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Reformer: Illegal immigrants cost Pa. taxpayers $728 million yearly
By Craig Smith
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, August 14, 2009
Illegal immigrants are costing Pennsylvania taxpayers about $728 million a year for education, medical care and incarceration, the head of a national immigration reform group said Thursday.
The annual fiscal burden amounts to about $150 per Pennsylvania household headed by a native-born resident, said Dan Stein, president of the Federation of American Immigration Reform, or FAIR.
"The health care debate and immigration are fusing to make this white hot," Stein said during a meeting with Tribune-Review editors and reporters.
Costs could go even higher under the Obama administration's massive health care overhaul, Stein said. The plan contains loopholes that will allow illegal immigrants to receive taxpayer-funded benefits, he said.
About 1.1 million legal immigrants enter the United States each year, said John L. Martin, FAIR's director of special projects and author of a new report on the cost to the state of illegal immigrants.
The report estimated that Pennsylvanians spend about $660 million a year on education for an estimated 48,500 children of illegal aliens, which includes about $150 million for special English instruction to an estimated 34,200 children.
Taxpayer-funded, unreimbursed medical expenses for health care provided to illegal aliens in Pennsylvania are about $50 million a year, and it costs more than $17.5 million a year to incarcerate illegal aliens in state, county and independent city prisons in Pennsylvania, the report said.
The state has a rapidly growing illegal alien population of about 140,000, nearly tripling since 2000, FAIR said. Between 2000 and 2008, the state's foreign-born population grew by 34.5 percent while its native-born population decreased by 0.1 percent.
Stein's group advocates allowing 300,000 or fewer foreigners to immigrate to the United States each year.
"The immigration flow of the country has mismatched its needs," he said. "We're headed toward half a billion people ... we don't have any idea where we're going to put them or how they're going to get around."
Achieving such a goal will be difficult in "a very challenging political environment," Stein conceded.
Local immigration attorneys said reducing immigration to 300,000 people annually would be difficult.
"It's only doable if you eliminate the ability to bring a spouse and create a waiting list," said Joel Pfeffer, an attorney who specializes in immigration with the law firm Meyer Unkovic & Scott LLP, Downtown.
The attorneys, who are not part of FAIR, acknowledged the immigration system has problems and needs to be reformed.
It's been a festering problem for years. ... Many people don't realize how broken the system is," said Barbara Bower, an immigration attorney with Sherrard German and Kelly P.C., Downtown.
Stein said immigration caps will help maintain a stable flow of highly trained, highly skilled workers and allow the country to better manage its growth.
By Craig Smith
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, August 14, 2009
Illegal immigrants are costing Pennsylvania taxpayers about $728 million a year for education, medical care and incarceration, the head of a national immigration reform group said Thursday.
The annual fiscal burden amounts to about $150 per Pennsylvania household headed by a native-born resident, said Dan Stein, president of the Federation of American Immigration Reform, or FAIR.
"The health care debate and immigration are fusing to make this white hot," Stein said during a meeting with Tribune-Review editors and reporters.
Costs could go even higher under the Obama administration's massive health care overhaul, Stein said. The plan contains loopholes that will allow illegal immigrants to receive taxpayer-funded benefits, he said.
About 1.1 million legal immigrants enter the United States each year, said John L. Martin, FAIR's director of special projects and author of a new report on the cost to the state of illegal immigrants.
The report estimated that Pennsylvanians spend about $660 million a year on education for an estimated 48,500 children of illegal aliens, which includes about $150 million for special English instruction to an estimated 34,200 children.
Taxpayer-funded, unreimbursed medical expenses for health care provided to illegal aliens in Pennsylvania are about $50 million a year, and it costs more than $17.5 million a year to incarcerate illegal aliens in state, county and independent city prisons in Pennsylvania, the report said.
The state has a rapidly growing illegal alien population of about 140,000, nearly tripling since 2000, FAIR said. Between 2000 and 2008, the state's foreign-born population grew by 34.5 percent while its native-born population decreased by 0.1 percent.
Stein's group advocates allowing 300,000 or fewer foreigners to immigrate to the United States each year.
"The immigration flow of the country has mismatched its needs," he said. "We're headed toward half a billion people ... we don't have any idea where we're going to put them or how they're going to get around."
Achieving such a goal will be difficult in "a very challenging political environment," Stein conceded.
Local immigration attorneys said reducing immigration to 300,000 people annually would be difficult.
"It's only doable if you eliminate the ability to bring a spouse and create a waiting list," said Joel Pfeffer, an attorney who specializes in immigration with the law firm Meyer Unkovic & Scott LLP, Downtown.
The attorneys, who are not part of FAIR, acknowledged the immigration system has problems and needs to be reformed.
It's been a festering problem for years. ... Many people don't realize how broken the system is," said Barbara Bower, an immigration attorney with Sherrard German and Kelly P.C., Downtown.
Stein said immigration caps will help maintain a stable flow of highly trained, highly skilled workers and allow the country to better manage its growth.
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