Patterico's Pontifications

10/1/2007

Illegals Cost L.A. at Least $1 Billion Per Year

Filed under: General,Immigration — Patterico @ 7:58 pm



Judicial Watch has a post titled Illegal Immigrants Cost L.A. County $1 Billion A Year:

Taxpayers in the nation’s most populous county pay more than $1 billion annually for services that go to illegal immigrants with the biggest chunks going to welfare and food stamp benefits followed by healthcare.

A new report published by the Los Angeles County Department of Social Services reveals that the county spends $440 million a year on welfare and food stamp benefits for illegal aliens and $400 million on healthcare, contradicting immigration advocates who assure [the public that] illegal aliens don’t use social services. An additional $220 million is spent annually on incarceration costs.

In July of this year alone, Los Angeles County taxpayers spent more than $35 million on welfare benefits and food stamps for illegal immigrants who live in the sprawling county of more than 10 million residents. Each month illegal aliens get welfare benefits through a state program called CalWorks totaling $20 million in addition to $15 million in food stamps.

The county supervisor who requested the report, Michael Antonovich, points out that the figures don’t even include the skyrocketing cost of education. He requested the report to further document the “devastating impact” that illegal immigration continues to have on Los Angeles County taxpayers. Antonovich represents a portion of the county that is roughly twice the size of Rhode Island and has about 2 million residents.

Here is a press release from Antonovich making the same point.

I heard Antonovich talking about this on the Al Rantel radio show tonight, which is how I knew to search for the link. Antonovich said that the illegals get their benefits through a debit card that has no restrictions on how it is used.

A billion dollars a year. Just think what we could do with that money.

Why, we could pay off 500 Tennie Pierces!

UPDATE: Actually, more like 700 Tennie Pierces. (699, to be exact.)

14 Responses to “Illegals Cost L.A. at Least $1 Billion Per Year”

  1. CalWorks has citizenship or status as legal immigrant as basic requirement.
    I think this points out how many families are mixed legal and illegal.
    I understand the point being made by the study, but it really is a failure to administrate a program.
    Illegals should not be able to get these benefits as per eligibilty rules.
    Are the rules being circumvented to give direct benefits to those who are ineligible?
    Or are the rules being used correctly, but the benefits to illegals are indirect benefits to a household which contains both legal and illegal immigrants?
    If it is the latter, how was the percentage of benefits used by illegals calculated?

    But really… just enforce the rules and fire people who use a wink and a nod to dole out stuff people have no rights to.
    Change the citizenship laws so children born here are not automatic citizens, because technically it is the citizens that are entitled to the benefits which are then shared.
    That loophole needs to be closed. Or get rid of “entitlements” altogether.

    Good luck with either of those. Social Services is a self perpetuating, self replicating organism.
    It will never get smaller (as it should) but will always need more and more resources. The individuals that work there will ask for bigger budgets and they will seek out new and better ways to get more money to more people while growing the department and its overhead. I’m guessing they are unionized too.

    Nevermind. I feel like giving in and saying just pay the bill. $1B is gonna look cheap soon enough and we can all someday laugh at our kids and tell them what costs them $100B it only cost a billion back in the day.

    Another note. Cal Works?
    Does anyone ever really work in these programs? Really?
    With the hour requirements, there should be no trash in the streets, there should be no grafitti.
    That program sucks and whoever is running it should be fired and banned from the public and “non profit” sectors

    OK
    Inhale
    Exhale

    SteveG (4e16fc)

  2. As with all welfare programs both federal and local the rules and requirements are winked at. Welfare bureaucracies like all government agencies grow by servicing an increasing base. They have little interest in reducing waste or fraud.

    Multiple LA county by 200 and you get a fair idea of what the cost must be nationwide. To get an idea of the scale of this imagine the number of illegals getting federal income tax credits! Fraud in this program amounts to billions each year. Throw in housing subsidies and your mind reels.

    And the Hildabeast wants to expand these programs!

    Thomas Jackson (bf83e0)

  3. Remittance to Mexico from. immigrants came in at 23 billion in 2006.but since the money was made here and people gotta live and eat its safe to say that 1 billion is not a hard number to beat for la county.

    So tell me Pat how much money do illegals bring to the economy? Of course you’ll say I haven’t separated legals out but you will. Give us your numbers.

    blah (97b263)

  4. Multiple LA county by 200 and you get a fair idea of what the cost must be nationwide.

    Oh, we have more than 1/200 of the illegals in the country. Try between 1/20 on the low end of the estimates, to 1/6 on the high end. I bet 1/10 is about right.

    Why is that, you ask? Location, location, location!

    It’s not all about money, of course; if you doubled the population of the country, you’d probably bring in more money. But 1) we’d all be miserable, and 2) let’s at least recognize that there are costs, while we dance around rejoicing about all the wonderful economic benefits.

    Patterico (2a8eaa)

  5. Its not all about money
    And yes there are costs to both countries but the post was about money wasn’t it?

    blah (863566)

  6. This 1 billion doesn’t include the $$ paid by the city and state taxpayers. A couple of years ago, they were reporting that the state forks over 13 billion for illegal aliens every year.

    And a blah pointed out, it’s not all about money. On the Day Without A Mexican, the roads were usable, people could walk on the sidewalks, everything was cleaner. LA is a much pleasanter place to live without illegals.

    As far as what they contribute — no where close to what they take from us.

    dave (987d37)

  7. ‘We’d all be miserable’

    Without immigrants legal an illegal this place would be unbearable. And I’m not saying that as someone who hires immigrants but as someone who lives with them.
    The natives in this country the grandchildren and great grandchildren of immigrants, are self absorbed idiots. I make that joke all the time to my immigrant coworkers and they laugh.
    In a generation or two his country ruins people.. But the brewcomers are interesting.
    Live it or live with it I guess.

    blah (863566)

  8. Good thinking there.
    > The natives in this country … are self absorbed idiots.

    Wesson (fd354d)

  9. “Without immigrants legal an illegal this place would be unbearable.”

    Without legal immigrants this nation would be nowhere.

    Some of us could do without the illegal ones.

    You apparently feel you can’t win the debate without mushing the two together.

    Patterico (e7986f)

  10. Is there a separate line on my state income return and property tax bill where I can opt out of paying for services for illegal aliens. I don’t remember being asked to vote for or against such services. It feels like taxation without representation.

    daleyrocks (906622)

  11. There is no question that illegal immigrants produce wealth. But that wealth goes only to their employers who skimp on wages and benefits. Since the illegals get paid “under the table”, they don’t even contribute by way of taxes. However, the taxpayers provide them with all the social services available to citizens and legal residents. This is the worst kind of “corporate welfare”. The illegals work their asses off for a hand to mouth existence, their bosses get rich, and taxpayers get poorer.

    nk (7d4710)

  12. That’s right, nk. In addition, these employers (many immigrant groups, not just Hispanics) do not pay taxes either. The resultant tax gap in CA is roughtly $6 billion/year, or roughly what it would take to end the deficit.
    http://www.ftb.ca.gov/amnesty/taxgap/faqs.pdf

    Yes, some people would be hurt with the destruction of the growing underground economy. But we have to decide if we want an economy based on law, which is one reason for our economic success, or one based on bribery and fraud–in other words, a third world economy.

    Patricia (4117a9)

  13. You’re from a family of immigrants, unless you’re Native American, right? Immigrants and “Americans” alike do their best to evade paying into a system that gives so much, otherwise you wouldn’t have this arguement. Unless you’re living in poverty, be a global citizen and stop worrying about “US.” Don’t you see that we’re spoiled?a

    Everyone should have a right to a meal and healthcare, and you shouldn’t mind supporting this concept if you care about your neighbors, immediate and distant. If you don’t care, shame on you. I’m against illegal immigration, but the financial part of it is the least of my concerns. Focus on a more immediate topic like policing illegals–that is a real concern! Law enforcement doesn’t know how to deal with lawless people who have no identity in our system, and this is a threat to everyone’s safety.

    bill (400c36)

  14. Bill, I think you are going to love voting for Hillary Clinton.

    DRJ (ec59b5)


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