Illegal Aliens in America Cost Taxpayers $150 Billion Last Year, Study Finds

The state comptroller of New York projects the migrant crisis could cost state taxpayers $4.3 billion through 2025.

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Staten Island residents gather to protest outside of a closed Catholic school-turned-migrant shelter, August 28, 2023, at New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

American taxpayers last year spent $150 billion on government services to support 20 million illegal aliens in the country, according to a study by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

But it wasn’t the federal government that bore the brunt of the costs. The majority of the huge burden was absorbed by state and local governments.

In New York, the state comptroller projected that the migrant crisis would cost state taxpayers $4.3 billion through 2025, with New York City taxpayers facing a $3 billion bill in fiscal year 2024 alone. FAIR’s estimates indicate that the 1.45 million illegal migrants and their children at New York already cost taxpayers nearly $10 billion in 2023.

FAIR estimates that the cost of state services for illegal migrants and their children in Massachusetts alone reached nearly $3 billion in 2023.

While most states report migrant-related expenses mainly for emergency housing and aid, FAIR’s assessment encompassed the full range of state services utilized by migrants, including education, medical expenses, law enforcement, legal costs, and welfare benefits.

No state has been exempt from the financial strain, according to FAIR. West Virginia spent the least, with costs to care for migrants and their children totaling more than $33 million. Seven states spent less than $100 million, while half of U.S. states incurred costs exceeding $100 million. Nineteen states reported expenses well over $1 billion.

But other states spent far more. California led the nation with nearly $31 billion spent on services for illegal immigrants and their children, followed by Texas at over $13 billion, Florida at more than $8 billion, and New York and New Jersey. According to FAIR, the total outlay by American taxpayers was even higher, at $182 billion.

While illegal migrants do contribute to local, state, and federal treasuries, FAIR estimated their tax contributions at about $32 billion. This left U.S. taxpayers with an estimated $150 billion in costs, FAIR noted.


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