Deporting Illegal Immigrants Would Cost Over $100 Billion

CNN reports that the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has determined that removing the 12 million people it believes to be in the United States illegally would cost at least $94 billion. Julie Myers, head of the ICE recently, announced the figure in a hearing before a Senate committee.

A spokesman for the ICE said the $94 billion figure did not include the cost of finding illegal immigrants, nor court costs involved in removal proceedings. CNN says these costs are unknowable. It is apparent, however, that investigative and court costs could easily double the $94 billion estimate.

The ICE said they calculated the cost for removing illegals by multiplying 12 million people by an average 32 days in detention, at $97/day, plus $1,000 per person for transportation. They added the cost of ICE personnel to come up with their nearly $100 billion estimate.

By comparison, the annual budget of the Homeland Security Department is about $35 billion. Can we actually afford to deport all these hard working migrant workers? Perhaps, instead, we should finally join the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 13th, 2007 at 3:25 pm and is filed under Immigration Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.