Information About Illegal Immigration

Illegal immigration is the cause of high passions and high costs.

Few deny that illegal immigration is the cause of much debate in the United States. The very fact that these immigrants are "illegal" suggests a contempt for U.S. law. Nevertheless, as the numbers of illegal immigrants in the United States increase, the costs of maintaining them also increase.

Features

From 1996 to 2006, the number of illegal immigrants in the United States doubled, going from 5 million to 11.6 mission. Most of this is concentrated in California, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico. A 2000 Census Bureau estimate put the number of illegals in the US at 8.7 million, with roughly 500,000 added per year.

Significance

Illegal immigration plays a substantial role in increases in crime in the United States. According to Dan Amato, who runs the website The Dark Side Of Illegal Immigration, the Government Accountability Office performed a study where more than 55,000 illegals were tracked. As it turns out, the average number of arrests per illegal was eight, as there were more than 700,000 separate criminal offenses total among these 55,000 immigrants. Roughly 27 percent of all criminals in federal custody as of 2006 were illegal immigrants, most from Mexico. There were 14 million crimes committed in the United States in 2005; of these, 704,000 were committed by illegal immigrants, according to the FBI.

Effects

This large percentage of illegal immigrants to the United States is driving up public costs. According to Rice University Professor of Economics Donald Huddle, illegal immigrants displace more than 730,000 native-born workers per year at an estimated cost to the economy (because illegal immigrants pay no taxes) of $4.3 billion. The Federation for American Immigration Reform estimates that the annual cost of illegal immigrants relative to prison, health and education costs comes to roughly $45 billion per year.

Misconceptions

it is common to hear that Mexicans take jobs that no one else wants. But the Public Policy Institute of California says that the bulk of Mexican illegals work in manufacturing, leisure and hospitality jobs. In addition, Black-American journal The Root holds that the median black income in the United States is $34,000, while for illegals, it is $37,000. Many Americans would work for that wage, especially when black unemployment sits at about 18 percent as of 2010.

Totals

Amato, using figures from the federal government, has come to these conclusions: The yearly cost of incarcerating illegal immigrants was $6.8 billion as of 2003. The cost of processing these criminals, according to the FBI, is more than $17 billion per year, as of 2005. As of that year, the number of illegals in America included 240,000 sex offenders, according to the U.S. Violent Crimes Institute. English as a Second Language students cost roughly $34.5 billion per year from illegal immigrants only, and $90 billion per year is sent as remittances to Mexico from the United States.

References

• Federation for American Immigration Reform: What's Wrong With Illegal Immigration?
• The Root: How Illegal Immigration Hurts Black America
• Public Policy Institute of California: Just the Facts - Illegal Immigrants
• The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Crime
• The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: The Costs Of Illegal Immigration