Christian Smith
WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — Republican lawmakers have long argued that migrants crossing the border in record numbers in recent years are costing Americans dearly — and now they say they have the numbers to prove it.
‘The cost of the border crisis’
This week, the House Budget Committee organized a hearing on “The Cost of the Border Crisis” to discuss how much President Joe Biden’s border policy is reportedly costing taxpayers.
GOP committee members said that under Biden, taxpayers have shelled out $150 billion a year in border expenses, which equates to nearly $9,000 per migrant annually.
The budget committee presented the conclusions of the Federation for American Immigration Reform — an organization that aims to reduce legal immigration by up to 70%.
The group said it calculated these numbers taking into account what it describes as a “negative economic impact,” including billions of dollars for education and medical expenses for migrants.
Purchasing power of migrants
A study carried out in 2021 by New Organization of the American Economya self-described bipartisan immigration research group explored the purchasing power that undocumented immigrants commanded.
“Undocumented Mexican immigrants held more than $82.2 billion in purchasing power, money that often flows back into local economies when they spend on housing, consumer goods and services,” the New American Economy Organization wrote in its findings.
During this week’s hearing, both sides said much more must be done to resolve the ongoing crisis at the border.
“This is the real and significant — and especially at the state and local — unsustainable cost of the current border crisis,” said Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas.
“It’s time to stop playing politics with this very important issue. In fact, we will finally return to a bipartisan solution to solve this American challenge,” said Representative Brendan Boyle, Democrat of Pennsylvania.
New asylum changes on the horizon
All of this comes as the Biden administration prepares to propose new changes to asylum for migrants crossing the US-Mexico border. The changes could allow the U.S. to speed up the removal of migrants that authorities consider a potential risk to national security or public safety.
However, any radical changes to the country’s immigration policy would likely meet resistance from Democrats.
Over the past seven months, U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows the southern border has had 1.54 million encounters, which remains on par with last year’s record numbers.
