FAIR Report Finds Illegal Immigration Costs in Florida More than Doubled Since 2005
Taxpayers Stuck with a $3.8 Billion Annual Bill
A new report issued by FAIR in April reveals that the costs of illegal immigration to Florida taxpayers more than doubled between 2005 and 2008. The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Floridians finds that the price tag for educating the children of illegal aliens, providing unreimbursed health care to people illegally in the state, and incarcerating criminal illegal aliens, was $3.8 billion in 2008. The outlay of $3.8 billion annually translates into a fiscal burden of about $678 for each Florida household headed by a native-born resident.
The rapidly escalating state costs for illegal immigration are occurring at a time when Florida, like many other states, faces a severe fiscal crisis. With rising unemployment and depressed real estate values, Florida’s 2009 budget deficit is projected to be $6 billion. In response to the crisis, Gov. Charlie Crist has frozen spending for state agencies, even as the recession has placed greater demands on many public services.
The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Floridians reveals that Florida taxpayers spent more than $3.4 billion in 2008 to educate illegal immigrant children and the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants. Unreimbursed health care for Florida’s estimated 950,000 illegal aliens accounted for an additional $290 million in state spending. Incarceration of illegal aliens who have committed crimes in Florida added another $90 million in costs to state taxpayers. The report also found that $3.1 billion a year is removed from the state’s economy in the form of remittances sent to Latin America.
The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Floridians is one of 13 state impact reports prepared by FAIR. These reports are a critical part of FAIR’s mission to educate citizens, government officials and the media about the impact that mass illegal immigration has on their lives and their budgets. Far from being a victimless crime as apologists for illegal immigration claim, FAIR’s state impact studies demonstrate that illegal immigration imposes significant burdens on the public.
The release of The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Floridians has received widespread coverage in the Florida media. In conjunction with its release, FAIR media spokespeople appeared on several of the top-rated talk radio programs in the state, television news programs, and met with the editorial boards of two of Florida’s leading newspapers.
The complete report along with 12 other state cost studies is available on our site.
