Rubio Sidesteps Costs of Amnesty



Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) was asked to comment on the estimate that the amnesty he is involved in negotiating as one of the “Gang of 8” would add billions of dollars in costs to U.S. taxpayers. An estimate put out by the Republican staff of the Senate Budget Committee is that Rubio’s amnesty proposal could cost taxpayers as much as $40 billion in 2022 for Medicaid and Obamacare alone.

Commenting on the Senator’s behalf, spokesman Alex Conant replied, “Senator Rubio has been clear that he will only support legislation that prohibits undocumented immigrants from receiving any federal benefits, and in our negotiations, the Democrats have gone along with that demand — even agreeing to a partial repeal of Obamacare to bar undocumented immigrants benefits.”

Nothing new there! Illegal aliens are already ineligible for federal benefits. But the question was about after those illegal aliens get legal status, i.e., amnesty. That issue was dodged, but it is a question that Rubio is going to have to answer eventually as long as he continues to support the Gang of 8’s approach.

Besides, the estimated $40 billion annual hit on the taxpayer is only the tip of the iceberg.

About Author

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Jack, who joined FAIR’s National Board of Advisors in 2017, is a retired U.S. diplomat with consular experience. He has testified before the U.S. Congress, U.S. Civil Rights Commission, and U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform and has authored studies of immigration issues. His national and international print, TV, and talk radio experience is extensive (including in Spanish).

5 Comments

  1. avatar

    One of the problems not taken into account in all the calculations is that there are probably not just 11 million illegals but closer to 30 or 40 million. If you add their children to these numbers, the ones who are literally FLOODING our schools, from large cities like Los Angeles to small towns in the middle of America, then we are literally facing a deluge of probably about 100M illegals and their dependents.

    So we have a country where 1/3 to 1/2 of the population is being added.

    So should the additional cost be $40B or closer to 10X that amount? Maybe 1/2 Trillion would be closer to the mark. If the descendants of these illegals are also taken into account this number will probably run into trillions over the next 3-5 decades. I dont think this is being overly pessimistic.

  2. avatar
    John Winthrop on

    $40 billion annual hit on the taxpayer…………????????????????..really.. I am sure there are costs as there are benefits……….yet anything that a congressman says it is usually not precise and accurate…….

  3. avatar

    A few years back the Heritage Foundation did a study in which they estimated the cost of amnesty for illegal aliens to be a whopping 2.5 TRILLION dollars. Are you aware of this study? It’s there, look it up on BING.

  4. avatar

    Once they get amnesty then the next demand will be access to government programs. That’s why the Republicans are foolish to think they are ever going to overcome the Democratic advantage among Latino voters. One demand will lead to the next. Actually the Republicans look better to the average voter by refusing to support any government assistance for those amnestied.