With President Trump poised to fulfil his campaign promise to execute the “largest deportation operation in American history,” open-border advocates are looking to undermine him. The latest straw they’ve grasped on to is the claim that it would cost the U.S government $88 billion per year to arrest, detain, process, and remove one million removable aliens.
This is a wrong-headed approach for two reasons.
First and foremost, you can’t put a price on the safety and well-being of the American people. The Left’s attempt to make deportation about money shows how out of touch they are, which is one of the reasons they were beaten so handily by President Trump earlier this month.
The second reason is that any serious discussion about the monetary cost of deportation must be had in the context of the cost of mass migration, and that’s not something the Left wants to talk about.
Let me explain. While the Left’s $88 billion figure is merely an estimate, the Right can point to billions and billions of dollars that the Biden-Harris administration has already spent to entice and resettle migrants and give them handouts. States and localities, who are shouldering the bulk of the burden of the open-borders status quo, are also suffering.
Consider, for example, that, from fiscal year 2021 through FY2024, the State Department received approximately $22 billion for migration and refugee assistance.
These funds were used to: address mass migration operations abroad; deal with the fall-out from the reckless Afghanistan withdrawal, including bringing unvetted Afghans directly to the U.S.; resettle Ukrainians in the U.S.; build processing centers (“Safe Mobility Offices”) in Central America to process and facilitate mass migration to the U.S.; and pay the likes of UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration, and other NGOs, which similarly have facilitated mass migration to the U.S., including by giving pre-paid debit cards to migrants in Central America.
Or consider that, from FY2021-FY2024, Congress funded the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) approximately $31 billion to provide “culturally and linguistically appropriate services, including ‘wrap-around’ services,” such as housing, medical, and legal services, for aliens and unaccompanied alien children. Indeed, during the Biden administration, a historic 535,000 unaccompanied children were enticed to cross the border by the statutory promise of immigration benefits and impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ public statements that unaccompanied children would not be turned away.
The result was disastrous. As reported in the New York Times, HHS farmed these children out to unvetted sponsors. Today, HHS has reported that it has lost touch with over 300,000 unaccompanied children.
Or consider that, from FY2021-FY2024, FEMA—an agency designed to help American citizens suffering from natural disasters—received $2.2 billion for shelter and other services for inadmissible aliens.
The above $55 billion dollars are only a subset of the unknown total spent on Biden-Harris’ open border agenda. There are countless other examples. Numerous other programmes, agencies, and funds contributed money to the administration’s opaque open borders operations. To put it simply, the Biden-Harris administration has been awash in money and used it to achieve terrible results for America.
States and localities have also paid dearly to provide shelter, food, medical care, public education, and welfare for the millions who unlawfully entered the US these past four years. New York City has spent over $5.5 billion during this crisis. Massachusetts has already spent $1 billion on housing illegal aliens and is expected to pay another $1.8 billion through 2026. Denver spent $340 million over 18 months.
These numbers are repeated across the country. And each year these millions of inadmissible aliens stay in the U.S., these costs multiply. Of course, the value of American lives lost to fentanyl poisoning, criminal aliens, and gang members let into the country cannot be quantified.
As President Trump’s team fulfils his promise to the American people in the coming days and months, the open-borders Left will make every argument it can to stop them. But in every case, those arguments will fail. Mass deportation is fiscally responsible, morally just, and politically popular. It is time to give the American people what they want and deserve.
Lora Ries is Director of Heritage’s Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation.
Reprinted with Permission from Heritage.org – By Lora Ries
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
Maybe it is time to confiscate the monetary and other assets of the idiots that allowed the MASS immigration of illegals while they were deliberately defying the laws of the land. A down payment (ALL THEIR MONIES} by these idiots should help to fund the return of those who pose a great threat to the welfare of the American people. Of course, these idiots are already transferring their funds to offshore accounts, so arrests should begin immediately at the right time and the key thrown away like what happened to the Jan 6 detainees.
The price of an American citizen’s life is far higher than what it will cost to deport these ILLEGAL ALIENS. Just ask the families of Laken Riley, Kate Stienle, and many others who died at the hands of these criminals.
So when do the Demonrats who implemented the open borders, which was and still is a violation of our Constitution, going to be tried for treason?
88 billion per year, eh? But citizens will start saving from day one and may often be safer for it. Pathetic trying to scare us with the cost of the disaster the administration’s created.
Anyone and all that were responsible for this terrible situation, encouraging people to leave their homeland, just to get a job, and then the cartels hopped on and charged everyone, promising them safety, should have all their assets taken, especially the President and his Vice President. They were the ring leaders of this fiasco; the cartels just made money off it.
All Americans watched as the border was invaded. This is not just illegal immigration, it is an invasion. Oh yeah, and the ones who are involved in slave labor, confiscate their holdings. Sounds harsh? What about the ones who died from the illegal drugs, and at the hands of the criminals who breached our land?
And what do gang takeovers of cities cost? What is the value of all the murdered women by the illegals? What does illegal drug trafficking cost? What does it cost for child sex trafficking?
They’ve committed TREASON every day for 4 years and must be prosecuted appropriately.
The cost to feed and house (not to mention potential crime) is much higher than it will be to deport. Joe dug us into a deep hole, and this will be expensive to clean up, but it must be done.
I’d say that’s a bargain!! Let’s get started.
President Elect Trump has done it again! If anyone thinks deportation is cruel and unusual treatment, please take an illegal migrant into your home. Feed them, clothe them educate them and raise them to adulthood. Once you have done that, see if you have any money left for retirement.
How much did it cost us taxpayers to fly these invaders here from their home country? And once here to fly them to the states they wanted to live in? Add to that the cost of housing, education, health care and we are way over 88 billion dollars. And this expense is every year. Once these millions of dollars has been spent on deportation. The maintenance cost is not recurring the next year. This is dem thinking, because they want to replace all Trump supporters with these invaders. They never learn what the election was about. Till then we will see these stupid plans. No help from FEMA if you are a Trump voter, no Air BnB for you Trump voter. To disrupt the inauguration. Do we have to say anymore? The electorate was right and voted for freedom for all. We are holding those in power responsible. We the people decide how America is run. Not Biden not Harris not Obama not P not S not the deep state.
Why should the USA bear the cost of the deportations? Determine the country of origin and deduct the cost from the monies that have been receiving aid from America.
The other benefit will be when all the illegal aliens had to Sanctuary cities to hideout, the cost is going to break the bank in those cities. Any cities and states that break federal law need to have their funding taken away. There are citizens can fully bear the cost of having those illegals there. They will be really happy with the Democrats
I love it! get them out of here. When they respect America and want to come the right way , then come . and arrest the people who allowed them in. They broke federal law
Yes, seal the border and deport every one of those illegal immigrants.
How many smaller blue sanctuary states/cities would collapse without federal funding? I hope Trump takes all their federal funding away and applies it to the national debt instead.
How about a different headline? “America is about to show the world the benefit(s) of the rule of law”. There’s a great article about the legal methods of ‘self deportation’ that would occur when implemented in the “Epoch Times”. Can hardly wait till January 21st!
If Democrats and their PR firm, media, raised as much objection about an open door border policy they’d at least have a consistent leg to stand on. But can’t we keep the honest, law-biding illegals and deport Progressive Democrats, Hollywood, Whoopi and Joy, and all the ex-rock stars instead? I mean, they said rhey were leaving anyways, right?
So typical— create a disaster then say we have to keep it up because it’s so expensive to fix it. Idiots.
There, right there, is the legal and moral justification of mass deportation of illegals in these United States.
Massachusetts has spent 1 Billion dollars in the last year on illegal’s resettlement… and the Gov wants to fight ICE TO KEEP THEM
The Biden Administration and whoever else is responsible for the border mess and the damage it has and will do to our country is totally unacceptable to most of the American people. Just for starters Biden himself has to be imprisoned for treason to the country and let him tell who else is to blame for this boondoggle. Obama? Susan Rice !? Pelosi ?! Harris’s Husband, I forgot his name
MAGA!
And phony Biden claims he’s made America better than it was 4 years ago! Tell that to all the people living on the street unable to afford a place to stay. Hurricane victims not given aid from their government and then FEMA blocking citizens from helping those affected losing most of what they had-even loved ones!!! An absolute travesty with law abiding taxpaying citizens being treated like criminals while the real criminals were given all the money both Democrats and illegals!!.
Adopt the Ike model used in the 50s?
How is it possible these US hating commucrats can pull this sh** and walk away without being charged with the many crimes they have committed?
Trump was elected, winning the popular vote and an overwhelming percentage of counties in this country! Deportation was a huge issue with those voters! Even NYC is waking up to the realities of providing handouts in the form of housing, food and outright cash. What do they think is going to happen when that is cut off? Hint: we’re talking mostly military-aged males here! We desperately need to round them up and send them back to where they came from!
This time next year Walmart won’t be as crowded!!
I think it about time to figure out where all this money went to !!!!!Here we thought allowing all these illegals in was importing votes!!!!! Your local municipal town are footing the bill to house ,medical ,education . HHS received billions of dollars for migrants FEMA has spent billions . New York alone has spent 1 billion ???? Where is all this money going ???? My guess is thst someones pockets are getting lined !!!!!!
The harsh reality of this is that we cannot afford to have all of these illegal aliens here. The cost to every working American is astronomical. The cost of survival in America has come to a breaking point. Something very drastic has to happen and soon. Every single American will pay and is paying the price for the biden harris regime. The reality of this regime needs to be addressed and brought to light for EVERYONE to see first hand what has been happening to our country. I put complete blame on the media for this atrocity. And I COMPLETE faith in President Trump to rectify this crisis quickly and efficiently!
we will overcome this terrible problem with the three people who are in the Trump teams leadership roles the team will be able to provide the leadership of America’s best practices and accomplishments . AMERICA THE GREATEST LAND OF THE FREE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD.
Thank God Trump will be back in the White House. I believe God is definitely in this with us. Can’t wait until the adults take charge.
As an add-on, those politicians that out right broke, or colluded with the breaking of immigration law, must also be prosecuted and held monetarily liable.
The sooner we deport all the illegals the better. If they resist, force them into prison to work for free.
Completely ignore them, after all Trump is our president, and we trust him to get it right.
Start putting people in jail for illegal activity, make them pay, and a lot of these problems we all face as a nation will dwindle. It will never stop as money really is the root of all evil if it’s coming from the dark side.
It’s either deport, or have no country left any amount of money the United States spends is worth saving this great country.????????
I think it is time for subpoena of banking statements from all congressmen and senators and the President and Vice-President. Throw in all the career lawyers at DOJ .FEMA say they payed billions of dollars for illegal immigration , New York put out that they have paid a billion dollars !!!! Hospitals are saying they will go bankrupt from non payment from illegals !!! The Govt say they are paying room and board a pre paid visa card AND HOSPITALIZATION insurance !!!! I smell some very rich rats here !!!!! Somebody could really make a name for themselves by tracking the money !!!!
When they start shooting Illegal Aliens on site that try to come across our Borders they will quit coming. Other countries around the world do this and they don’t have this problem. Fake news or the Fascist democrats don’t tell you this and you don’t ever hear them whine about other countries doing this.
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No mater the cost of deportations it will signal to the world that we, the American people, won’t stand for the radical left’s shenanigans any longer. This fact alone (plus all the other obvious ones) is worth the price. We cannot ever again allow Marxist liberals to destroy our great country by overwhelming our economy and Constitutional freedoms. The price we have already paid for this nonsense cannot be totally measured. I applaud those who come here legally that want to become permanent citizens but do not support the ones that think they are entitled to the benefits that have been paid for with blood, sweat and loyalty only to return to their country when it’s time to retire or when the going gets rough. I am very thankful that we will once again have an administration that will work to protect our Constitution.
The cost of keeping or deporting may or may not be a break even or a loss one way or the other. There also are costs of the crime done by as many as a million of these aliens here to continue thuggery. Then there is the impact of 10 maybe 20 million heads counted in the Census to apportion Congressional representation and Electoral College votes and Federal funds back to the States. The mere presence of outsiders skewers results. Blue jurisdictions need aliens to replace citizens fleeing to Red States. The known law breakers at the very least must be immediately expelled starting with those already in prison custody. Harsh but true, Ask the Romans.
It doesn’t matter the cost to deport, it’s a necessity since the rotten leftists opened the borders, it will be cheaper in the long run to get them all out of here than to have them stay here and cost the citizens more and more for decades to come…….in welfare, medical care, housing , schools, crime. Also they become a magnet to bring in more of their relatives once they settle. Biden, Harris, Mayorkas, and any governor, mayor that tries to hide these criminals should be indicted, fined, locked up. These people that created this nightmare are basically traitors because of the complicity to this invasion. They are also mass murderers for the genocide they inflicted on U.S. citizens by allowing Chinese spies, drug dealers to bring in fentanyl, crack etc that killed thousands of citizens. Also the Chinese created the covid virus that killed millions around the planet including the U.S. and they continue to invade the US buying land, unauthorized police harassing Chinese/American citizens and continuously stealing technology , along with using slave labor. DEPORT ALL ILLEGALS……PERIOD
Can’t wait for the deportations…..We suffered for 4 years under this criminal regime of Biden/Harris…..with that bum Mayorkas, Garland…….along with these commie governors and mayors, congress members who think we deserve to have gangs, killers, rapists, thieves living amongst us. THEY ALL MUST GO, let’s not try to figure out who is the bigger CRIMINAL……they all are criminals. They even sent children across the border with coyotes/cartel rats, who dumped them on the U.S. side of the border from 2yrs old and up…….who the hell are the parents that would send “babies” on their own to travel here? The parents of those thousands of children are ABUSERS. PEOPLE FROM ALL THE COUNTRIES THAT SENT KIDS SHOULD BE LOCKED UP. A woman in the U.S. let her 11 yr old son walk from his house to town to a store WAS ARRESTED, YET WE ARE SENT THOUSANDS OF KIDS HUNDREDS OF MILES WITH GANG MEMBERS……..THIS GOVERNMENT IS SO CORRUPT……..HOPE INDICTMENTS AND JAIL ARE IN THE FUTURE FOR MAYORKAS AND THE REST OF THESE BASTARDS.
BIDEN AND HARRIS WERE TREASONOUS. WHEN THEY LET ILLEGALS INTO OUR COUNTRY !! THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN SHOT !! INSTEAD AMERICANS WILL PAY FOR ALL OF THIS !!!
Every individual crying for the ” refugees” should be required to adopt at least one and take full responsibility . Don’t talk just do.
Unfortunately there are people who don’t grasp this
If those states want illegals let them pay for them not that it should come out of tax payers money. They also will not work with the White House because they hate President Trump. They could care less what happens in this country they do not care what lives in this country if there is crime they could care less all they are filled with is hate. I hope you deport all that are criminals and on the terror list.
It appears the legal Americans, who do very well on their salaries are the ones who don’t want to support the unified Legal AMERICAN CITIZENS who want change in the form of mass deportation, but it shouldn’t have come to this. They should never have.been lured into thinking any or all the world would be taken care of, all they had to do was COME for FREE HOUSING, FOOD, MEDICAL ATTENTION, FREE JOBS IF THEY DESIRED, FREE EDUCATION, FREE LEGAL EXPENSE, FREE HOTELS, AD INFINITUM!
Well they came in massive groups and now they must return in massive groups. Common sense is lacking here on all sides….I can’t go to Mexico without proper identification, money and a place to stay and why should anyone think it is a FREE PASS to jump the border of another sovereign nation just to walk right in?.
Not going to happen,so you won’t see the results.