House Republicans released a report that totaled the costs of record-high illegal immigration at the southern border under the Biden administration and estimated that U.S. taxpayers have paid nearly half a trillion dollars.
The House Homeland Security Committee on Monday debuted a 49-page document that broke down the education, healthcare, law enforcement, and other costs that the arrests of more than 6 million illegal immigrants have generated since early 2021.
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"Every day, millions of American taxpayer dollars are spent on costs directly associated with illegal immigration and the unprecedented crisis at the Southwest border sparked by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ policies," the report stated. "Mass illegal immigration, accelerated by Mayorkas’ open-borders policies, now represents a massive cost to the federal government and state governments alike, as well as the pocketbooks of private citizens and businesses."
The report comes as the House will weigh an impeachment resolution Monday evening against Mayorkas brought by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
The GOP report, authorized by Chairman Mark Green (R-TN), cites data calculated by conservative- and liberal-leaning immigration organizations as the basis for its cost estimates. The highest estimate was generated by the right-leaning Center for Immigration Studies, which concluded taxpayers would have to contribute $451 billion to cover the price of caring for immigrants released from the border into the United States.
New York City, Washington, D.C., and Chicago have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to date responding to thousands of immigrants who have traveled to these sanctuary zones in search of housing, jobs, and assistance. New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, stated earlier this fall that the border crisis "will destroy" the city.
A 2019 study by the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute concluded more than half of illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. do not have health insurance, placing a greater cost burden on U.S. taxpayers.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found emergency medical services for "undocumented aliens" in 2021 were beyond $7 billion. As one example, New York City hospitals reported 30,000 visits by illegal immigrants over the past year, including 300 births.
On the law enforcement side, police expenditures on illegal immigrants came under just under $9 billion in 2022, according to the National Institute of Corrections and Justice Department data. Another $1 billion went toward the incarceration of illegal immigrants, which was a separate cost from immigrants who were placed temporarily in immigration detention.
The right-leaning Federation for American Immigration Reform estimated education costs could be nearly $17 billion nationwide.
Although illegal immigrants may pay into taxes, it did not offset costs incurred by the U.S. government, FAIR also found.
"Illegal immigration’s annual net burden on the U.S. economy as of 2022 totaled more than $150 billion," the GOP report summary stated. "In particular, researchers found that illegal immigration imposes around $182 billion in federal, state, and local costs, while illegal aliens pay approximately $31 billion in total tax contributions. The federal government is responsible for more than $66 billion in expenditures, an increase of 45 percent from 2017, while the states foot the bill for more than $115 billion in additional spending on illegal aliens."
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The report was the fourth since the committee launched a six-part investigation into the DHS's handling of the border crisis since early 2021.
The Washington Examiner reached out to DHS for comment.