The hard cost of amnesty: $6.3 trillion in benefits handed out to illegals

Sunday, May 29, 2016 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: amnesty, government services, welfare

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(NaturalNews) Apologists for open borders regularly refute the fact that illegal aliens cost U.S. taxpayers far more than they contribute to society, but a new study not only proves that but notes that such costs are only going to skyrocket if new "reform" legislation under consideration in the Senate becomes law.

The conservative Heritage Foundation, in a new report, said the new law would cost taxpayers up to $6.3 trillion "if 11 million illegal immigrants are granted legal status," Fox News said, citing the report:

The cost would arise from illegal immigrants tapping into the government's vast network of benefits and services, many of which are currently unavailable to them. This includes everything from standard benefits like Social Security and Medicare to dozens of welfare programs ranging from housing assistance to food stamps.

"No matter how you slice it, amnesty will add a tremendous amount of pressure on America's already strained public purse," said Heritage scholar Robert Rector, who prepared the report.

'No way this is good for the American taxpayer'

As expected, the study is already being attacked by a number of groups and economists who are challenging its assumptions. Most of them say the addition of so many illegals will only fuel economic growth, but Heritage chief Jim DeMint, a former U.S. congressman, said those assertions are simply incorrect.

"There's no way you can look at this and say that it's good for the American taxpayer," he told Fox News.

In past immigration debates, Republicans have traditionally held a hard line against any form of amnesty, which is what the current Senate bill would grant. But this time around, Republicans - encouraged by open-borders advocates in Corporate America and on Wall Street (it's the cheaper labor, you see) are siding with no borders Democrats (who know that most will vote for their party once they are given citizenship).

The losers? The American taxpayer and American cultural integrity.

Aside from looking merely at benefits, the study also factored in public-sector costs like education, police protection, highway maintenance, and other services. "The government is already providing some of those services to illegal immigrants, so the $6.3 trillion figure would not represent all new costs," Fox reported.

Rather, most of the $6.3 trillion figure stems from new costs - health care coverage under Obamacare, for instance, because most of those currently in the country illegally are poor. Granted, the study's authors acknowledge that the Senate bill contains a provision barring this group of amnesty seekers from accessing most government benefits, but after that window expires, Heritage said costs would skyrocket. Per Fox News:

On an annual basis, the report estimates the cost will be $106 billion after the interim phase is over. In the course of their lifetime, the report estimates that illegal immigrant households would receive an average of $592,000 in government benefits.

The overall cost figure is what illegal aliens would cost the government; the report also factors in the expected $3.1 trillion in taxes they would pay.

Costs for all services will increase

Researchers noted there were four types of taxpayer-financed benefits "relevant to this issue." They are:

Direct benefits.. These include Social Security, unemployment insurance, Medicare, Medicaid and worker's compensation.

Means-tested welfare benefits. "There are over 80 of these programs which, at a cost of nearly $900 billion per year, provide cash, food, housing, medical, and other services to roughly 100 million low-income Americans. Major programs include Medicaid, food stamps, the refundable Earned Income Tax Credit, public housing, Supplemental Security Income, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families," says the report.

Public education costs. At a cost of $12,300 per student per year, such services are either largely free or heavily subsidized for poor parents.

Population-based services. These include police/fire/EMS, highway and transportation services, parks, roads/bridges and other infrastructure. All of these services "generally have to expand as new immigrants enter a community; someone has to bear the cost of that expansion," said the report.

Critics abound, but Heritage stands firmly behind its research.

"Those who claim that amnesty will not create a large fiscal burden are simply in a state of denial concerning the underlying redistributional nature of government policy in the 21st century," the report said.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.heritage.org

http://www.foxnews.com

http://www.fairus.org