Last fiscal year the United States
spent $8.51 million on deportations. Each deportation cost $23,000. It costs
that much because of legal fees, apprehension of the individual, and the
removal of the individual. The customs enforcement office is allocated $3
billion for deportations and enforcement of customs at the border. Those
services include patrolling and safeguarding the entrances into the United
States. This is an economic issue as well as a border issue. Last year it was
estimated 12 million undocumented workers lived in the United States. This
causes problems because while their work adds to GDP, their income is not taxed
since they are undocumented and don't contribute to the Government spending through tax collection. Furthermore, these undocumented workers could be
taking United States citizens jobs and decreasing the real wage of people in
the same industry as them because there are so many of them. Also, a lot of
government spending is allocated just to protecting the border. The United
States either needs to change its customs policies or find a less costly way of
protecting the border if it wants to lower these considerable costs. Plus, the money spent on deportations could be
spent in better places. Where do you think it could be better spent?
I agree that it's an issue that illegal immigrants are decreasing the real wage in some industries, as many are willing to accept lower pay. It's also unfair that they are taking many jobs without even being taxed on their income like everyone else. However, the money that the US spends on deportations seems excessive. Perhaps we need to either find more effective ways of protecting the borders to decrease the amount of deportations or change customs policies. Whatever the solution may be, it's clear that something needs to be changed to reduce these issues.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize the large amount of costs associated with the removal of each illegal immigrant. Illegal immigration is a problem in the United States and needs to be contained better but the price associated for each undocumented worker is absurd. A less costly method of removal of illegals should be the solution. Because with the amount of illegal immigrants currently in the United States, everyone would even more expensive to track down.
ReplyDeleteThe costs to deport illegal immigrants seems tremendously high due to the process that needs to be done. I agree with you on the fact that something needs to be established sooner than later especially when our U.S. dollars can be put into better use. These immigrants want these "garbage man" type jobs because they'll work for lesser wages than American's seek. If the costs are so high wouldn't it be better to beef up border patrol to decrease the amounts of illegal immigrants pouring into the U.S. as opposed to continuously finding these immigrants year after year ultimately increasing costs? I'm with you on spending the $3 billion dollars somewhere else but it seems our hands are tied while we continue to restrict immigrants but they're still outsmarting us by sneaking in.
ReplyDeleteThe cost for deporting illegal immigrants/foreigners is extremely high, and the money could easily be used for other important things. Something should be done to change this. Improving border control immensely could possibly reduce the amount of people who illegally cross the border. Or they could find the areas where illegal immigrants are prominent, and tighten up security over there, and ensure the hiring processes are done properly.
ReplyDeleteThis point needs to be heard, I think a lot of people don't realize how high the cost of keeping the border safe/deportation process is. Once an illegal immigrant gets into the US, it costs even more to track him or her down. I feel like the solution is to beef up security in the high trafficing areas and make a more strict punishment for trying to get in illegally. This will make people think twice about trying to get in illegally. Or at least hopefully it will.
ReplyDeleteFor me, immigration is a subject that's difficult for me to establish a concrete opinion on. From an economic standpoint (as stated in the article), illegal immigrants take a lot away from the U.S. economy (they don't contribute to G because they aren't taxed, they lower real wage, take American jobs...). On the other hand, as someone with a sense of nationalism, I want America to be the place for a new beginning where an immigrant has hope for a better life, rather than the crotchety old man who keeps kids off his lawn. One a more optimistic note, if these immigrants were granted citizenship and paid their taxes, they could contribute to the economy (more specifically the GDP) positively because they are working, making money, and paying taxes. The entire issue is certainly a double-edged sword and the solution won't make everyone happy.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I didn't know the price of deportation but considering the efficiency of the U.S. government, I'm not surprised. I think we need to take a page out of Switzerland's book and make not voting a fineable offense so we can get politicians in office who can do the right things for the country, those things not being spending $23,000/deportation and $146 million/year for federal employees to upgrade their flight to business class (that's a true fact, I looked it up).
I agree with you guys. Illegal immigrants do decrease the real wage in some industries and is a small part of the reason why some people remain unemployed. I think it's important that we continue to spend money on deportation but we can't spend that large amount of money on policies that's not very effective.
ReplyDeleteImmigration can be such a win/loss situation for the US. It's great that the work these illegal immigrants put in counts towards GDP, but their income is not taxed. As stated before, they take away so many jobs in industries all over the country from legal citizens, whose work can be counted towards GDP but also their income can be taxed to produce more income for the US.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ben. But I feel like it's more of a loss situation for the US. Illegal immigrants don't get taxed and take away a large amount of jobs. If these jobs were occupied by US citizens, the real wage would still decrease anyway, but all of that work would be counted towards US GDP, which would increase by a considerable amount.
ReplyDeleteThe cost of deportation and the efforts by the government are way to excessive in my opinion. Yes it is illegal but maybe the trade off would be much better if a smaller budget was assigned to deporting illegal immigrants instead of putting on a show and spending all that money. Then, deporting illegal immigrants wouldn't hurt the country as much. A lot of people only focus on how "other people" or these immigrants are taking jobs and not giving real Americans a chance. However, these immigrants who are taking on unpleasant jobs are just here looking for a better life. Im not justifying illegal immigration but I also know some Americans will not even want the jobs these illegal immigrants have or sacrifice themselves to do.
ReplyDeleteIllegal immigration is definitely an issue that the government needs to find a solution to. Although illegal immigration adds the the GDP, it is not taxed thus and takes away other jobs from American citizens. There has to be an alternative to this problem. The United States is spending far too much money sending immigrants back. It is possible that the government could spend more to increase border patrol to prevent the issue in the first place. On the other hand, we should not discourage foreigners from coming to the United States because they are looking for work.
ReplyDelete