The already high cost to taxpayers for providing welfare, education and healthcare to illegal immigrants will soar if they are granted amnesty and citizenship, a massive bill driven as the aging population secures Social Security retirement and Medicare, according to a leading expert.
With the costs of illegal immigration already at $135 billion, according to a recent report, the retirement bill is likely to add far more, bringing the tab to $2 trillion.
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“Do the math, and six million long-term undocumented residents translates into roughly $2 trillion of government benefits over the balance of their lives, some of which will be offset by Social Security and Medicare taxes paid. It is a steep bill,” said Steven Kopits, president of Princeton Policy Advisors in Pennington, N.J. He writes regularly on immigration.
His is a calculation few others have considered but is a likelihood as President Trump and Congress moves toward embracing some 800,000 so-called “dreamers,” youths who illegally entered the U.S. under a pro-immigration Obama-era plan, and millions of others already here.
A recent report from the Federation for American Immigration Reform put the cost of illegal immigrants and their kids at $135 billion a year, the highest ever, driven by free medical care, education and a huge law enforcement bill, according to the the most authoritative report on the issue yet.
State and local governments are getting ravaged by the costs, at over $88 billion, said the report. The federal government, by comparison, is getting off easy at $45 billion in costs for illegals.
But that hit on Uncle Sam and taxpayers will widen as the added population, if granted citizenship, moves to retirement, said Kopits.
Here are Kopits’ key points spelled out in a new brief:
- In 2018, the average Social Security benefit per retiree will amount to $16,428 for the year. Of course, migrants granted permanent residency will probably receive far less, in part because their average wages are lower and because they started paying into Social Security later. On the other hand, the specter of permanent resident migrants facing 18th century levels of destitution is unlikely to be stomached by the U.S. political system. By one means or another, the government will fork over a sufficient amount to keep retired migrants afloat, and a $6,000/year per migrant subsidy might represent the lower end of what politicians’ magnanimity is likely to deliver.
- On average, Medicare spending is around $10,000/year per Medicare enrollee. Hispanics actually outlive whites by about eighteen months. Their life expectancy after the age of 65 is 20.6 years, two decades to receive retirement and healthcare benefits.
He noted that polls show public support for granting legal status to undocumented immigrants and added that it might be better to just move on and get them paying legally into Social Security.
“U.S. taxpayers may be better off providing migrants permanent residency sooner, as it would allow a greater period of time for them to pay into Social Security and Medicare before their retirement,” he concluded.
