Comprehensive studies about immigration – legal and illegal – are nothing new for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, but the group learned in early December its report on how much an open border is costing U.S. taxpayers got noticed by DOGE, the government efficiency advisory board led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, DOGE cited FAIR’s 2023 report that concluded illegal immigration cost taxpayers $150.7 billion in just one year.
Ira Mehlman, media director for FAIR, tells AFN the purpose of the report was to document illegal immigration is a “huge drain” on public resources at the federal, state, and local levels.
FAIR used data from the Census Bureau and the Congressional Budget Office for its report.
In a FAIR article, which published after DOGE noticed its reporting, the immigration think tank said its 2023 report was a “conservative estimate” of illegal immigration’s toll on taxpayers.
FAIR also pointed out its report didn’t include any data from 2024, the final year of the Biden administration that broke all previous records for illegals apprehended at the border and allowed to remain here.
FAIR has reported elsewhere it believes 16.8 million is a more reliable figure of the number of illegal aliens currently living in the U.S. An estimate of 11 million is a more common figure cited, including by critics of illegal immigration.
Big changes coming Jan. 20
The fact that DOGE noticed the FAIR report, and shared it online, is a promising sign for Mehlman and FAIR that illegal immigration is a target of the incoming administration.
“We don't need to have open borders,” Mehlman says, “and hopefully, come January 20th, that will all change.”
“The scale of spending on illegal immigration boggles the mind,” Musk, reacting to FAIR’s data, tweeted on X.
Musk’s comment generated 56 million views on X after the original DOGE post was seen by 58 million.
Musk's and DOGE's online posts suggest the group is seriously focusing on the cost of illegal immigration. DOGE compared that estimate of $150 billion to other notable projects, such as construction of the Panama Canal at $15.2 billion, and construction of Hoover Dam at $1 billion, based on modern-day costs.
The online post also suggests DOGE will ignore a talking point of the liberal news media about the “cost” of deporting illegal aliens, which incoming border czar Tom Homan has said will cost at least $86 billion.
“We need to understand, it’s gonna be expensive in the beginning,” Homan told Fox Business, “but in the long run it’s going to save billions of dollars in taxpayers’ money.”
In a more direct comment to CNN, Homan challenged an anchor to name the "price" for the women who have been raped and murdered by illegal aliens who never should have been allowed in the country.
Mehlman says FAIR is hopeful Homan will follow through on his pledge to deport illegals and crack down on the sanctuary cities that are vowing to refuse to cooperate with federal officials.
“The bottom line,” Mehlman concludes, “is that there is a huge amount of savings that can be realized from addressing mass illegal immigration."
