Shock report: US paying more for illegal immigrant births than Trump’s wall
Americans are paying more to cover the costs of illegal immigrants having children in the United States than Congress plans to give President Trump in border wall funding this year, according to an explosive new analysis of Census Bureau data. The new report reveals that women in the United States illegally had 297,000 children in 2014 at a cost of $2.4 billion. That is $800 million more than the Senate has approved for Trump’s border wall this year and enough to pay for the wall over 10 years.
The Center for Immigration Studies report also put a price on the likely Medicaid bill for childbirth and early care to illegal and legal immigrants combined, at $5.3 billion. That is one-fifth the total cost of building the border wall. A national debate over wall funding is set for after the election and could result in a partial government shutdown if Trump doesn’t get more than the Senate’s $1.6 billion. Technically, illegal immigrants are not eligible for welfare services. But the report explained, "Medicaid will pay for a delivery in almost all cases if the mother is uninsured or has a low income, though some mothers without insurance may not even realize the program has paid health care providers. Illegal immigrants and most new legal immigrants are ineligible for Medicaid, but the program will still cover the cost of delivery and post-partum care for these mothers for at least a few months."
The Center, which conducts regular analysis of Census family data to determine the impact of legal and illegal immigration, said that overall in 2014 one in five births – 791,000 – in the United States was to an immigrant. “Our best estimate is that legal immigrants accounted for 12.4 percent – 494,000 – of all births, and illegal immigrants accounted for 7.5 percent, – 297,000,” said the report done by CIS Research Director Steven A. Camarota, Demographer Karen Zeigler and analyst Jason Richwine. They said that figures for subsequent years show little variation from 2014. The near 300,000 born to illegals is a population the size of Cincinnati. Camarota told Secrets, “Paying for so many births to immigrant mothers may make sense, but the large share who can’t provide for themselves without the help of American taxpayers raises the question of whether our current immigration system makes sense.”
He also questioned the ability of the new kids, citizens by birthright, to fold into American society. “The enormous number of births to legal and illegal immigrants in the United States may hinder assimilation as children from immigrant families in many parts of the country will largely interact only with each other,” he added.
The numbers are stunning. Consider:
The estimated 28,000 births to illegal immigrants in just the Los Angeles metro area is larger than the total number of births in 14 states and the District of Columbia.
The states with the largest numbers of births to illegal immigrants are California with 65,000, Texas with 51,000, Florida with 16,000, Illinois with 14,000, Georgia with 13,000, New York with 12,000, and New Jersey and North Carolina with 11,000 each. Illegal immigrants account for more than one in seven births in the Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Jose, Dallas, and Houston metro areas. Typically between two-thirds and three-fourths of these births are likely paid for by taxpayers. The state with the highest share of births to illegal immigrants is Nevada, at nearly one in six. Births to illegal immigrants account for one in seven births in California and Texas.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/shock-report-us-paying-more-for-illegal-immigrant-births-than-trumps-wall