http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/03/deportation_cost.html
The total cost of mass deportation and continuing border interdiction and interior enforcement efforts would be $285 billion (in 2008 dollars) over five years. Spending $285 billion would require $922 in new taxes for every man, woman, and child in this country.
5 percent of our nationâs workforceâapproximately 8.3 million workers in March 2008âto remain undocumented in our country.
In fact, a recent study by the Center for American Progress and the Immigration Policy Center demonstrates how legalization of undocumented immigrants and more flexible immigration channels would significantly expand the economyâby a cumulative $1.5 trillion in gross domestic product over 10 yearsâthrough increased consumer spending, higher tax receipts, and other related factors. A deportation approach, by contrast, would have the cumulative effect of draining $2.5 trillion over 10 years from the U.S. economy. That is a $4 trillion swing in GDP depending on which policy approach we adopt.
Read the full report
Reduce the cost of deportation with a âpay to stayâ reform plan
By ANDREA MARTINEZ
It costs the American taxpayer $23,000 to deport one immigrant.
In 2010, the U.S. government deported more than 197,000 immigrants with no criminal record. Thatâs $4.5 billion spent per year deporting immigrants who have not committed a crime. Contrary to popular belief, immigration violations for the most part are civil, not criminal, infractions. These ânon-criminalâ immigrants are in the United States simply to make a better life for themselves and their families ⦠the same motivation that caused most of our ancestors to immigrate.
Immigrant detention alone costs the U.S. taxpayer $122 per day per immigrant. Most immigrants spend two-to-four weeks in detention before they are boarded onto a U.S.-funded flight back âhome.â Many soon return to the United States.
The American taxpayer is funding all of this. Or more accurately, it is a loan from China and an increased national debt that is paying for it. I contend that mass-deportation of non-criminal immigrants is fiscally irresponsible â especially in an age of such limited resources. It is a lose-lose situation. The immigrant loses, for obvious reasons, while the American taxpayers lose for having to mortgage their grandchildrenâs future to fund the effort. It is the definition of a broken system.
A long-term fix for the problem requires comprehensive immigration reform, not open borders. Visa numbers must be increased to meet the marketâs current demands. Employers shouldnât have to wait 10 years to hire a foreign worker they need.
Families must have a faster option for reunification. For example, there is currently an 18-year backlog for an unmarried Mexican son of a U.S. citizen to join his parent âthe legal way.â
Iâm convinced that large numbers of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. have the necessary relationships to immigrate to the U.S. âlegallyâ but canât do so because of absurdly long waits and systemic barriers that didnât even exist a decade ago.
Instead of making the American taxpayer shell out $23,000 per immigrant deported, I propose that we give immigrants with no serious criminal history the opportunity to pay us to live legally in the United States.
Letâs be honest, America desperately needs the additional resources to pay down its soaring national debt. These work-authorized immigrants would be an immediate boost to the economy in the form of increased wages, better working conditions for both U.S. and foreign workers, and increased tax revenue.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office confirms that this type of reform of U.S. immigration laws could inject up to $1.5 trillion into the U.S. economy over 10 years. A deportation-only policy, in contrast, would result in a loss of $2.6 trillion in GDP over 10 years.
I want to be clear that this âpay to stayâ option should not be offered to immigrants with criminal histories. The government should continue its effort of deporting immigrants with serious criminal convictions. But deporting immigrants who simply came to the United States to make better lives for themselves is a distraction from the more important task of protecting America against national security threats and dangerous criminals.
It is in Americaâs best interest to stop deporting non-criminal, undocumented immigrants in the United States and start charging them to stay. Giving immigrants who are already in the U.S. authorization to work and live would prevent employers from underpaying them. Immigrants with valid work authorization could demand fair wages for their labor and open small businesses, which would in turn create more economic opportunities for U.S. workers.
Itâs time to put pragmatism over politics and start capitalizing on Americaâs most untapped resource: immigrants.
Andrea C. Martinez of North Kansas City is an immigration attorney in private practice. Reach her at
oped@kcstar.com or write to Midwest Voices, Editorial Page, The Kansas City Star, 1729 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64108.
Read more:
http://www.kansascity.com/2011/05/13/2872967/reduce-the-cost-of-deportation.html#ixzz1MOIaYxO1
Quote from Artful D0dger:
Nonsense. If they are here working under the table, they are taking a job for a legal American. We currently have a huge unemployment problem. Want to create 20 million jobs and raise wages for the working class? Kick out the 20 million illegals.
It will cost nowhere near 100k per illegal, most stupid faux facts to support illegals. Basically, according to you, anyone who makes it into the nation somehow should be allowed to get citizenship. Bullshit. We don't need to incarcerate them or prosecute them. We just need to get rid of them. It's not that difficult.
