The federal government, along with local and state governments, prioritize illegal aliens more than its own veterans, according to a new analysis from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).
The report examines federal, state, and local government expenditures on items such as education, healthcare, and legal aid for illegal aliens and veterans. Its findings reveal that providing benefits and services to illegal aliens outstrips the resources dedicated to providing for the needs of veterans.
By Fiscal Year 2021, the U.S. will need to spend roughly $243 billion to assist its veterans, the report finds. However, the open borders lobby continues to prioritize funding for illegal aliens, even though money would be better spent on law-abiding individuals who defended the country. Currently, an estimated 14.3 million illegal aliens live in the United States, which costs taxpayers about $132 billion annually.
Veterans require and deserve a significant amount of assistance as many struggle with issues related to their service. Homelessness, substance abuse and mental health issues are greater among veterans than the general population. Adding to these challenges, job competition with illegal aliens makes it more difficult for veterans to find work, as illegal aliens depress their wages and fill jobs that might otherwise go to veterans.
The study identifies that an estimated 1.2 million veterans are either unemployed or underemployed, while 7 million illegal aliens continue to work in the United States. Despite having roughly a million individuals who fought for our freedom in need of employment assistance – some looking to upgrade their career prospects, others just looking for a paying job – illegal aliens continue to be preferred by some employers.
And it is not just jobs. Veterans continue to struggle with unmet healthcare needs, even as federal, state and local governments choose to provide free medical care to the nation’s growing illegal alien population. The open-borders lobby is attempting to expand the Affordable Care Act to include low-income illegal alien populations, which would cost approximately $10 billion annually and could potentially reach $23 billion, the analysis reveals. Meanwhile, VA clinics, which need significant upgrades, continue to fall short of the mark, argue advocates for our nation’s veterans.
Veterans can also face discrimination when it comes to education funding. For example, in April 2019, the New York state legislature set aside $27 million in college tuition assistance for the children of illegal aliens but refused to add a few hundred thousand dollars to a program that funds university education for the children of deceased and disabled veterans, the study points out.
Governments should not be prioritizing the needs of illegal aliens while veterans are short-changed, the study argues. In sanctuary cities from coast to coast, this trend is rampant. In 2018, officials in Oakland, California, created a $300,000 fund for illegal aliens facing possible deportation. In the same year, Baltimore, Maryland, approved $200,000 worth of spending to protect illegal aliens from deportation.
Simply put, taxpayer money should not be spent on illegal aliens with no allegiance to the United States, while the needs of veterans, to whom the U.S. owes a significant debt, continue to go unmet. Instead, the scarce resources being spent on illegal aliens should be allocated to programs that address veteran unemployment, healthcare, and homelessness. However, this goal can only be achieved if governments at all levels recalibrate their priorities and stop favoring illegal aliens over American veterans.
