(Headline USA) The border crisis could cost New York up to $10 billion this year, according to a new report.
Research from the Federation for American Immigration Reform shows New Yorkers will pay $9.9 billion in taxes to support federal, state and local government programs for illegal immigrants. Education-related expenses for the more than 1 million illegal aliens living in the city will cost $4.65 billion; healthcare and welfare programs including food assistance will cost $3.5 billion; and immigration-related law enforcement will cost $1.75 billion, the report says.
Nationally, the border crisis is costing U.S. taxpayers more than $150 billion annually, the report adds. Illegal immigrants have only contributed about $31 billion in tax revenue.
Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., said the report is just another example of the Biden administration forcing Americans to “pick up the tab for this historic influx of illegal aliens” by refusing to enforce immigration laws.
“Hardworking Americans across the country should not have to pay for President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas’ refusal to secure our Southwest border,” he said in a statement. “Instead of making families pick up the tab for this historic influx of illegal aliens, the Biden administration should be enforcing the laws on the books and resuming construction of our Southwest border wall to help our Border Patrol do what they do best — secure our border.”
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, agreed: “This report details what we already know: Texans are getting absolutely decimated by lawlessness at the hands of this administration. This chaos has meant dead Americans from fentanyl, ranches destroyed and — as the report indicates — billions of dollars in health care, education, law enforcement and other costs,” he said.
Earlier this week, immigration officials also reported that 16 people on the U.S. terror watchlist had been apprehended last month while trying to cross into the country illegally. The 16 possible terrorists stopped in February were among 128,877 total illegal immigrants caught at the southern border.
Last year, border officials apprehended 380 individuals on the terror watch list. So far this year, Customs and Border Protection said they have encountered 214 people on the terror watch list.
