What Illegal Immigration Costs You

Some have warned that legalizing millions of illegal immigrants – as President Obama is threatening to do by executive order – will be a huge financial burden this nation's families cannot afford.  In a new policy paper, Heritage researcher David Inserra offers some shocking numbers to buttress this warning:

The government services system is highly redistributive:  In 2010, in the whole US population,

• households with college-educated heads received an average of $24,839 in government benefits, while paying $54,089 in taxes (a net loss of $29,250 per household);
• households headed by persons without a high school degree received an average of $46,582 in government benefits, while paying $11,469 in taxes (a net benefit of $35,113 per household).

The typical unlawful immigrant has only a 10th grade education. Half of unlawful immigrant heads of households don’t have a high school degree, and another 25% have only a high school degree.  In 2010,

• the average unlawful immigrant household received around $24,721 in government benefits and services, while paying some $10,334 in taxes (a net benefit of $14,387 per household).

The typical unlawful immigrant is 34 years old. If granted amnesty,

• this individual would be eligible for Social Security, Obamacare, Medicare, and over 80 means-tested welfare programs, including Medicaid, food stamps, the Earned Income Tax Credit, public housing, Supplemental Security Income, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families;
• this individual will receive government benefits for 50 years;
• over a lifetime, the up to 11.5 million former unlawful immigrants would receive $9.4 trillion in government benefits and services, while paying only $3.1 trillion in taxes — creating a lifetime fiscal deficit of $6.3 trillion.

Inserra writes:

Under President Barack Obama, immigration laws are unilaterally ignored, waived, or changed … The result of such lawlessness is that the rule of law suffers and more illegal immigration is encouraged, imposing large financial and security costs on the U.S. Indeed, the U.S. immigration system is broken because of the executive branch’s decision not to faithfully execute existing immigration law.

Inserra outlines 10 steps the next president can take to fulfill his duty to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed" — the first step in fixing the U.S. immigration system.