Thread: TX: Study: Illegal immigration costs state $4.5-6 billion

Study: Illegal immigration costs state billions
By ELAINE AYALA San Antonio Express-News
April 24, 2009, 9:35AM

A new study by the Austin-based Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas estimates that illegal immigration costs the state $4.5 billion to $6 billion a year, an amount mostly spent on educating their children.

But the study’s methodology was called flawed by the liberal Migration Policy Institute and the Center for Public Policy Priorities, as well as the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund.

Written by consultant James Bernsen — who did a similar study in 2006 for the conservative Lone Star Foundation — the report found that the costs of educating children of unauthorized immigrants aren’t offset by the estimated $1 billion a year in tax revenues the state collects from their parents, making such families a burden to the state.

“A perfect picture will continue to be impossible as long as state bureaucrats intentionally refuse to collect appropriate data on the numbers of illegal immigrants using Texas government services, particularly education,â€

$1 billion a year in tax revenues the state collects from their parents

This money comes from property taxes and if illegal aliens were not living here, that money would still be collected by an American property owner. I'm not giving them credit for that either.

Dixie

[quote="jamesw62"]
That’s a risky assumption “not based in reality,â€

The study only takes into account direct costs and does not take into account the increased reliance on public services of the Americans recipients who are negatively impacted by a rise in unemployment and a decrease in wages for low skill jobs due to illegal competition.

The actual costs are way more. Such studies only count some of the direct costs and almost no indirect costs.

A more comprehensive study in Colorado a few years ago came up with $1.8B/year and even it didn't count up hardly any of the indirect costs.

One of the larger indirect costs that was estimated in the CO study was lost wages of citizens as illegal aliens are pulling down compensation in any area they work in.

Based on a quick population ratio comparasion between CO and TX, that would put the costs of illegal aliens in Texas at around $8.8B/year. Since TX has a larger percentage of illegal aliens than Colorado, the actual number would be even higher. Using a simple ratio of the two state's percentages of illegal aliens, the cost of illegal aliens in TX would be $12.7B per year.

To see some of the indirect costs of illegal aliens that almost nobody adds up:

SUMMARY OF COLLATERAL DAMAGE http://www.darksideofillegalimmigration.com/page17.html

Somebody in TX aught to ask Luis Figueroa, MALDEF’s legislative staff attorney, where his data is for his contention that illegal aliens "avoid government services and government agencies."

About the only government agencies they really avoid are the Border Patrol and ICE.

The property tax issue is stupid because they MIGHT be paying taxes, but when there are multiple families in one house the taxpayer ends up paying. Us Texans have known the costs for years, but we only get pandered to during election season, then it's back to giving illegals more special treatment.

Most of the illegal alien men here working have a dependent spouse/girlfriend and anchor babies. Unless the biggest magnets-welfare and anchor baby citizenship are withdrawn, taking away the job magnet will not have much effect. Many, many illegal aliens are people here not working and never intend to.