cost of illegal immigrants = $22b/yr, cost of Iraq war = $251b so far

[LSK]

Which failed program is a bigger problem?!?!?!

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm

http://www.cis.org/topics/costs.html

http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182

http://costofwar.com/index-public-education.html

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Excellent point. Let's also add in the cost of lost revenue due to

corporations that get away with minimal taxation. I am sure it's gotta be pretty big too.

[400Years]

2. and that's lowballing the Iraq cost

[LSK]

5. yeah, I hear some estimates of over $1 trillion

But I figured I should use an "official" number.

[harpo]

3. someone else had posted something about the money ssa gets...

from duplicate ssn's...is that included in this cost?

[LSK]

4. if theres ssa fraud, its not a problem of illegals

Any person can partake in that crime.

[harpo]

7. oh I completely agree...they can't nail exactly where it comes from...

but was wondering if that dollar was valued into the number that they had come up with for the cost of illegal immigrants or not. Probably not is my guess since they can't point it to illegals directly else they would be deporting people and fining corps.

[endarkenment]

10. SSN fraud in this case is a net benefit.

Illegals do not collect SS. If they pay in under a fraudulent account - it is all revenue and no benefits.

[LSK]

12. there are stories about illegals collecting SS with fake SS #s

Not sure how much is true and how much is Republican fairy tales.

[Bridget Burke]

13. There are stories about rabbits....

Who leave baskets full of candy on Easter Sunday.

Actually, I saw some of those baskets as a child. Just missed the bunny.

[acmavm]

6. Good point. So, do we support failed programs now if they

cost less than the Iraqi war?

Just curious.

[LSK]

8. and how much would it cost to "secure" our borders???

A wall across vast stretches of the border?? Armed troops??? Thats not gonna be cheap either.

Who wants to bet Halliburtan builds walls now???

[justice1]

9. That's exactly who I thought would get the contract

There is an estimate that it would cost $5 billion to build the fence, since they don't have to bid for contracts God only knows what it will truly cost.

[PsN2Wind]

11. I would prefer to have neither one

but as your links show, while the cost of the war is paid at the federal level, immigration is paid for at the state and local levels. Those of us in the border states are paying the freight for the nation.
When, and it's going to be when, the amnesty goes in effect the law should immediately federalize all costs associated with immigration and reimburse, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California for the past costs that we've incurred. Also all costs for the schools, medical facilities and prisons that will have to built should come from the general fund. Once "family reunification" kicks in we will need many more of these facilities.
I'm kinda liking this now, as my property taxes should go to near zero as those that are little impacted now get to help carry the load.

[Bridget Burke]

14. I'd like to get rid of the war first....

Besides the greater monetary cost, the human cost is also far worse. Of course, many dying in Iraq are not white--even among our own forces.

But the end of the Iraqi adventure might not help your property tax.

[PsN2Wind]

15. As would I

I've been against the war since well before it began.
Are all the new legal residents , male, between 18 and 26, going to have to register for the draft?
Unions Bridget, unions, which ones?

[Bridget Burke]

18. Only one.

Texas State Employees Union, affiliated with the AFL-CIO.

Of course the new residents have to register for the draft.

[PsN2Wind]

20. So that would mean you are paid

to aid immigrants rather than having to be concerned about competing with them.

[Bridget Burke]

21. Not really.

I wonder if my landlady will reduce the rent if her property tax goes down?

[LunaC]

16. The SURPLUS from illegal immigration

From the NATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER


When an employer’s report contains wage reports
that include name/Social Security number (SSN)
combinations that do not match SSA’s records, SSA
conducts a series of electronic edit procedures to
correct mistakes, such as typographical errors or
other common reporting errors. If these procedures
do not result in a name/SSN combination that
matches SSA’s records, the wages are placed in the
Earnings Suspense File (ESF). As of July 2002, the
ESF contained approximately 236 million wage items
totaling about $374 billion. These figures represent
the total amount of uncredited wages reported from
TYs 1937 through 2000. In TY 2000 alone, SSA
posted 9.6 million items and $49 billion in wages to
the ESF. Wage items and their associated dollar value
are only removed from the ESF when the wages can
be matched and posted to an individual’s earnings
record.1

1 Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Congressional Response Report: Social Security Administration Benefits Related to Unauthorized Work (A-03-03-23053), Mar. 18, 2003.

http://www.nilc.org/immsemplymnt/SSA-NM_Pack/C04_SSA_NM_Facts-e.pdf


So....if $49 billion flows into the ESF every year from illegal immigrants and those immigrants cost $22 billion, then the government has a $27 billion surplus every year attributed to illegal immigrants.

Doesn't exactly paint the negative picture the OP intended....

[endarkenment]

22. shhhh... must keep brown people out

Along the same lines... what if immigration, legal illegal or whatever, were pretty much the only way to rescue social security/medicare from the looming boomer implosion? Huh?

Just askin.

Would all the wall builder's feel better about their kids having to learn spanish if their old age pensions were secure?

[LSK]

23. you miss the meaning of the post

My point was even IF they cost $22billion per year (which you point out is incorrect) then that figure is a DROP IN THE BUCKET of what the Iraq war costs. The real issue is the Iraq war and the military industrial complex. They are the REAL PROBLEMS that drain our budget. Not welfare. Not lawsuits. Not illegals.

If you would search my posts, I agreed with BenBurch when he said that we should open our borders.

Illegal immigrants are not a new issue. But its a nice time to bring out a distraction to the REAL ISSUE which is the failed Iraq war policy.

[Dr. Jones]

17. BOTH are a huge problem.

What's your point? Are you trying to say we shouldn't bother enforcing the laws of our land just because the Iraq War has a higher price tag?

[Bridget Burke]

19. The point is that the IMMIGRATION CRISIS is meant to distract....

From a war against international law, which is costing us far, far more. In dollars & in blood.

[Fire Walk With Me]

24. Interesting. They'd only allocated $21bil to "rebuild" Iraq

and it's nearly gone. As well as all of those other billions, gone somewhere, into someone's pockets.