Number of illegal immigrants in U.S. is stable: DHS

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://news.yahoo.com/number-illegal-immigrants-u-stable-dhs-161301873.html

Reuters – 5 hrs ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of illegal immigrants in the United States ticked down slightly to 11.5 million as of January 2011, according to statistics released by the Obama administration on an issue likely to play a big role in the U.S. presidential campaign.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimated the number has remained largely stable - just down from 11.6 million in 2010 - citing the high U.S. unemployment rate, improved economic conditions in Mexico and increased border enforcement.

"Mexico continued to be the leading source country of unauthorized immigration to the United States," according to the DHS report, noting that Mexicans made up 59 percent of the group, with 6.8 million believed to be in the country.

Illegal immigrants from El Salvador were a distant second, with some 660,000 believed to be in the United States.

States along the southwest border with Mexico topped the list with the most immigrants illegally in the country, with about 2.83 million in California, followed by almost 1.8 million in Texas, the DHS Office of Immigration Statistics report said.

Florida was a distant third with 740,000. The biggest percentage increase was in Georgia from 220,000 in 2000 to 440,000 in January 2011, according to the report.

DHS based its new estimate on figures collected as part of the 2010 Census.

The issue of immigration has been a hot topic on the presidential campaign trail with Mitt Romney, the leading candidate for the Republican nomination to face President Barack Obama in November's election, backing tougher measures to crack down on illegal immigrants.

Obama, a Democrat, has sought to block some tough new state laws aimed at pushing out illegal immigrants and he has urged the U.S. Congress to pass a comprehensive package of immigration reforms, but that effort has gone nowhere.

Hispanic Americans are a growing voting bloc and both candidates will be vying for their support in November.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

That's what we need, stability.

[MyLittlePony 340]

I wish it will be lower and kick the free loading welfare sucking leaches out of USA.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

I wish it will be lower and kick the free loading welfare sucking leaches out of USA.

That article says 2.83 million illegals living in California, but I bet it's more like 3+ million. California loves it's cheap illegal slave labor.

[james&olya 1,121]

I wish it will be lower and kick the free loading welfare sucking leaches out of USA.

Yeah they are really 'free-loaders'! Picking and loading all that lettuce, grapes, etc., working in the meat-packing plants, and getting paid less than minimum wage. Kick their welfare sucking butts out of the USA so that we can pay higher prices for our meat and produce and still have these industries' employees and their families dependent on medicaid and our public school system. We will all be so much better off then! Right.

Edited March 25, 2012 by james&olya

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Yeah they are really 'free-loaders'! Picking and loading all that lettuce, grapes, etc., working in the meat-packing plants, and getting paid less than minimum wage. Kick their welfare sucking butts out of the USA so that we can pay higher prices for our meat and produce and still have these industries' employees and their families dependent on medicaid and our public school system. We will all be so much better off then! Right.

Yes I believe we would be better off without illegals.

[james&olya 1,121]

Yes I believe we would be better off without illegals.

They should either be made legal as guest workers or on the path to citizenship or 'encouraged' to return home. They would be better off as well if employers could no longer exploit their illegal status!

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

They should either be made legal as guest workers or on the path to citizenship or 'encouraged' to return home. They would be better off as well if employers could no longer exploit their illegal status!

Bust the employers so bad that they wouldn't think twice about hiring illegal labor. Take the anchor babies out of the equation, revamp the H1B visa's and it's problem solved.

[Pooky 3,343]

They should either be made legal as guest workers or on the path to citizenship or 'encouraged' to return home. They would be better off as well if employers could no longer exploit their illegal status!

Until you make it untenable for employers to employ illegal immigrants, this problem will not go away. Before ANY attempt is made to reform the immigration system to make guest worker status more attractive, this country needs to eliminate the economic advantage for employers to break the law. If we don't we're just inviting another wave a illegal immigration to replace the current one.

[james&olya 1,121]

Bust the employers so bad that they wouldn't think twice about hiring illegal labor. Take the anchor babies out of the equation, revamp the H1B visa's and it's problem solved.

Until you make it untenable for employers to employ illegal immigrants, this problem will not go away. Before ANY attempt is made to reform the immigration system to make guest worker status more attractive, this country needs to eliminate the economic advantage for employers to break the law. If we don't we're just inviting another wave a illegal immigration to replace the current one.

[MyLittlePony 340]

Yeah they are really 'free-loaders'! Picking and loading all that lettuce, grapes, etc., working in the meat-packing plants, and getting paid less than minimum wage. Kick their welfare sucking butts out of the USA so that we can pay higher prices for our meat and produce and still have these industries' employees and their families dependent on medicaid and our public school system. We will all be so much better off then! Right.

You have your way if you like see them pump out bunch of kids every day be my guess and the tax dollars on the rise to support those little bastards. While you slave away for peanuts while they smooch off the government free big TVs and cloths coming out of your checks is good with you for cheap labor from Mexico.

Edited March 25, 2012 by *++*

[james&olya 1,121]

You have your way if you like see them pump out bunch of kids every day be my guess and the tax dollars on the rise to support those little bastards. While you slave away for peanuts while they smooch off the government free big TVs and cloths coming out of your checks is good with you for cheap labor from Mexico.

What is it exactly that has you so hot and bothered over this? Your post makes it sound like you don't like the idea of brown people reproducing! Contrary to your statements, the illegals don't get 'welfare' checks from the government. Yes, they can get health-care in emergency rooms (would you really be in favor of turning them and their children away?!!) and their children can go to public schools. If they were sent home whoever got hired to take their places would almost certainly also be getting medicaid and public school benefits. As for free government provided "big TVs and cloths" that one is ridiculous! And smooching with the government!

My personal preference would be to really crack down on employers! If their were no jobs for illegals they would be motivated to go home! The replacement labor force would cost the employers more and some jobs would go south across the border as a result. Most jobs would probably stay and we would pay more for meat, produce, restaurant meals, hotel stays, construction of new homes, gardening, etc. But it would be a more honest system and possibly would help secure the borders against other threats.

[Danno 1,228]

Number of illegal immigrants in U.S. is stable: DHS

In other words.... The hole in the bottom of the ship has not gotten any bigger.

[Póg mo 1,749]

What is it exactly that has you so hot and bothered over this? Your post makes it sound like you don't like the idea of brown people reproducing! Contrary to your statements, the illegals don't get 'welfare' checks from the government. Yes, they can get health-care in emergency rooms (would you really be in favor of turning them and their children away?!!) and their children can go to public schools.

I agree, but also I would like to point out that if the US had a properly functioning health care system the cost of treating illegals would be so much less. Hospitals purposely ramp up the sticker price of providing emergency care just so they can be seen to be giving health insurance companies a discount. This in effect means state governments etc are subsidizing indirectly the employment of illegal immigrants.

If they were sent home whoever got hired to take their places would almost certainly also be getting medicaid and public school benefits.

Exactly and people would be on here complaining about higher food prices etc.

As for free government provided "big TVs and cloths" that one is ridiculous! And smooching with the government!

Repeat a lie enough times and others....

My personal preference would be to really crack down on employers! If their were no jobs for illegals they would be motivated to go home! The replacement labor force would cost the employers more and some jobs would go south across the border as a result.

Agreed, if there were no jobs openings for illegals then there would be no reason to come here. It really is as simple as that.

Most jobs would probably stay and we would pay more for meat, produce, restaurant meals, hotel stays, construction of new homes, gardening, etc. But it would be a more honest system and possibly would help secure the borders against other threats.

It would certainly be a more equitable system. Forcing companies/individuals to pay their share of taxes etc would mean that governments could more easily provide necessary public services to citizens.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://www.illegalimmigrationstatistics.org/illegal-immigration-a-113-billion-a-year-drain-on-u-s-taxpayers/

Illegal Immigration – The $113 Billion Dollar Drain on the American Taxpayer

A study released by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimates that illegal immigration now costs federal and local taxpayers $113 billion a year. The report, The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on U.S. Taxpayers, is the most comprehensive analysis of how much the estimated 13 million illegal aliens and their U.S.-born children cost the federal, state and local governments.

The cost estimates are based on an extensive analysis of federal, state and local spending data. The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on U.S. Taxpayers examines dozens of government programs that are available to illegal aliens and their U.S.-born children, both legally and fraudulently. The report provides detailed analysis of the impact of illegal immigration on education, health care, law enforcement and justice, public assistance, and other government programs.

The report also accounts for taxes paid by illegal aliens about $13 billion a year, resulting in a net cost to taxpayers of about $100 billion. However, the study notes that government at all levels would likely have realized significantly greater revenues if jobs held by illegal aliens had been filled by legal U.S. residents instead.

Federal spending on illegal aliens amounts to $29 billion, finds Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on U.S. Taxpayers. The lion’s share of the costs of illegal immigration is borne by state and local taxpayers an estimated $84.2 billion. In 18 states, expenditures on illegal aliens exceeded the size of those states’ budget deficits in FY 2009.

Among the key findings of The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on U.S. Taxpayers:

The $113 billion in outlays for services and benefits to illegal aliens and their families represents an average cost to native-headed households of $1,117 a year. Because the burdens of illegal immigration are not evenly distributed, the costs are much higher in states with large illegal alien populations.

Education for the children of illegal aliens represents the single largest public expenditure at an annual cost of $52 billion. Nearly all of that cost is absorbed by state and local governments.

The federal government recoups about one-third of its share of the costs of illegal immigration in the form of taxes collected. States, which bear a much greater share of the costs, recoup a mere 5 percent of their expenditures from taxes paid by illegal aliens.

Granting amnesty to illegal aliens, as President Obama and others propose, would not significantly increase tax revenues generated by current illegal aliens. However, over time, amnesty would dramatically increase public costs as newly-legalized aliens become eligible for all means-tested government programs.

Arizona’s annual cost of illegal immigration is $2.5 billion.

“The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on U.S. Taxpayers provides a definitive response to the question of whether illegal aliens are a net benefit or a net drain on government coffers,” stated Dan Stein president of FAIR. “The report examines virtually every federal, state and local government program to determine the impact of illegal immigration on the bottom line. That bottom line $113 billion a year, and growing makes our nation’s failure to control illegal immigration one of the largest preventable burdens borne by American taxpayers.”

“If political leaders in Washington and state capitals want to understand why the American public is demanding enforcement of our immigration laws, The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on U.S. Taxpayers, provides 113 billion good reasons,” Stein concluded.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/19/welfare-tab-children-illegal-immigrants-estimated-m-la-county/

Welfare Tab for Children of Illegal Immigrants Estimated at $600M in L.A. County

Published January 19, 2011 | FoxNews.com

Welfare benefits for the children of illegal immigrants cost America's largest county more than $600 million last year, according to a local official keeping tabs on the cost.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich released new statistics this week showing social spending for those families in his county rose to $53 million in November, putting the county government on track to spend more than $600 million on related costs for the year -- up from $570 million in 2009.

Antonovich arrived at the estimate by factoring in the cost of food stamps and welfare-style benefits through a state program known as CalWORKS. Combined with public safety costs and health care costs, the official claimed the "total cost for illegal immigrants to county taxpayers" was more than $1.6 billion in 2010.

"Not including the hundreds of millions of dollars for education," he said in a statement.

Antonovich's figures, though, center on costs generated by American-born children of illegal immigrants. Isabel Alegria, communications director at the California Immigrant Policy Center, said it's "unfair" to roll together costs associated with both illegal immigrants and U.S.-born citizens.

"Those children are U.S. citizens, children eligible for those programs," Alegria said.

She also questioned the authenticity of Antonovich's numbers regarding health care and public safety -- though for the welfare program statistics, Antonovich cited numbers from the county's Department of Public Social Services.

Antonovich acknowledges that the children whose benefits he's focusing on are U.S.-born. But he argues that the money is collected by the illegal immigrant parents, putting a painful burden on taxpayers, including those who are legal immigrants.

"The problem is illegal immigration. ... Their parents evidently immigrated here in order to get on social services," Antonovich spokesman Tony Bell said. "We can no longer afford to be HMO to the world."

He said the state should cut back on these social benefits. According to the November statistics, that cost accounted for 22 percent of all food stamp and CalWORKS spending in the county.

Over the summer, the Federation for American Immigration Reform also looked at these kinds of costs nationwide to get an idea of the burden to local governments at a time when many are grappling with budget deficits.

The organization reported that the cost of illegal immigration stands at about $113 billion a year. Nearly half of that amount went toward education costs, according to the study. Costs were naturally higher in states with large illegal immigrant populations -- in California, the total annual cost was pegged at $21.8 billion.

http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/news/lone_republican/index.php/2011/11/01/the-cost-of-illegal-immigration/

The cost of illegal immigration

Bravo, Rep. James Lyons for forcing the Patrick Administration to disclose how much the Commonwealth is spending for health care for illegal immigrants.

In case you missed the Saturday news story, taxpayers are spending $93 million for MassHealth for illegal immigrants. That’s not chump change. It is actually the tip of the iceberg.

According to the Center for Immigration Reform, there are 220,000 illegal immigrants in Massachusetts. 25 percent are on welfare. That means 55,000 are collecting benefits. (Please note that this figure matches the Patrick number for illegal immigrants on MassHealth.) If each of them collect just $1000 in welfare benefits, then that totals $55 million per month and $660 million per year. If they get $2000 in benefits, taxpayers are shelling out $1.2 billion.

Let’s not forget there are costs for education and public safety.

We cannot afford to ignore the problem of illegal immigration any more.