The Heritage Foundation showcased a report detailing the cost and burden of the illegal immigration crisis to ordinary Americans including higher taxes, overcrowded emergency rooms, increased crime in communities, and overcrowded classrooms, according to Erin Dwinell, a senior research associate in the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation.
According to the research, illegal migrants cost taxpayers billions of dollars a year to the tune of $4.59 billion last year, or $930 per household.
Dwinell notes that border states and their communities have been overwhelmed under the administration's policies, with the crisis costing California $21.76 billion and Texas $8.88 billion in education, health care, law enforcement, welfare, and other programs. Border states have endured shocking reports of violent taxes, with taxpayers paying for illegal migrants' health care costs and property damage.
In states like New York, Dwinell noted that at a rate of $65,116 per migrant, Mayor Eric Adams estimates that his city will need to allocate $2.8 billion in the next fiscal year to deal with the migrant influx. This year, New Jersey will have to spend $15 million to provide health care benefits to the children of migrants.
Following Texas' Operation Lone Star in September to decrease illegal migrant crossings and prevent drug and human trafficking, Texas had to allocate around $4 billion for such efforts, averaging $2.5 million per year. In July, Colorado was on course to spend an estimated $12 million per year in state and local government benefits, professional licenses, and other business-related permits for illegals.
According to Dwinell, President Biden's open-door policies have increased criminal activity in America, including homicides, manslaughter, robbery and theft, sexual offenses, weapons, drug trafficking, and human trafficking.
Last year, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested an estimated 1,142 illegals convicted of assault, battery, or domestic violence. The agency also arrested around 1,614 convicted of driving under the influence and 2,239 for drug possession and trafficking.
The U.S. CBP arrested around 12,028 migrants convicted of various crimes. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 71,000 lives were lost to fentanyl overdoses in 2021 coming from the southern border.
Dwinell explains that since coming into office, the President and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas eliminated border and interior immigration enforcement, including 89 successful border policies within their first year and dropping the number of illegal migrants arrested from 11,000 to 3,000 per month, making it the lowest since 1999.
The research notes that the DHS and the administration have transitioned resources to process more illegal migrants into the country. The current fiscal year's budget includes 300 Border Patrol agents at $65 million assigned to process and care for instead of arrest and deport.
The good news is that states have been enacting laws requiring citizenship and proof of lawful status to obtain public benefits and employment, allowing law enforcement officials to protect their communities, Dwinell said.
Despite the actions of states, the research concludes that the President and his administration must "step up and take on its responsibility to safeguard our nation's borders and the American people."
"A great start to securing our border is Sen. Budd's and Rep. Bank's new Build the Wall Now Act supported by FAIR. The bill would require border wall construction to begin again within 24 hours of the bill's passage. It would also free up more than $2 billion in previously appropriated funds and clear legal roadblocks holding up construction," said Ron Kovach, Press Secretary for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) to the Foreign Desk.
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