Illegal immigrants who have crossed the southern border since President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took office are costing U.S. taxpayers an additional $20.4 billion each year, says R.J. Hauman, director of government relations and communications at the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).
“The American taxpayer is really bearing the brunt of this,” Hauman told NTD’s Capitol Report during a Sept. 15 interview.
Customs and Border Protection estimates land “encounters” with illegal immigrants to be about 2 million so far in 2022. FAIR estimates that with “got-aways,” the total is closer to 2.3 million for 2022.
FAIR conducted a study in 2017 and found that the cost to American taxpayers each year for all the illegal immigrants living in the United States was close to $116 billion, but with the additional 2.3 million people, it makes the total burden closer to $140 billion annually.
The FAIR study then did comparisons and found that amount could “provide every homeless veteran $50,000 a year for a decade, … you could do 315,000 police officers, 330,000 teachers, but instead, the Biden administration is giving all that money to illegal aliens,” said Hauman.
“Based on the most recent comprehensive cost study, FAIR conservatively estimates that each illegal alien costs American taxpayers $9,232 per year,” a recent FAIR press statement states.
Meanwhile, Harris recently told reporters that the border is secure and the administration is doing much more to secure the border than the former president, Donald Trump.
Piggy-backing on what Harris said, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at the Sept. 15 press briefing, “We agree that the border is secure, but there is still more work to be done.”
“We’ll say this: Rebuilding the immigration system, especially one that was decimated under the previous administration, won’t happen overnight. We’re not going to flip a switch and get that done,” added Jean-Pierre.
“They are in absolute la-la-land. They do not care about addressing the crisis,” said Hauman. “They want to keep the border open and give amnesty to every illegal alien in the country.”
The Epoch Times reached out to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for comment.
Border states are bearing the brunt of the cost to house the nearly 2.3 million illegal immingrants including Texas, Florida, California, and Arizona.
Customs and Border Protection officers conduct a training exercise on the halfway point of the international bridge between the United States and Mexico, in Eagle Pass, Texas, on April 19, 2022. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times
“If we use the minimum estimated costs for services Texas provides to unlawfully present and undocumented aliens, taxpayers are shelling out an estimated $855 million every year,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a March 2021 statement.
In a 2017 study, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) found that “the total fiscal drain for the entire illegal population is estimated at $746.3 billion,” the Center for Immigration Studies reported.
Hauman said if the Republicans take back the House, they should secure the border and take immediate steps to reform the immigration system.
He recommends that the GOP immediately pass legislation to secure the southern border, use the committees to conduct thorough oversight of the DHS, potentially impeach Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and strictly control where the money to DHS is being spent.
Steve Lance is the host of Capitol Report, a political news show based in Washington aimed at providing a direct channel to the voices and people who shape policy in America. Capitol Report features all of the political news of the day with expert interviews and analysis.
