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By Jon Sutz, Editor, SaveTheWest.com
December 19, 2018
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Contents
(I) Nine vital numbers regarding President Trump’s $5 billion funding request for the border wall that every American should know
(II) Other relevant facts that put these numbers into context
Introduction & background
A conflict has erupted over President Trump’s request for $5 billion to construct vital portions of a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. His core argument is that America must secure its southern border to help stop the flow of citizens of other nations, violent criminals, illicit drugs and terrorists from illegally entering the U.S.
Democratic leaders in Congress and the Senate, however, claim Trump’s assertions are inaccurate, that the notion of constructing a wall is “immoral,” and that they will oppose any funding for this purpose. Most recently, incoming Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced she will keep the government “closed forever” rather than allowing any money to be used for a wall:
Nancy Pelosi suggests she’ll keep the U.S. government “closed forever” before she’ll fund the border wall.pic.twitter.com/aob3nvJJSX
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) December 13, 2018
Learn more about each side’s positions here.
On November 3, 2018 SaveTheWest published a report, “Who benefits from the lies being spread about the ‘caravans’?” which exposed some of the incendiary disinformation being spread by influential news organizations and political figures about the issue, and identified the four key groups that they benefit:
While the political battle now being waged is over Trump’s $5 billion funding request, little has been reported that puts this number into context of other numbers that are vital to this discussion.
The purpose of this new SaveTheWest report is to place this number into the context of:
(I) Nine vital numbers regarding President Trump’s $5 billion funding request for the border wall that every American should know
(II) Other relevant facts that put these numbers into context
If you have any questions or comments regarding the data presented in this report, please email info (at) savethewest.com.
(I) Nine vital numbers regarding President Trump’s $5 billion funding request for the border wall that every American should know
Here is a slide show presenting the nine key numbers that we at SaveTheWest contend every American should know concerning this matter. The details of each are below.
Please share this slide show if you feel its contents should be known by other Americans:
Nine vital numbers regarding President Trump’s $5 billion funding request for the border wall that every American should know, by SaveTheWest.com from JonSutzSTW
Breakdown of these nine numbers
Click the number to the left to learn the details about each item. If you agree that this is information that Americans should be aware of, as the debate over the $5 billion request reaches its climax, please share the above slide show, and the infographics below each section, with your friends.
(1) $4.1 trillion: America’s FY2019 budget is $4.1 trillion (of which $793 billion is borrowed).
(2) 0.0012%: The one-time $5 billion expenditure President Trump wants appropriated for the wall is 1/820th (0.0012%) of America’s $4.1 trillion budget.
(3) 99% effective: Border walls of the type Trump seeks to construct have proven to be 99% effective at stopping illegal entry in Hungary, Israel and other nations.
(4) $250 billion per year is the likely actual cost of illegal aliens to U.S. taxpayers — instead of the earlier estimate of $135 billion per year.
(5) 297,000 births per year: Females illegal aliens in the U.S. gave birth to an estimated 297,000 babies in 2014.
(6) $30 billion per year: The estimated cost of illegal aliens to California taxpayers is $30 billion each year, which is nearly 18% of the state’s entire annual budget.
(7) 63% of illegal aliens are on at least one form of taxpayer-funded welfare.
(8) 80% of the illicit fentanyl distributed in the U.S. was illegally smuggled over the Mexican border.
(9) 50,000 illegal aliens are arrested each month after penetrating the U.S. southern border — which is likely only a small portion of actual border penetrations.
(1) $4.1 trillion: America’s FY2019 budget is $4.1 trillion (of which $793 billion is borrowed).
In 2018, the U.S. government took in $3.307 trillion in taxes, meaning is had to borrow $793 billion ($793,000,000,000) to cover its expenditures. $391 billion of our 2018 expenditures was interest payments on the $22 trillion in debt we’ve amassed (we’re not paying down the principal). Between 2008 and 2019, our debt more than doubled from $9 trillion to $22 trillion. Soon, the U.S. will be spending more on interest in our debt than on our national defense.
Sources: Congressional Budget Office (CBO) FY 2019, a CBS News article citing data from the CBO, U.S. Treasury and Washington Post, and a Wall St. Journal article.
(2) 0.0012%: The one-time $5 billion expenditure President Trump wants appropriated for the wall is 1/820th (0.0012%) of America’s $4.1 trillion budget.
(3) 99% effective: Border walls of the type Trump seeks to construct have proven to be 99% effective at stopping illegal entry in Hungary, Israel and other nations.
Sources: A report by the government of Hungary, a PolitiFact investigation of claims that Israel’s border walls are 99% effective.
(4) $250 billion per year is the likely actual cost of illegal aliens to U.S. taxpayers — instead of the earlier estimate of $135 billion per year.
Until early 2018, the estimated cost of illegal aliens to American taxpayers at the federal, state and local level, is $135 billion each year, which is 1/30th, or 3.3% of our $4.1 trillion federal budget. This figure was based on the total estimated population of illegal aliens in the U.S. being at 11-12 million.
A joint MIT-Yale University report published in September 2018, however, showed that rather than the oft-cited estimate of 11-12 million illegal aliens in the U.S., there are actually closer to 22 million, meaning the estimated cost to U.S. taxpayers of illegal aliens in the U.S. is likely closer to $250 billion per year, rather than the earlier estimate of $135 billion per year,
The actual cost may well be higher, given the escalating births among illegal aliens, more than half of whom receive at least one form of taxpayer-funded welfare, this number is growing each year.
Source: A Gatestone Institute report, citing data from the Federation for American Immigration Reform, Center for Immigration Studies, Crime Prevention Research Center, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; A Bloomberg article on the MIT-Yale study, and its methodology; and Pew Research data, cited in National Economics Editorial report.
(5) 297,000 births per year: Females illegal aliens in the U.S. gave birth to an estimated 297,000 babies in 2014.
Upon delivery, all were instantly classified as American citizens, and entitled to the full spectrum of taxpayer-funded welfare, healthcare, educational and housing benefits. The estimated cost to American taxpayers for the healthcare during and immediately after these births is $2.4 billion per year.
Source: Washington Examiner article, citing a Center for Immigration Studies analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data; Also, Center for Disease Control’s National Center for Health Statistics 2014 data.
(6) $30 billion per year: The estimated cost of illegal aliens to California taxpayers is $30 billion each year, which is nearly 18% of the state’s entire annual budget.
Per the September 2018 MIT-Yale study, however (see Fact (4)), the actual cost may be closer to $55 billion per year, or 32% of CA’s budget.
Source: National Economics Editorial report.
(7) 63% of illegal aliens are on at least one form of taxpayer-funded welfare.
Sources: Investor’s Business Daily article, citing data from the Center for Immigration Studies, U.S. Census Bureau, Wall St. Journal research, and other data.
(8) 80% of the illicit fentanyl distributed in the U.S. was illegally smuggled over the Mexican border.
According to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, 80% of the fentanyl that is sold on the street in the America was smuggled by Mexican drug cartels over the U.S. southern border.
Background: Fentanyl is an ultra-deadly synthetic opiate, a few granules of which can kill an adult. Islamist terrorist gangs, which are documented to be collaborating with Mexican drug cartels, are reportedly intent on using fentanyl to kill Americas via mass-dispersal devices. One arrest, in May 2018, contained enough fentanyl to kill 26 million Americans.
Learn more here, including about recent incidents of U.S. authorities’ interdicting massive amounts of fentanyl at the Mexican border.
Sources: San Diego Union article, citing data from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI and other federal agencies; Also, a supplement to SaveTheWest’s recent report: “Fentanyl smuggling: The little-known but potentially catastrophic component of transnational terrorist activity at the U.S. border.”
(9) 60,000+ illegal aliens are arrested each month after penetrating the U.S. southern border — which is likely only a small portion of actual border penetrations.
In October and November 2018, U.S. Customs & Border Patrol arrested more than 60,000 illegal aliens on U.S. soil each month, a dramatic increase from previous years.
Source: U.S. Customs & Border Protection report.
According to various statistical and anecdotal data, however, these arrests are likely only a small portion of actual penetrations, due to:
(a) The porous nature of major elements of the border (below) — which are to be filled in with the wall that President Trump wants to construct
(b) The inadequate number of Border Patrol officers to detect and intercept all the illegal aliens who penetrate U.S. territory
Previously-deported criminal illegal aliens
(II) Other relevant facts that put these numbers into context
It is assumed that many if not most of those from Central and South America who wish to enter the U.S. are peaceful and law-abiding. As documented in SaveTheWest’s recent report, “Who benefits from the lies being spread about the ‘caravans’?,” however, there is eminently legitimate reasons for grave concerns about who may be traveling with them, including previously-deported criminal illegal aliens, violent criminal gang members, woman & child sex traffickers, and Islamist terrorists.
That said, there is tangential information that puts “Nine vital numbers regarding President Trump’s $5 billion funding request for the border wall that every American should know” into a broader context, to help concerned Americans formulate a reality-based assessment of the $5 billion President Trump seeks for continued work on the border wall — and the Democrats’ opposition to it.
Fact 1: Until recently, many top Democrats were very supportive of erecting a physical barrier at the U.S. southern border, and of combating illegal entry into the the U.S. by foreign nationals
Fact 2: Did you know that for many years, the U.S. government has been deducting money from your paychecks to pay for border walls and security systems in other nations, including Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Ukraine and others? It’s true.
Fact 3: Estimates now indicate that illegal aliens cost U.S. taxpayers more than $18 billion a year in Medicaid expenses
Fact 4: Several years before using New York City taxpayer money to travel to Texas to oppose the border wall and advocate for illegal aliens, Mayor Bill de Blasio used taxpayer money to build a wall around the NYC mayoral mansion
Fact 5: In 2014, investigative journalist James O’Keefe was videotaped walking over the U.S. border, dressed as Osama Bin Laden
Fact 6: A December 2018 report from Conservative Review details many of the little-known costs of illegal aliens to U.S. taxpayers
Fact 7: A recent video featuring an official with the National Border Patrol Council exposes the porous nature of the U.S. southern border — and the fact that drug smugglers, terrorists and human traffickers can walk right into America
Fact 8: During 2013, illegal aliens in Los Angeles County consumed more than $1.6 billion in welfare benefits
Fact 1: Until recently, many top Democrats were very supportive of erecting a physical barrier at the U.S. southern border, and of combating illegal entry into the the U.S. by foreign nationals
“A lie told once remains a lie, but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth.”
– Joseph Goebbels, Nazi minister of propaganda
If a rational being from another world were able to begin observing Earth for the first time, in November-December 2018, he or she would likely conclude that President Trump’s intent to construct an border wall separating the U.S. from Mexico is something straight out of Nazi Germany. This impression would be particularly strong if such a being only observed the “news” media that targets young people, which depict Trump as a “fascist,” a “Nazi,” a “racist,” and a “dictator.”
The reality, however, is that:
(a) All Trump has done is order that existing laws, passed by Congress, be enforced.
(b) Senior Democratic Party political figures have been making almost identical statements as Trump, since 1994.
Further, significant swaths of mainstream Democrats in Congress have voted in the past to construct and enforce a robust physical barrier along America’s southern border, to prevent illegal aliens from entering America.
Here is a compilation of such statements by top Democrats; individual incidents are posted below, with source data:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gISMNv3qm8M&fbclid=IwAR0WoFiKkEeERNKL43WcD2zaEsMvteKt4GQH6nLY6RXy4kL7Umryh6SBvFw
Below is a sampling of the many statements made by these and other top Democrats — most of whom are now vilifying President Trump for statements that are almost exactly like those of leaders of their own party.
1994: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) explicitly advocated for strong U.S. border protection and enforcement of immigration laws, and denounced the costs and crimes caused by illegal aliens
Consider Feinstein’s words — and the fact that she got elected and re-elected on this platform:
“I think we can enforce our borders. I think we should enforce our borders. To have a situation where 40 percent of the babies born on Medicaid in California today are born of illegal immigrants creates a very real problem for the state which is in deficit … to have 17 percent of our prison population at a cost of $300 million a year be illegal immigrants who come here and commit felonies – that’s not what this nation is all about.”
1996: President Bill Clinton articulated the need for strong border protection against illegal aliens, and tough laws against any business that employs them
“There are some areas that the federal government should not leave and should address and address strongly. One of these areas is the problem of illegal immigration. After years of neglect, this administration has taken a strong stand to stiffen the protection of our borders. We are increasing border controls by 50 percent. We are increasing inspections to prevent the hiring of illegal immigrants. And tonight, I announce I will sign an executive order to deny federal contracts to businesses that hire illegal immigrants.
“Let me be very clear about this: We are still a nation of immigrants; we should be proud of it. We should honor every legal immigrant here, working hard to become a new citizen. But we are also a nation of laws.”
2005: Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) on the cost of illegal aliens, the cultural resentment their open-borders rallies cause, and the urgent need to protect America via a strong border wall
If you saw only these words, today, and were asked who said them, would you not think they came from the mouth of President Trump?
“We simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented, unchecked and circumventing the line of people who are waiting patiently, diligently and lawfully to become immigrants in this country.”
https://youtu.be/jFv_v16Orqw
2006: Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) supporting the construction of physical barrier to prevent illegal aliens from entering America
If you saw only these words, today, and were asked who said them, would you not think they came from the mouth of President Trump?
“The bill before us will certainly do some good. It will authorize some badly needed funding for better fences and better security along our borders and that should help stem some of the tide of illegal immigration in this country.”
2006: Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) wrote in his book about his resentment over support for illegal Mexican aliens in America, and the economic impact on our economy
From The Audacity of Hope:, as reported by the Daily Caller (with audio). If you saw only these words, today, and were asked who said them, would you not think they came from the mouth of President Trump?
“When I see Mexican flags waved at pro-immigration demonstrations, I sometimes feel a flush of patriotic resentment. When I’m forced to use a translator to communicate with the guy fixing my car, I feel a certain frustration. […]
“[T]his huge influx of mostly low-skill workers… threatens to depress further the wages of blue-collar Americans and put strains on an already overburdened safety net [welfare system].”
“[T]here’s no denying that many blacks share the same anxieties as many whites about the wave of illegal immigration flooding our Southern border—a sense that what’s happening now is fundamentally different from what has gone on before.”
2006: Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) spoke out in support of a strong physical barrier to prevent illegal aliens from entering America
If you saw only these words, today, and were asked who said them, would you not think they came from the mouth of a Republican?
“I don’t oppose building a fence where you need to do it where the border is porous. I just don’t have a problem with that.”
2006: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA): “Democrats Support the Border Fence”
Feinstein in ’06: ‘Democrats Support the Border Fence’, by Chris Deaton, The Weekly Standard, January 6, 2017. Excerpt:
“Democrats are solidly behind controlling the border, and we support the border fence,” [Feinstein] said, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. “We’ve got to get tough on the border. There’s no question the border is a sieve.”
2009: Sen Charles Schumer (D-NY): “Illegal Immigration is wrong, plain and simple”
If you saw only these words, today, and didn’t know who said them, then turned on any mainstream “news” organ (outside of Fox), who do you think the journalists and pundits would predict said them? Probably a neo-Nazi, a white nationalist or right-wing extremist:
“When we use phrases like ‘undocumented workers,’ we convey a message to the American people that their government is not serious about combating illegal immigration, which the American people overwhelmingly oppose. If you don’t think it’s illegal, you’re not going to say it. I think it is illegal and wrong and we have to change it.”
“People who enter the United States without our permission are illegal aliens, and illegal aliens should not be treated the same as people who entered the U.S. legally.”
In fact, they were uttered, on video, by one of the most far-left members of the U.S. Senate, less than ten years ago:
2013: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) voted for $18 billion to build a wall along the U.S. southern border — but is opposing $5 billion in 2018 for the same purpose
From Sanders Gets Called Out for Supporting $18 Billion Wall In 2013 But Opposing $5 Billion Wall Now, NTK Media, December 13, 2018:
“I think border security is enormously important, but I think building a wall is a very costly and inefficient way to do that,” Sanders said. “And I’m not alone. I mean, many experts think that given the kind of technology that we have today, we can protect our southern border without building the wall and spending $5 billion.”
“Yes. And senator, in 2013 you voted for comprehensive immigration that included $18 billion for a wall in border security,” Baier interjected. Baier then asked Sanders why the $5 billion is a nonstarter for him.
“Well, I’m saying that you have $5 billion as part of tens of billions more for a wall. What I’m saying right now, sometimes you vote for things that are part of a broad package.”
2014: Sec. Hillary Clinton claimed that illegal alien children should be sent back to their nation of origin — and America’s borders should be secured
In an ultimate irony, four years later she is condemning President Trump for saying effectively the exact same things that she did, on June 17, 2014. If you saw only these words, today, and were asked who said them, would you not think they came from the mouth of President Trump?
They [illegal alien children] should be sent back as soon as it can be determined who the responsible adults in their families are. There are concerns about whether all of them can be sent back, but I think all of them who can be should be reunited with their families [in their native countries]. […]
We have to do more to deal with the violence in this region, to deal with border security, but we have to send a clear message that just because your child gets across the border that doesn’t mean the child gets to stay. We don’t want to send a message that is contrary to our laws or that will encourage more children to take that dangerous journey.
https://youtu.be/LtTb1QQpjqM
2014: President Obama advised parents in Mexico and Central America to not send their children to the U.S. border; “They will be sent back”
Starting in late 2012-early 2013, Obama began using U.S. taxpayer money to advertise to Central Americans and Mexicans that America’s welfare agencies are prohibited from asking about residency status or national origin. Yet on June 26, 2014, he said this on ABC News (cue up the video to the 2:50 mark):
“Our message absolutely is don’t send your children unaccompanied, on trains or through a bunch of smugglers. We don’t even know how many of these kids don’t make it, and may have been waylaid into sex trafficking or killed because they fell off a train. Do not send your children to the [U.S.] borders. If they do make it [to the U.S. border], they’ll get sent back.”
2015: Sec. Hillary Clinton said she supports building a physical barrier to prevent the influx of illegal aliens into America
If you saw only these words, today, and were asked who said them, would you not think they came from the mouth of a Republican?
“I voted numerous times when I was a Senator to spend money to build a barrier to try to prevent illegal immigrants from coming in and I do think you have to control your borders.”
Conclusion
At this point, some questions are eminently merited:
(1) How is it that these statements, all by left-leaning Democrats, never caused the uproar that almost identical statements from President Trump are inciting from these very same public servants, today?
(2) Why is the national mainstream “news” media, which insists it is completely objective and nonpartisan, now almost uniformly calling Trump a fascist, a racist, and a dictator, because he seeks to (a) Enforce the national sovereignty laws that were passed by Congress, and (b) Is making statements almost identical to those of his Democratic opponents, in recent years?
(3) Why is this same mainstream national “news” media almost completely ignoring the facts that support Trump’s statements, which they themselves reported on only several years ago — but about which they are silent now? Here is but one example, of the far-left MSNBC’s in-depth 2007 report on the fact that Iran has been establishing bases for Hezbollah terrorists in Central and South America for many years:
“Hezbollah builds a Western base” – MSNBC (2007)
Also see SaveTheWest’s recent report, which presents a litany of essential facts that support Trump’s allegations regarding the “caravans,” and what has been occurring south of the U.S. border — yet which the national mainstream “news” media has been ignoring:
“Who benefits from the lies being spread about the ‘caravans’?”
(4) Why have leading figures in this same mainstream national “news” media not only ignored the above facts, but resorted to the most vile accusations against Trump and his supporters, claiming they are “racists,” or “trying to gin up hate against brown people, and Muslims, without evidence” (a direct quote from a “senior CNN reporter”)? See the evidence of just some of these lies here.
Only the Democrats cited above, and the leaders of the most prominent national “news” organizations, can answer these questions.
Fact 2: Did you know that for many years, the U.S. government has been deducting money from your paychecks to pay for border walls and security systems in other nations, including Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Ukraine and others? It’s true.
This is a new section that will be developed as possible. (Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to SaveTheWest today, to enable us to do this work.)
Due to legislation passed on a bipartisan basis in Congress and the Senate, U.S. taxpayers have been forced for many years to fund the construction of border walls and security systems in Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Ukraine and elsewhere, at a cost of billions of dollars. Here are just a few articles, reports and items of legislation to validate this fact:
Raytheon helps bolster Jordan’s border security – UPI
Jordan Border Operations Center – Defense Threat Reduction Agency (US Government)
Tunisia, Egypt Boost Libyan Border Security – DefenseNews.com
“U.S. Congress: Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018” (“Omnibus” bill); See pages 374-396
Pentagon partners with Germany on Tunisia border security – AI Monitor
The Great Wall of Jordan: How the US Wants to Keep the Islamic State Out – VICE News
Fact 3: Estimates now indicate that illegal aliens cost U.S. taxpayers more than $18 billion a year in Medicaid expenses
Excerpts from Reports: Illegal immigrants receiving Medicaid costs taxpayers $18.5 billion annually, by Bethany Blankley, Watchdog.org, October 19, 2018:
According to a report published by Forbes, health care for 3.9 million illegal immigrants costs American taxpayers $18.5 billion annually. Of that total, $11.2 billion in federal taxes went to subsidizing care for illegal immigrants in 2016.
The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) found that the percentage of new immigrants on Medicaid grew from six percent in 2007 to 17 percent in 2017 – an increase of 11 percentage points. The percentage of Americans on Medicaid also slightly increased during the same time period, by nine percent.
“The average immigrant household consumes 33 percent more cash welfare, 57 percent more food assistance, and 44 percent more Medicaid dollars than the average native household,” Jason Richwine, independent public policy analyst for the CIS, said. “Housing costs are about the same for both groups.”
Even though regulations restrict federal tax dollars funding Medicaid or health care services through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for illegal immigrants, loopholes exist. As a result, CIS found that illegal immigrants indirectly receive $2.8 billion of health care funding through state-only Medicaid programs and through federal taxes totaling at least $4.6 billion, according to a Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation report. New York, Washington, Illinois, Massachusetts, Washington D.C., and California all provide state-only funded Medicaid benefits to illegal immigrants.
Fact 4: Several years before using New York City taxpayer money to travel to Texas to oppose the border wall and advocate for illegal aliens, Mayor Bill De Blasio used taxpayer money to build a wall around the NYC mayoral mansion
July 2018: NYC Mayor De Blasio turned back at Texas border facility; ‘Big Apple’ politician: ‘Is there a supervisor to talk to here?’, by Douglas Ernst, The Washington Times, June 21, 2018.
December 2014: De Blasio builds ‘privacy fence’ around Gracie Mansion, by Larry Celona, Frank Rosario and Bob Fredericks, NY Post, December 11, 2014.
Fact 5: In 2014, investigative journalist James O’Keefe was videotaped walking over the U.S. border, dressed as Osama Bin Laden
This may help explain how so many criminal illegal aliens who’d been deported 2, 5, 10, 20 or more times have been able to walk right back into America, to continue victimizing Americans, as documented in SaveTheWest’s previous report:
Fact 6: A December 2018 report from Conservative Review details many of the little-known costs of illegal aliens to U.S. taxpayers
From Conservative Review:
The cost of the wall is nothing compared to the yearly cost of illegal immigration, by Daniel Horowitz, Conservative Review, December 26, 2018. Excerpt:
According to Steve Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies, the lifetime cost of an illegal alien is $74,722. If the descendants of these illegal immigrants are factored into the equation, the cost increases to $94,391 per illegal alien. And if different methodologies are used to calculate the lifetime fiscal cost (not using net present value), the cost could be as high as $140,000-$150,000 per illegal, according to Camarota.
At one million illegal aliens every year, that is a cost of between $74 and $150 billion every year just for that year’s flow of illegal immigrants. And no, there are not only 12 million illegal immigrants in the country. When prompted by Steve King at the judiciary hearing, Nielsen admitted that there definitely are somewhere between 12 and 22 million, “higher than originally estimated.”
The cost of illegal immigration is so unconscionable that the media makes sure we never have the data and anecdotes that will force such a conversation. Now, with the fight over funding a border wall, is the time for that conversation.
Fact 7: A recent video featuring an official with the National Border Patrol Council exposes the porous nature of the U.S. southern border — and the fact that drug smugglers, terrorists and human traffickers can walk right into America
From Charlie Kirk, president of Turning Point USA, host of the video, on January 4, 2019:
“EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD SEE THIS! Our borders are WIDE OPEN! Murderers, rapists, drug dealers and human traffickers are all free to walk right in to our country! FACT: 95% of Border Patrol agents support the wall. BUILD THE WALL!”
Fact 8: During 2013, illegal aliens in Los Angeles County consumed more than $1.6 billion in welfare benefits
Undocumented LA County Parents On Pace To Receive $650M In Welfare Benefits, by CBS Los Angeles, September 16, 2013. Excerpt:
A projected $650 million in welfare benefits will be distributed to illegal alien parents in 2013, county officials said Monday.
Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich announced the latest figures from the Department of Public Social Services, which showed more than $376 million in CalWORKs benefits and food stamps combined have been distributed through July to illegal alien parents for their native-born children. […]
“When you add the $550 million for public safety and nearly $500 million for healthcare, the total cost for illegal immigrants to county taxpayers exceeds $1.6 billion dollars a year,” Antonovich said in a statement. “These costs do not even include the hundreds of millions of dollars spent annually for education.”
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