Immigration’s Costs

Even if you’re the most enlightened and sensitive of men – or women – you might be a tad upset if the government billed you for the medical/legal/welfare expenses of strangers who were camping out in your neighborhood illegally.

San Diego County taxpayers have received such a bill – for $101.5 million annually. The county asked for a study documenting how much illegal aliens were costing the taxpayers. Direct expenditures on behalf of illegal immigrants cost the county $101.5 million annually.

But that figure only includes county expenses, not those of hospitals and schools, which are funded privately or by other levels of government. Considering the high cost of medical benefits and education, the total cost of illegal immigrants to the taxpayers of San Diego County could easily exceed $200 million annually.

While this is outrageous for taxpayers, it’s an exceptionally good deal for illegal immigrants.

It is estimated that there are about 210,000 illegal immigrants living in San Diego County. So math professors among us – or anyone with a calculator – can estimate the national costs of 12 million illegal aliens.

Nearly half of the San Diego sum – $48.5 million – was spent by the Sheriff’s Department to house inmates in area jails, according to the report.

The sum, of course, doesn’t include the human costs and fiscal expenses of the crimes the illegal immigrants are in jail for.

The Board of Supervisors said they will pass the information to the county’s congressional delegation. Perhaps a special copy should be sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who just said building a border fence is a “terrible idea.â€