The cost to American taxpayers for the failure to control the border after the first year of the Biden’s administration is $6.6 billion, according to a new report by Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).
“The number of people surging across our border has been well-reported. This new analysis by FAIR sheds light on the reasons behind the crisis. While Vice President Kamala Harris continues to search for ‘root causes’ of this crisis in Central America and elsewhere, FAIR’s report makes it clear that the most important root cause can be found at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” said Dan Stein, president of FAIR.
PRESS RELEASE: Behind the Numbers: New FAIR Analysis Examines Biden Policies That Have Resulted in Record-Setting Illegal Immigration https://t.co/NirGAXaRBg via @FAIRImmigration
— FAIR (@FAIRImmigration) December 30, 2021
The report says that 1.7 million illegal immigrants have been caught at the border this year because of a “litany of incentives put in place by the Biden administration” to entice illegal immigrants to cross the border, in addition to lax border enforcement.
The report estimates that 400,000 illegal immigrants have successfully avoided capture and crossed the border this year, which will cost taxpayers $3.6 billion. When combined with costs associated with those who were released deliberately into the American interior, the total cost reaches $6.6 billion annually, said FAIR.
Previously the state of Texas had estimated that the cost to that state alone would be nearly $1 billion from the ongoing border crisis.
“If we use the minimum estimated costs for services Texas provides to unlawfully present and undocumented aliens, taxpayers are shelling out an estimated $855 million every year,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
A recent survey of voters by Rasmussen showed that more than 50% of voters give Biden failing marks for his immigration policies.
“On immigration-related issues, 54 percent of likely voters graded Biden as ‘poor’ and only 27 percent graded him as ‘excellent or ‘good,’” said the New York Post.
In the spring of 2021 Biden tasked Harris with overseeing the border, but even her own party is skeptical if she’s up to the task.
“She was tasked with that job; it doesn’t look like she’s very interested in this, so we are going to move on to other folks that work on this issue,” Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, told the New York Times.
