California gets a great deal …covering the costs of “illegal aliens” …and America gets a good deal too — supporting all of the “illegal aliens in California”.
First, disclaimers:
- I hate the phrase “illegal aliens” and I always use the phrase “undocumented Californian”, but I am trying to prove a point.
- I used only conservative sources for the cost of “illegal aliens” to make the calculations below. I do not feel that the conservative sources are the most accurate sources for the costs of illegal immigration, but again I am trying to prove a point.
THE POINT:
As a Latino I am sick and tired of people telling me that California is in debt, and unable to pay for the things it needs because “it spends its’ entire budget on ILLEGALS”, or for the more cautious “it spends too much on ILLEGALS”.
So to prove that this criticism of California is wildly off — I used only hard core conservative sources for the cost of illegal immigration to Californians and to the Federal government, and to get conservatives to read these facts — I used the terminology that they prefer.
So conservatives have no reason to not listen to these facts:
· It costs $15–22 Billion, for California to support illegal aliens per year.
· However, the economy of California makes $180 Billion from illegal aliens per year.
· = California gets 8–12 X as much benefit from illegal aliens as they pay.
· It costs $7–12 Billion for Americans to support illegal aliens in California.
· However, because California is a “donor state” — in 2015 California paid $32 Billion more to America than it received and in 2016 — California paid $103 Billion more to America than it received. YES $103 BILLION!
· = America is getting 4.5–8.5 X a return on the cash they spent to support California’s love of illegal aliens.
There are 2 pages of sources and calculations below.
However, the bottom line is this — America has no place to complain about how California loves illegal aliens, and to be clear — supporting illegal aliens is a smart investment for California’s economy — even using the harshest conservative numbers available.
Ps. For any conservatives who say that illegal aliens cost $400 Billion. That figure is for all of America — and not just California and it is for the cost of legal immigration — not illegal immigration. So it is not a relevant argument when talking about how California loves illegal aliens.
Ps 2. The budget of our California is $190 Billion. (Using the numbers $15–22 Billion) — the amount of money California spends on illegal aliens is about 8.5–12.5% of the budget. THAT IS NOT ANYWHERE NEAR — ALL OR EVEN MOST — OF THE BUDGET.
SOURCES: (feel free to copy all of the citations)
HOW MUCH DOES CALIFORNIA LOSE BEING PART OF AMERICA EACH YEAR:
Yes California calculates Californians paid $103 billion more in federal taxes in 2016 than we received in federal funding
Yes California calculates that currently, even with inflationary spending to boost the economy California in 2015 still lost $35B to the federal network
COST OF UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS — FROM CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATES:
2017 FOX NEWS — $135 Billion for America
“The swelling population of illegal immigrants and their kids is costing American taxpayers $135 billion a year”
2017 FAIR -$135 Billion for America
“At the federal, state, and local levels, taxpayers shell out approximately $134.9 billion to cover the costs incurred by the presence of more than 12.5 million illegal aliens” “The Federal government spends a net amount of $45.8 billion on illegal aliens”
2017 The HILL — $89 Billion for America
“The total cost of illegal immigration to federal, state and local taxpayers for the nation’s 12.5 million illegal aliens has increased to $116 billion annually “The majority of the costs to taxpayers, $89 billion (66 percent), are borne at the local and state level.”
CALCULATIONS
¼ of undocumented immigrants are from California
= $22 Billion — $34Billlion that undocumented Californians cost the California, local and Federal governments according to conservative estimates.
“The majority of the costs to taxpayers (66 percent), are borne at the local and state level.”
= $15Billion — $22 Billion that undocumented Californians cost California — in 2017 — according to the harshest conservative estimates. Leaving the cost of the Federal government to support undocumented Californians at $7Billion to $12 Billion.
2017 Washington Examiner — $23 Billion for California (including the amount California pays directly and Federal assistance)
“Illegal immigration costs California most, $23B, all states $89B”
CALCULATIONS
“The majority of the costs to taxpayers (66 percent), are borne at the local and state level.”
= $8 Billion in cost to the Federal government to support undocumented Californians, and $15 Billion in costs for California.
2014 FAIR — $25 Billion for California (including the amount California pays directly and Federal assistance)
“Californians bear an enormous fiscal burden as a result of an illegal alien population estimated at almost 3 million residents. The annual expenditure of state and local tax dollars on services for that population is $25.3 billion.”
CALCULATIONS
“The majority of the costs to taxpayers (66 percent), are borne at the local and state level.”
= $9 Billion in cost to the Federal government to support undocumented Californians and $16 Billion in costs for California.
HOW MUCH DO UNDOCUMENTED CALIFORNIANS CONTRIBUTE ECONOMICALLY
2017 — California government — $180 Billion
2017 — “Controller Betty Yee, undocumented immigrants’ labor is worth more than $180 billion a year.”
2014 — University of Southern California — $130 Billion
“A report released Wednesday by researchers at USC found that immigrants who are in California illegally make up nearly 10% of the state’s workforce and contribute $130 billion” to the California economy”
COST OF LEGAL IMMIGRATION — FOR ONLY AMERICA
“Trump’s team highlighted a September 2016 Washington Times story headlined: “Mass immigration costs government $296 billion a year, depresses wages.” It reported on a study from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on the economic and fiscal consequences of immigration.” “The National Academies found that first-generation immigrants (who were born outside of the United States) cost governments more money than the native-born population. The costs are largely taken on by state and local governments that educate the immigrants’ children.”
