Do illegal immigrants help or hurt economy? (medical, health care, gas prices)

[HoustonCynic]

Does anyone have a link to a reputable web sites analyzing net gain/loss impacts of illegal immigrants on USA?

Do illegal immigrants help or hurt economy?

One of the most contentious issues in the immigration debate is whether illegal immigrants create a net loss or a net gain for local, state and federal government coffers.

To answer the question, one needs to know how much illegal immigrants contribute to the government through income, sales, property and other taxes; and how much they cost the government in using public services such as education, health care and law enforcement. Acquiring that information is not easy.

[Quirky Cynick]

Originally Posted by HoustonCynic

Does anyone have a link to a reputable web sites analyzing net gain/loss impacts of illegal immigrants on USA?

Do illegal immigrants help or hurt economy?

http://www.cairco.org/econ/econ.html

Illegal aliens cost $10 billion in 2002

A new Center for Immigration Studies report was released in August, 2004 that shows that illegal immigration cost $10 billion in 2002.4 Based on Census Bureau data, the study estimates that households headed by illegal aliens used $10 billion more in government services than they paid in taxes in 2002. These figures are only for the federal government; costs at the state and local level are also likely to be significant. The study also finds that if illegals were given amnesty, the fiscal deficit at the federal level would grow to nearly $29 billion. Among the findings:

* Illegal alien households are estimated to use $2,700 a year more in services than they pay in taxes, creating a total fiscal burden of nearly $10.4 billion on the federal budget in 2002.
* Among the largest federal costs: Medicaid ($2.5 billion); treatment for the uninsured ($2.2 billion); food assistance programs ($1.9 billion); the federal prison and court systems ($1.6 billion); and federal aid to schools ($1.4 billion).
* If illegal aliens were legalized and began to pay taxes and use services like legal immigrants with the same education levels, the estimated annual fiscal deficit at the federal level would increase from $2,700 per household to nearly $7,700, for a total federal deficit of $29 billion.
* Because many of the costs are due to their U.S.-born children, who are awarded U.S. citizenship at birth, barring illegals themselves from federal programs will not significantly reduce costs.
* Although they create a net drain on the federal government, the average illegal household pays more than $4,200 a year in federal taxes, for a total of nearly $16 billion.
* However, they impose annual costs of more than $26.3 billion, or about $6,950 per illegal household.
* About 43 percent, or $7 billion, of the federal taxes illegals pay go to Social Security and Medicare.
A 1997 report by the National Research Council (NRC) on the fiscal impact of immigrants concluded that education levels and resulting income is the primary determinant of tax payments and service use, which is also a central finding of this report. The results of this study closely match the findings of a 1998 Urban Institute study. Our estimated average tax payment for illegal households in New York State are almost identical to that of the Urban Institute, when adjusted for inflation. The results of this study are also buttressed by an analysis of illegal alien tax returns done by the Inspector General’s Office of the Department of Treasury in 2004, which found that about half had no federal income tax liability, very similar to the study's findings of 45 percent.

[malamute]

How high is our national debt now with 30 - 40 million illegals? How well is the mortgage industry doing now that they are here? How are Americans doing with the high inflation of gas prices, food prices, and health care cost increases?

Our economy is not in good shape, 30-40 million illegals being here has not brought about some utopia.

[HoustonCynic]

Originally Posted by malamute

How high is our national debt now with 30 - 40 million illegals? How well is the mortgage industry doing now that they are here? How are Americans doing with the high inflation of gas prices, food prices, and health care cost increases?

Our economy is not in good shape, 30-40 million illegals being here has not brought about some utopia.

Thanks for the web site information.

[malamute]

You need a web site to tell you what meat and milk prices now are? Or that the mortgage and housing industry is collapsing? I'd suggest going to cnn, msn news, abc news.

The economy is in poor shape overall. Obviously some have benefitted very very well with all their cheap labor but the country has not. Taxpayers have not.

It would have to be many web sites. All the public schools affected by free education with many remedial programs and the expensive bilingual programs, the cost of free medical care provided by hospitals, and the Medicaid provided the offspring of illegals at clinics and hospitals. The increase in fuel costs for a very rapidly growing population and government costs of subsidizing fuel for low wage illegals. The costs of incarcerating illegals in our prisons and jails, the government costs of food stamps, WIC, Medicaid and special programs to assist them.

But also you'd have to add in the costs of unemployment of Americans. The American teen whose job application was simply discarded because he couldn't speak Spanish and so was seen as unqualified to work at a McDonalds. The costs of failing to improve employment opportunities to those in the inner cities, which was certainly a viable alternative to bringing in truckloads of illegals to fill many jobs.

Trying to figure out the total cost would be pretty massive an undertaking.