One of the things that riles even those Americans who aren’t politically inclined is seeing their tax dollars pay for illegal aliens’ education, housing, food, and medical care. When they raise these concerns, though, they’re immediately told, “quit yer whining” because even illegal aliens pay taxes and buy American products. The implication is that the illegal aliens are paying their way. This is a lie.

According to leftist sites, illegal aliens are a net good to the economy. Not only do “they do the jobs Americans won’t do,” but they are also good taxpayers. According to a July report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, illegal aliens pay lots of taxes, despite being barred from accessing some of those programs into which they’re paying:

• Undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022. Most of that amount, $59.4 billion, was paid to the federal government while the remaining $37.3 billion was paid to state and local governments.
• Undocumented immigrants paid federal, state, and local taxes of $8,889 per person in 2022. In other words, for every 1 million undocumented immigrants who reside in the country, public services receive $8.9 billion in additional tax revenue.
• More than a third of the tax dollars paid by undocumented immigrants go toward payroll taxes dedicated to funding programs that these workers are barred from accessing. Undocumented immigrants paid $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes, $6.4 billion in Medicare taxes, and $1.8 billion in unemployment insurance taxes in 2022.

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• Income tax payments by undocumented immigrants are affected by laws that require them to pay more than otherwise similarly situated U.S. citizens. Undocumented immigrants are often barred from receiving meaningful tax credits and sometimes do not claim refunds they are owed due to lack of awareness, concern about their immigration status, or insufficient access to tax preparation assistance.

You can see here the whole list of financial benefits illegal aliens graciously confer on America. The bottom line, though, is that these illegal aliens are paying $96.7 billion in taxes. Wow! That’s so awesome. They’re definitely making our economy stronger, right?

Well, maybe not. The problem is that they’re taking way more than they’re giving. Per the New York Post:

The migrant crisis is more costly than Americans realize.

Last year, US taxpayers shelled out some $150 billion in government services and support to help the 20 million illegal migrants in the country, according to a study from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

And most of the cost is being borne by state and local governments.

In Massachusetts, Republican leaders say there’s a $1 billion hole in state coffers — and they’re accusing the Democrat-controlled government of quietly siphoning off tax dollars to deal with the migrant crisis.

On Tuesday the state’s Republican party filed a Freedom of Information Act request demanding Gov. Maura Healey release Massachusetts’ full migrant budget, and alleging that the true cost has been hidden from the public.

The Republicans need that FOIA request because FAIR thinks that the real cost to Massachusetts taxpayers in 2023 was $3 billion, not just $1 billion.

FAIR’s calculations also indicate that New York State is cooking the books. The state comptroller estimated that, by the end of 2025, illegal aliens will have cost taxpayers $4.3 billion. However, in fiscal year 2024, NYC taxpayers alone coughed up $3 billion. FAIR, in turn, thinks that New York State taxpayers shelled out around $10 billion for illegal aliens in 2023.

The issue, of course, is how one accounts for the dollars spent. According to states such as New York and Massachusetts, the only expense is emergency food and housing. However, FAIR looks to other expenses that are passed on to legal Americans:

Services like education, medical expenses, law enforcement, legal costs, and welfare, were prominent factors FAIR looked at in their study.

Those, coupled with the differences in tax revenue compared to expenses, helped contribute to the discrepancies between state reporting and the estimated true cost of hosting migrants.

FAIR also included the costs of US-born children of illegal immigrants – something many reports don’t factor in.

It’s a good essay and one well worth reading.

The point about law enforcement expenses is an important one. FAIR means the cost of more police to control more crime. But there’s also the cost of crime itself.

Just look at what’s happening in Aurora, Colorado, where Venezuelan gangs are taking over whole communities. When a violent gang of illegal aliens controls the community, that depresses property values, drives out businesses, and impairs people’s ability to work. Each of these factors decreases wealth and, by extension, tax revenues.

Just think of how Detroit was once a wealthy city that contributed to America’s overall financial health. When its business base collapsed, it became the “neediest” city in America. Turning cities into tax vacuums, not tax generators, is a real cost, and illegal immigration is one of the things driving that cost.

The expression “lies, damn lies, and statistics” originated in the 19th century but still resonates today. Keep that expression in mind when open-border Democrats tell you that those illegal aliens pouring in are great for the American economy. That’s a statistic backed by phony accounting and hides the truth about the serious drag illegal aliens place on the economy and the money they take from all our pockets.

Image: Illegal aliens in New York City. YouTube screen grab.