A recent study by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) puts a price tag on illegal immigration.
It turns out that according to the study illegal immigrants and their children cost American taxpayers, you and I, $135 billion every year.
We often hear the argument that illegal immigrants pay enough in taxes to more than offset their costs to the state and federal government, but according to the study, that's simply not the case. Illegal immigrants pay almost $19 billion a year in taxes, but their cost to both state and federal governments is just under $135 billion per annum.
The net burden to the nation for allowing people to immigrate illegally into the country is thus about $115 billion every year, and it's rising.
Of this cost, almost $89 billion is borne by the states with the remaining $46 billion paid out by the federal government.
The Federation's 68 page report documents that the average state, local and federal spending comes to $8,075 for each of the of 12.5 million illegal immigrants and their 4.2 million citizen children.
This includes $29 billion in medical care, $23 billion for law enforcement, $9 billion in welfare, $46 billion for education.
Much of the education cost is a consequence of having to teach children who don't speak English. FAIR's study estimates that that educational effort costs on average over $12,000 per student per year, and as much as $25,000 per student in New York. Add to that amount the expense of welfare, health care, school lunches, and the per student price soars.
California leads all states in spending on illegal immigrants at $23 billion per year, followed by Texas at $11 billion, and New York at $7.4 billion.
Whatever the good arguments may be for amnesty, the argument that illegal immigrants pay for themselves is surely not among them. Indeed, they are placing a crushing economic burden on states and communities in particular and taxpayers in general.
The cost of border enforcement may be high, the cost of a wall may be high, but the cost of doing neither is simply unsustainable.