Over the past several weeks we have heard much about illegal aliens, border walls, costs and effects. Many of the statements have been both political and emotional with little or few facts.
After a few hours of research I found the most comprehensive financial information could be found by an organization called the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).
The figures that they give are based on approximately 12.5 million illegal alien residents, defined as anyone who entered the United States without authorization and anyone who unlawfully remains once his/her authorization has expired.
According to FAIR, the governmental expenditures are as follows: “Federal $45.9 billion, State $89 billion—for a total cost of $135 billion.
Total tax contributions are Federal $15.5 billion, State $3.5 billion, for a total of approximately $19 billion. This leaves a total cost to taxpayers of $116 billion per year. In my opinion, this makes the $5.7 billion the President requested a great investment.
The estimated cost for illegal aliens in Michigan is $4,385 per person for a total of $858,000. That cost would go a long way toward fixing our roads.
Federal law dealing with illegal aliens can be found in the U.S. Code Title 18. Laws are quite lengthy, but put in a simpler form, anyone who enters illegally, transports an illegal alien, harbors an illegal alien or knowingly employs an illegal alien is subject to a fine and/or jail time.
If the illegal alien commits a serious crime or death, the person harboring him is subject to extended jail time or death. From what I have seen, these laws are not being enforced. I also wonder how these laws may apply to public servants who enforce so-called sanctuary cities, counties or states. Are they not harboring and are they also responsible for deaths committed by the illegal aliens that they protected?
We have been told that illegal aliens commit less crimes than American citizens. I have a saying “numbers don’t lie but liars figure.” In total numbers, this appears to be true. But when comparing 12.5 million to the estimated U.S. population of 328 million, the numbers of crimes committed by illegals is going to be lower. In reports published by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), it appears that the opposite is true. The first report (GAO-05-337R) found that criminal aliens (both legal and illegal) make up 27 percent of all federal prisoners. Yet according to the Center for Immigration Studies, non-citizens are only about nine percent of the nation’s adult population. Thus, judging by the numbers in federal prisons alone, non-citizens commit federal crimes at three times the rate of citizens. In another study, federal or state prisons or local jails during fiscal year 2003, some 55,322 illegal aliens had been arrested 459,614 times, an average of 8.3 arrests per illegal alien, and had committed almost 700,000 criminal offenses, an average of roughly 12.7 offenses per illegal alien.
Health is another concern. Diseases that years ago were virtually wiped out are now returning. These include M.D.R.-T.B. that takes 24 months and $250,000 to cure; Chagas disease which has no known cure, leprosy, Hepatitis A, B and C, plus many more including a violent T.B. outbreak afflicting school teachers and children in Michigan. This should be a concern to every parent.
The Democrats in Washington D.C. say that there is no problem at our southern border. Then why did so many of them vote for barriers at the border in the past? It’s called politics. Michigan voted for President Trump in 2016 showing his support for the wall. Now our new Attorney General is joining a lawsuit to stop his Emergency Order. I wonder how much this will cost the taxpayers in Michigan! Remember, “Fix The Damn Roads!!”
—Joe Pilchak
