The Cost of the Border Crisis: $150.7 Billion and Counting
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, the House Budget Committee held a hearing entitled “The Cost of the Border Crisis” to highlight the importance of border security and the fiscal implications of President Biden’s failed border policies. Witnesses from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), Texas Public Policy Foundation’s “Secure and Sovereign Texas” Initiative, and Kinney County, Texas, testified before the committee to show the impacts of the border crisis, particularly the southern border, on a local, state, and federal level.
Some key moments from the hearing:
Chairman Arrington (R-TX):
Click HERE to watch Chairman Arrington’s opening remarks.
“The greatest national security threat to the American people is posed by these open borders. The social cost has consistently been well in front of the American people. But I don't think we've talked enough about the financial burden to taxpayers and the fiscal impact.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) has done a great job. Studies suggest this cost is upwards of $400 billion, but their cost estimate is $150 billion. The lion's share of that cost is borne by state and local governments. State and local governments can't borrow or print money like the federal government, so they have to balance their budgets by either absorbing this cost through raising taxes or they have to cut services to their citizens.”
Budget Process Reform Chair Rep. Rudy Yakym (R-IN):
Click HERE to watch Rep. Yakym’s remarks.
“President Biden created this crisis on day one when he signed his first actions that have undermined border security and encouraged illegal immigration. Despite the unprecedented surge in illegal immigration, the Biden administration chose to deny that there was any problem at all. As a matter of fact, just 11 months in they called it quote cyclical or seasonal. They continue to insist that the border is secure at about the 28-month mark.”
Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA):
Click HERE to watch Rep. Smucker’s remarks.
“We are allowing the flow of drugs, we are allowing the flow of criminals into the country. I’m from Lancaster County, 2000 miles from the border. We have hundreds of fentanyl deaths in our region. It’s a real problem that we have in every single city, every single area of the country really has been affected by the Biden Administration’s policy on the border.”
Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA):
Click HERE to watch Rep. McClintock’s remarks.
“Opposition to illegal immigration is not opposition to legal immigration. In fact, the people I find who are the angriest about illegal immigration are the legal immigrants who have played by the rules, waited patiently in line, and are now watching millions of illegal migrants cut in line in front of them. And if we're going to encourage and reward illegal immigration, which is a clear and consistent policy of the Democrats today, then there's no point in legal immigration.”
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX):
Click HERE to watch Rep. Roy’s remarks.
“This notion that people flowing across the border, I heard one of my colleagues on either side of the aisle talk about the benefits of parole, that somehow that was fixing the system. Is that not in fact, a backdoor way to dump more people into the United States rather than having them visibly come across the border, enraging the American people rightfully, and rather fly them into the United States to the tune of 400,000 people last year, including the State of Texas and the state of Florida, and fly them into the country under parole when the law requires a case by case analysis.”
Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI):
Click HERE to watch Rep. McClain’s remarks.
“The federal government spent over $66 billion on illegal immigrants in 2023. According to FAIR, does anyone here want to guess how much we've spent on homeless veterans in 2023? Anybody want to guess? $66 billion on illegals and $3 billion on people who have laid down their lives for this country.”
Oversight Task Force Chair Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI):
Click HERE to watch Rep. Bergman’s remarks.
“The cartels are operating as brokers and playing all sides against the middle to create the environment that, because of their use of drones because of their use of different submersibles, because of all the things they use, that there are probably things that we don't see that are tied together for the benefit of those against us.”
The Bottom Line:
The House Budget Committee’s hearing on the “Cost of the Border Crisis” revealed the uncomfortable truth about the cost of President Biden’s border crisis.
We continue to Sound the Alarm on the cost of the border crisis. American taxpayers are paying at least $150.7 billion in order to cover the costs of President Biden’s open border policies. This cost burden on the American taxpayer is in addition to the failed economic policies of this Administration. All Americans are paying the price for Biden’s radical policies, and we exposed their true cost.
More From the House Budget Committee on the Border Crisis:
Read more about Biden’s Border Blunder HERE.
Read more about Biden’s Border Crisis HERE.
Read Chairman Arrington’s Amicus Brief in support of S.B. 4 in U.S. v. Texas HERE.
Watch Chairman Arrington’s Fox News interview on the “Cost of the Border Crisis” HERE.
