Boom: Wall would save taxpayers $64 billion in freebies for illegals
Boom: Wall would save taxpayers $64 billion in freebies for illegals
By PAUL BEDARD (@SECRETSBEDARD) •
2/16/17 10:58 AM
Even if President Trump's border wall cost the highest estimation of $16 billion, it would save that amount in just the first three years of operation by eliminating the lifetime cost to taxpayers for letting 170,000 slip in every year, according to a new analysis.
The authoritative Center for Immigration Studies Thursday crunched the numbers in a new analysis and found that even if the wall failed to stop the bulk of illegals, it would still pay for itself in a decade by cutting welfare, education, and other associated lifetime costs to federal, state and local taxpayers to care for undocumented immigrants.
"If a border wall stopped a small fraction of the illegal immigrants who are expected to come in the next decade, the fiscal savings from having fewer illegal immigrants in the country would be sufficient to cover the costs of the wall," said the report from Steven A. Camarota, director of research for CIS.
He explained that costs are driven by the low education levels for illegals, more than half of whom have not made it through high school.y
"In short, illegal border-crossers are a large net fiscal drain because of their education levels and this fact drives the results. Therefore, a border wall would pay for itself even if it only stops a modest fraction of those expected to successfully cross in the next decade," he wrote.
Trump has already put construction of the wall in motion and Congress is considering ways to fund it. Much of the wall is already in place, built by other administrations.
Camarota's report revealed some stunning numbers on illegal immigration and the costs to taxpayers. According to the report:
— 170,000 illegal crossings occur each year, according to the Institute for Defense Analyses.
— In addition to border crossers, many join the illegal population "primarily by overstaying a temporary visa." Those, a wall won't stop.
— The taxes paid versus services used lifetime fiscal drain per illegal is $74,722, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
— Include descendants for illegals, and that cost jumps to $94,391.
— "If one assumes a 45- or 50-year lifespan for illegal immigrants after they arrive and that the fiscal drain is evenly spread throughout their time in the United States, then the actual average fiscal costs are likely between $140,000 to $150,000."
— Much of the costs of illegal immigration are on the state and local level, not federal government. If the fiscal impact is just focused on the federal government, a payoff would take longer than three years.
Camarota suggests several scenarios a wall would stop.
In one, half would be blocked from entering, saving federal, state and local taxpayers nearly $64 billion in 10 years. That's $6.4 billion for stopping 85,000 illegals each year, a cost that would pay for the wall in three years.
In another, he writes, "a border wall prevented 160,000 to 200,000 illegal crossings (excluding descendants) in the next 10 years it would be enough to pay for the estimated $12 to $15 billion costs of the wall."
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/bo...rticle/2614999
