs have probably increased. In 2007, DHS estimated the costs would be about $94 billion. Still, it seems to be significant savings in the short and long term, but the question is, since Barack Obama is the chief law enforcement officer at the head of the Executive Branch, why will he not enforce the law? I think we all know the reason.
“The single biggest ‘expense’ it attributes to unauthorized immigrants is the education of their children, yet most of these children are native-born, U.S. citizens who will grow up to be taxpaying adults,” said Walter Ewing, a senior researcher at the American Immigration Council. “It is disingenuous to count the cost of investing in the education of these children, so that they will earn higher incomes and pay more in taxes when they are adults, as if it were nothing more than a cost incurred by their parents.”
He added that “the report fails to account for the purchasing power of unauthorized consumers, which supports U.S. businesses and U.S. jobs” and that it “ignores the value added to the U.S. economy by unauthorized workers, particularly in the service sector.”
That’s fine if Mr. Ewing wants to point only at education, but he also needs to access the other welfare benefits that are garnered, as well as the fact that the law has been broken, and yes, I consider public education a form of welfare. It is run by the state, not private individuals. Taxpayers are being pickpocketed by the immigration lobby for the benefit of those who have broken the law.
Earlier this year, the same group released a new report titled Economic Benefits of Fixing our Broken Immigration System. This was used in an attempt to ram through the Senate’s amnesty bill earlier this year, but thankfully that stalled in the House of Representatives. The White House tried to use an info graphic to make their point, which thinking Americans simply laughed at. This is not simply a matter of economics; it’s a matter of law.
Tim Brown is the Editor of Freedom Outpost.
