By Miriam Gutierrez, Jan 21, 2025

In recent years, there has been an unprecedented number of illegal aliens entering onto US soil.  Illegal aliens encountered at U.S. borders include suspected terrorists, those requesting asylum, unaccompanied children, convicted criminals, human traffickers, and drug traffickers. Some people who are trafficking illegal aliens have come from Latin American countries, such as Venezuela. The Venezuela’s Maduro Regime has instigated a mass migration onto U.S. soil since 2021, increasing the flow of migration into the U.S.

The inflow of illegal immigrants has imposed a burden on American taxpayers. Americans are now paying a net cost of 150.7 billion dollars annually due to illegal immigration costs. The gross expenditure due to illegal immigration is approximately $182 billion. Illegal immigration tax receipts are composed of only $31 billion.

The illegal-alien burden is imposed on local, state, and federal governments. Illegal aliens usually have low incomes, and their tax payments, if made, are generally low. Illegal aliens receive various benefits from public services, including k-12 education, emergency services, and police services. Illegal aliens also receive social benefits from federal, state, and local jurisdictions, such as Meals in School, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Women, Infants, and Children (WIC(, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Public Housing.

Most illegal-alien costs are incurred at state and local levels. The highest illegal-alien expenditures at the state and local levels are K-12 education of children of illegal parents, costing U.S. taxpayers about $70 billion each year. The second-highest expenditure for illegal aliens at state level is medical expenditures of about $22 billion annually. There are also additional costs such as uncompensated medical care, improper Medicaid payouts (fraud), Medicaid for citizen children of illegal aliens, and certain state laws that provide Medicaid coverage for illegal aliens.

Illegal-alien parolees are also eligible for benefits of administration programs for parolees of certain countries (Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela). These parolees are eligible to obtain work permits, Social Security numbers, Obamacare, and tax credits such as Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC).

Illegal-alien parolees are also eligible for federal-benefit programs. They are qualified under the law to receive benefits under Medicaid, Social Security, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Federal Student Aid.

The forces driving the current illegal immigration over American borders are the previous U.S. open-border policies. These policies were enacted by Democratic-party administrators and politicians. The incentive of the Democratic policies is to increase the democratic votes and congressional seats after the 2030 Census count.

Below are key highlights of illegal-immigration costs on federal, state, local governments, and US taxpayers: (FAIR Federation for American Immigration Reform, March 2023).

1. At the start of 2023, the net cost of illegal immigration for the US - at the federal, state, and local levels – was at least $150.7 billion per year.
2. FAIR arrives at this number by subtracting the tax revenue paid by illegal aliens – just under $32 billion – from the gross negative economic impact of illegal immigration, $182 billion.
3. In 2017, the estimated yearly net cost of illegal immigration was approximately $116 billion. In just 5 years, the yearly net cost to Americans has increased by nearly $35 billion.
4. On the average, illegal immigration costs each American taxpayer $1,156 per year ($957 after factoring in taxes paid by illegal aliens).
5. Each illegal alien or U.S.-born child of illegal aliens costs the U.S. $8,776 annually.
6. Evidence shows that tax payments by illegal aliens cover only around a sixth of the costs they create at all levels in this country.
7. A large percentage of illegal aliens who work in the underground economy frequently avoid paying any income tax at all.

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Dusty Miriam Gutierrez has earned degrees in economics, IT, and legal technology, and has published an economic article in the Townhall magazine.