New FAIR Reports Examine Impact of Immigration on Maryland
Maryland has long been one of the most hospitable states for illegal aliens. Until this year, Maryland issued driver’s licenses without proof of legal residence and many cities and counties across the state maintain sanctuary policies. All this hospitality is breaking the bank, finds The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Marylanders, the latest in a series of reports by FAIR detailing the impact of illegal immigration on state taxpayers.
According to the new report, it is costing Maryland state taxpayers $1.4 billion to provide K-12 education, unreimbursed health care to illegal aliens and their children, and incarceration for criminal aliens. Lax federal enforcement, and the willingness of the state and local governments to accommodate immigration law violators, has swelled the illegal alien population in recent years. The report finds that the illegal alien population of the state has quadrupled since 2000, and now numbers an estimated 250,000 people.
The rapidly growing cost of illegal immigration comes at a time when Maryland, like most states, is struggling to cover massive budget shortfalls. The $1.4 billion spent on basic services for illegal aliens represents a sizeable chunk of Maryland’s projected $2 billion budget deficit in 2010. The fiscal burden of illegal immigration for just the basic services is estimated to be $790 per household headed by a native-born resident.
K-12 education for the children of illegal aliens, including those children who are themselves here illegally and their U.S.-born siblings, represents the largest portion of the burden to Maryland taxpayers, at a cost of more than $1.2 billion. Unreimbursed health care for illegal aliens costs Marylanders another $167 million, while incarceration costs taxpayers about $29 million a year.
The costs of immigration are not disbursed evenly among all Maryland residents. A second report, English Learners and Immigration: A Case Study in Prince George’s County, Maryland, takes an in-depth look at how immigration, both legal and illegal, can affect local school systems. Prince George’s County, Maryland, has seen the number of non-English proficient students in its schools nearly double since 2004, from 7,064 to 13,825. English as second language (ESL) instruction costs have risen to $66 million a year at a time when other education programs are being slashed, and Prince George’s students are falling behind academically.
