The Fiscal Consequences of Parole During the Biden Administration
By Steven A. Camarota on July 15, 2025
The decision by the Biden administration to parole nearly three million otherwise inadmissible aliens into the country represents a profound distortion of the intent of the program, which is supposed to be used on a limited case-by-case basis due to compelling humanitarian need or because of a significant benefit to the United States. My testimony will focus on the fiscal consequences of this policy. The limited information available indicates that recent parolees are almost certainly a net fiscal drain — creating more in costs than they pay in taxes. This is primarily due to their relatively low average education levels, resulting in low average earnings and tax payments. Their lower average incomes allow a large share to qualify for means-tested programs. About half of households headed by newly arrived immigrants from the primary parolee-sending countries receive welfare. Recent male parolees have a relatively high rate of work. However, given the realities of the modern American economy, our extensive social safety net, and progressive system of taxation, allowing large numbers of less-educated people into the country unavoidably creates fiscal costs. This fact should be a key consideration when formulating policy.
https://cis.org/Testimony/Fiscal-Consequences-Parole-During-Biden-Administration
