Reducing the Size of the Illegal Population Would Not Impose ‘Devastating Costs’
Immigration lawyers’ think tank exaggerates price tag
FacebookTwitterRedditLinkedInEmailCopy LinkPrint
By Jason Richwine on October 4, 2024
A report from the immigration lawyers’ think tank suggests Disney would have trouble finding cast members if illegal aliens were to be deported.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the number of “other foreign nationals” (mostly illegals) who entered in 2021-2023 exceeded the agency’s baseline expectations by over 4 million, with more on the way. The ongoing influx defies the will of Congress, flouts the rule of law, strains infrastructure, reduces labor market opportunities for less-educated Americans, and threatens to remake the U.S. culturally and politically.
So what can be done to reverse course? Nothing, says the American Immigration Council (AIC, established by the American Immigration Lawyers Association as its “non-profit partner”), because deportation is too expensive. According to that organization’s new report, removing even 1 million illegal immigrants would cost $88 billion per year. Frankly, with a federal budget topping $6 trillion, $88 billion does not sound like a prohibitive sum. Nevertheless, removing illegal aliens is not nearly as costly the AIC imagines. In fact, it would save taxpayers money on public services that illegal immigrants consume.
To begin with, much of the estimated cost in the AIC report derives from fanciful deportation forces and mass detention camps that are the stuff of political rhetoric only. Policymakers serious about reducing the illegal population should pursue attrition through enforcement. As my colleague Jessica Vaughan has explained, “mandatory workplace verification of immigration status; measures to curb misuse of Social Security and IRS identification numbers; partnerships with state and local law enforcement officials; expanded entry-exit recording under US-VISIT; increased non-criminal removals; and state and local laws to discourage illegal settlement” are inexpensive measures that can combine to reduce the illegal population over time.
https://cis.org/Richwine/Reducing-Size-Illegal-Population-Would-Not-Impose-Devastating-Costs
