Bidenomics: Illegal immigration costs taxpayers more than $150 billion annually

The cost to maintain the more than 15.5 million illegal migrants reached an unprecedented level under President Joe Biden.

Agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza detienen a 128 inmigrantes abandonados por traficantes en Tucson en 2018. — Agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza detienen a inmigrantes ilegales en Tucson en una foto de archivo, (CBP/Flickr)

Published by

Verónica Silveri Pazos

16 de abril, 2024

Topics:

illegal immigrant

In San Diego, an additional $39 million were allocated for immigrants who cross the border illegally to settle in the county. It is estimated that about 125,000 immigrants have come to the city in the past six months.

This $39 million is taxpayer money, part of the $150 billion annual cost of illegal immigration to Americans, according to updated data from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

Cost of illegal migration reached an all-time high

The cost of illegal migration to Americans reached an all-time high under President Joe Biden. The FAIR report noted:

At the federal, state, and local levels, taxpayers shell out approximately $182 billion to cover the costs incurred from the presence of more than 15.5 million illegal aliens, and about 5.4 million citizen children of illegal aliens. That amounts to a cost burden of approximately $8,776 per illegal alien/citizen child. The burden of illegal immigration on U.S. taxpayers is both staggering and crippling, with the gross cost per taxpayer at $1,156 every year.

The report stated that illegal immigrants contribute approximately $32 billion in taxes at the state, local and federal levels, meaning "the net fiscal cost of illegal immigration to taxpayers totals approximately $150.7 billion."

USCIS celebrates more than 10 million pending cases

Despite the figure, the Biden administration is proud of the millions of people who have entered the country illegally during its term. In a release, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) celebrated that the nation is keeping its promise to be a place "of welcome & possibility" by processing more than 10 million pending cases and also noted that during fiscal year 2023, they received 10.9 million applications.

To achieve these numbers, the agency boasts the implementation of several measures deemed illegal by Republicans, which led GOP lawmakers in the House to file articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.