More than 80,000 illegal immigrants believed in Minnesota
More than 80,000 illegal immigrants believed in Minnesota
Pioneer Press
The growing number of illegal immigrants in Minnesota is costing the state approximately $180 million a year in education, health and criminal incarceration expenses, according to state report issued today.
The illegal immigrant population is increasing in Minnesota and now numbers an estimated 80,000 to 85,000 people, said a report by the Office of Strategic Planning and Results Management, released Thursday.
The illegal immigrants cost the state from $146 million to $156 million in added K-12 public education expenses alone for the 2004 fiscal year, the report said. More than 17,000 children of illegal immigrants are believed to be Minnesota schools.
The report also estimated an extra $17 million in public assistance health care programs and $13 million for criminal incarceration for the 2005 fiscal year.
More than 500 illegal immigrants are in Minnesota prisons, and 1,571 criminal aliens were deported from the area in during the 2004 fiscal year. The state fiscal year runs from July 1, through June 30 of the following year.
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