April 17, 2006

Washington, DC—The tax filing deadline is an annual reminder to Americans that they and their children are the ones who must foot the bill for the cost of running the government. This year, Tax Day falls amidst a heated congressional debate over a proposal to grant amnesty to 12 million or more illegal aliens, allow millions more of their relatives to join them in the U.S., and vastly expand the guest worker program. According to projections by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), these proposals could add an additional $25.5 billion to Americans’ annual tax bill at the state and local level by 2010, and an additional $70 billion by 2020.

Providing education and health care for illegal aliens and their families, and incarceration for criminal illegal aliens, already amounts to a $36.3 billion a year budget buster for state and local governments. These costs would skyrocket as newly legalized illegal aliens are able to take advantage of additional government programs. However, contrary to assertions made by amnesty supporters, legalization would not substantially increase tax contributions made by illegal aliens. Because of low educational levels and poor job skills, most would remain low wage earners even after receiving amnesty.

“Americans are angry about a government that they believe has lost touch with the concerns of the public, and every year, when they are forced to sit down and calculate just how much of their hard-earned pay is being wasted by government at all levels, they get even angrier,” said Dan Stein, president of FAIR. “Now, along comes the most unpopular president and Congress in living memory with the mother of all unfunded mandates: a massive illegal alien amnesty and an unprecedented increase in legal immigration.

“The amnesty proposal now before the Senate would be like no other unfunded mandate Congress has foisted on state and local taxpayers,” warned Stein. “Other unfunded mandates have a limited time span or can be revoked at some point. The consequences of an illegal alien amnesty and the admission of millions more of their relatives are forever. It’s the mandate that keeps on mandating.”

A recently released population projection from FAIR explains why the cost burdens associated with an illegal alien amnesty would grow over time. The legislation currently under consideration in the Senate would result in a massive population surge, driving U.S. population to the half billion mark by mid-century. Virtually all of this increase would be a direct result of immigration and births to immigrants.

“As a result of policy choices now being considered by Congress the fastest growing segment of our population would be among those who are most heavily dependent on government services primarily the services provided at the state and local level. The fact that these sweeping and irreversible changes to our immigration laws are being considered without any rational assessment of the impact that they will have on the tax burden borne by a shrinking middle class highlights the utter irresponsibility that has so many Americans infuriated at their government. So, today, as many of us are reminded of how much we are already turning over to the government, we’d better start considering how we will pay for an unpopular and politically motivated illegal alien amnesty program,” Stein concluded.