The Cost of the Shuler Immigration Bill

Legislation sponsored by Congressman Heath Shuler (D-North Carolina) whereby employers would have to verify the work eligibility of all employees within four years using the currently voluntary system run the Department of Homeland Security has now been scored by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

CBO has placed a 10-year, $23 billion price tag on the Shuler bill that Republicans are pushing to bring to the House floor for a vote. The petition to bring the bill to the floor now has 185 signatures, short of the 218 needed to force a floor vote. Shuler is disputing the cost of the bill and HAI has learned Shuler has requested a conference call with CBO analysts to discuss their assumptions.

Shuler’s major complaint about the CBO analysis is that it does not counterbalance implementation costs with the costs of illegal immigration. For example, in Shuler’s state of North Carolina, at least $1 billion annually goes to education and health care costs for illegal immigrants according to Shuler’s staff.

CBO said the bill would cause federal revenues to decrease by more than $17 billion over the same time period because employers would stop paying taxes for their undocumented employees. In a single year, CBO also said the bill would cost private-sector employers $136 million and state and local governments $68 million to comply with the bill’s employment verification requirements.

HAI will continue to monitor this issue and provide updates as developments occur in Washington.
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