The eye-watering financial cost of the migrant crisis hit $150 billion last year and is causing devastating consequences for residents of hard-hit cities struggling to cope with the influx, The Post has learned.
Of that figure, calculated by Washington DC-based non-profit Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), $67 billion came from the federal government, but the majority of the burden was shouldered by states and local governments.
FAIR estimates there were at least 15.5 million “illegal alien residents” in the country at the beginning of 2022, with federal funding amounting to $3,187 per migrant per year, an increase of 45% since their last survey in 2017.
Of the federal government’s $67 billion spent in 2023, more than $6.6 billion was earmarked for education and over $25 billion was doled out in medical costs. Federal welfare programs ate up $11.5 billion and law enforcement costs were $23.1 billion, according to the 91-page “The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on United States Taxpayers 2023” report from FAIR.
They point out that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to migrant spending as state and local expenditure is far higher.