Illegal immigrants again in the budget spotlight in California

As California lawmakers struggle with a budget gap that has now grown to $26.3 billion, one of the hottest topics for many taxpayers is the cost to the state of illegal immigrants, write Anna Gorman and Teresa Watanabe.

"The question of whether taxpayers should provide services to illegal residents became a major political issue in California's last deep recession, culminating in the ballot fight over Proposition 187 in 1994. That history could repeat itself in the current downturn, as activists opposed to illegal immigration have launched a campaign for an initiative that would, among other things, cut off welfare payments to the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants. Those children are eligible for welfare benefits because they are U.S. citizens.

"State welfare officials estimate that cutting off payments to illegal immigrants for their U.S.-born children could save about $640 million annually if it survives legal challenges."

The report also includes the following findings:

--California has roughly 2.7 million illegal residents, about 7% of the state’s population. State officials estimate that they add between $4 billion and $6 billion in costs, primarily for prisons and jails, schools and emergency rooms.

--Beyond those services, the undocumented population adds to the overall cost of other parts of local government, including police and fire protection, highway maintenance and libraries.

--On the other side of the ledger, undocumented residents pay taxes -- sales taxes on what they buy, gasoline taxes when they fuel their cars, property taxes if they own homes. How much those taxes come to is hotly debated, although most researchers agree that the short-term costs to state and local government are bigger than the revenues.

A new analysis of date from a 2008 report from the Pew Hispanic Center (which you can download here) found that about three-quarters (76%) of the unauthorized immigrants in the U.S are Hispanic and that the majority of undocumented immigrants (59%) are from Mexico. However, figures do suggest that that illegal immigration -- at least to California -- is slowing.

Read the rest of the Los Angeles Times report here.

Click here for more posts on immigration.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Comments

[jvilla]

illegal aliens get benefits if they have american born children thats the reason they die in the desert trying to have an american born child. why as soon as they have an anchor they qualify for food stamps, wic, medicaid, chips etc they come in and bring 3 to 4 illegal children have one or two and then collect $500. worth of food stamp not to mention wic, medicaid, subsidized childcare, and every benefit so how do you stop the lure for them to come if you dont stop the lure . stop automatic citizenship other wise it is redundant they come they have a child, they come in droves we provide them with everything, food stamps,wic, medicaid and so on and so on when does this stop. aA soon as they cross the border and have a child in the desert homeland does not deport them they get a working visa. so this goes on and on and on where do i sign up to be an illegal?

[southoc]

C.L. denial is a happy place isn't it?

[Veela]

When the constitution was written, the founders never fathomed that a woman giving birth to a child in this nation would not already be a citizen of this nation and so hence it is worded as it is.

Since it does not blatantly say, though it does imply, that a person born here is also from parent(s) who were born here or are here legally, many take advantage of this loophole.

To me it is quite simple, if a person is not here legally and has a child here, then until the parent becomes a legal U S citizen,t hen the child cannot become one either. Point Blank.

Many people rose to the challenge and become legal US citizens, why should these illegals be special and get all these benefits? it is ridiculous!

The mother of 5 referred to earlier (by southoc) gets more on free welfare money and food stamps each month than I get on my disability-retirement pension! I am a natural born citizen who worked for over 30 years and this illegal gets more income a month than I do? And I make too much for food stamps they say. ( a whooping $5.00 a month too much...)... Un- Real!

[Phil]

The problem is not really the U.S immigration system
being broke.
It is world overpopulation and to much of the worlds
economies being undeveloped.
With the U.S legal immigration level as it is ( 2 million per year) the U.S will become overpopulated within 200 years.
The U.S population will be about 800 million by then.
The U.S cannot absorb all of the worlds population of poor
people forever and immigration will have to stop completely at some point.

[southoc]

CL you have a bad case of denial

“Godinez, a 43-year-old undocumented Mexican immigrant, left an abusive family and lives in transitional housing. Four of her five children are citizens and receive a total of about $650 each month from the state's CalWorks program. She also receives about $500 in federal food stamps and other vouchers.”

So she is not getting any help?

[southoc]

Illegal immgiration is the 2nd largest form of income to Mexico.

Do you really think it will stop?

numbersusa.com

http://www.taxpayerrevolution.org/

Act now before its too late.

(before you call me racist. I am a Latina.)

[Steve]

The sad reality is nothing will ever change in California politically, and I have been reading this hype for 45 years when I lived there. It is too late, if you haven't noticed the Hispanic population is now the majority and the LA Mayor whore will soon be Governor, then hell will break loose. What is changing is an exodus from CA of people of all races with a brain and money who are fed up and care about their future. I left the hell hole 20 years ago and own 20 rentals in CO, half of my calls are from Californians who want out, and these are kind of people you want to stay. In other words Cali you blew it is and the momentum is in place, it is over with.

[James]

We need to not focus on why we have too many people here. Economically speaking, people are considered assets, we just need to legalize everyone and have everyone pay equal taxes. Many undocumented immigrants are already paying taxes, except that they are unable to collect what is due to them: i.e. Social Security, Unemployment. In fact, there is a multi billion dollar secret account at the IRS for those people who have contributed money to the IRS, but are not eligible to receive these benefits. Stop blaming Undocumented immigrants.

[C L]

Contrary to the anti-immigrant rhetoric, illegal immigrants are not eligible for welfare, unemployment, or food stamps. They don’t get free medical care. Although hospitals are required to provide emergency care to everyone, including immigrants, hospitals do charge everyone. It is not free care. Despite the fact that they are tax-payers, illegal immigrants cannot take advantage of the social programs their taxes support. They are not eligible for health programs like Medi-Cal. I personally know many immigrants who are paying their bills like everyone else.

All the studies that have been done point out that those who are clogging Hospitals ERs are in the majority US citizens who are insured. According to a report by the Center for Studying Health System Change organization, communities with higher numbers of uninsured, Hispanics or non-citizens have a lower use of hospital emergency departments. Emergency rooms are crowded because they fill up with patients who cannot get in to see their own doctor or are waiting for regular hospital beds, states a report by American College of Emergency Physicians. About 84% of frequent emergency-room users had health insurance and 81% had a source of primary healthcare either through a doctor or a clinic, the study found. About half had government-subsidized health plans like Medicaid or Medicare, while a third had private plans. The uninsured account for just 15% of emergency-room visits. And of this percent, the illegal alien population is negligible. A study by the Rand Corp., published in the November 2006 issue of Health Affairs, found that undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles County use disproportionately fewer medical services.

Scools are generally supported by sales or property taxes. Everyone pays sales tax or property taxes, including illegal immigrants, wheter you own a home, or rent, as the tax is eventually passed to a renter by the owner.

The California Community Foundation in Los Angeles has released a report stating that immigrants make up nearly half the Los Angeles workforce and contribute nearly 40 percent of the county's gross regional product. Despite lower-than-average wages, immigrants also account for more than one-third of the county's spending power.

According to the California Immigrant Policy Center immigrants pay approximately $5.2 billion in state income taxes each year; they contribute an additional $4.6 billion in sales taxes. Immigrants in California have a combined federal tax contribution of more than $30 billion annually. In California,the average immigrant-headed household contributes a net $2,679 annually to Social Security, which is $539 more than the average US-born household.

Immigrant households and businesses paid approximately $300 billion in federal, state, and local taxes: $165 billion in federal income taxes, $85 billion in state and local income taxes, and $50 billion in business taxes. (Report authored by Stephen Moore, Senior Economics Writer at the Wall Street Journal and former director of Fiscal Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, and Richard Vedder, Distinguished Professor of Economics at Ohio University). Since 1996, the I.R.S. has distributed about 15 million Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers to enable people without Social Security numbers to pay taxes.

More than 75 percent of immigrants, arrive in their prime working years. According to the Social Security Administration, illegal immigrants have contributed more than $400 billion to the SS fund since the 1980s.

About 28 percent of L.A. County residents are baby boomers who will eventually need to be replaced in the workforce, many of them by immigrants. With more than 80 million baby boomers retiring in the next 20 years, it will be these people who will provide a social security check so that these people won't die in poverty.

Immigrants create companies that hire workers and create economic activities at higher rates than the native born. Economist William Ford of Middle Tennessee State University calculates that illegal immigrants contributed $428 billion dollars to the nation's $13.6 trillion gross domestic product in 2006.

If illegal immigrants are to be made the scapegoat of our times, then they shouldn't be forced to pay for social programs that others benefit from.

[Stephen]

Our state is bankrupt. Our politicians are crooks, traitors, liars and thieves. We have the best government money can buy. Benefits and services are being cut for American citizens while we continue to support foreign nationals that invade our country. If this doesn't make the American people pissed off beyond all reason what will? We already pay sky high taxes. You want to bleed us even more to pay for illegal aliens? NO WAY IN HELL!!! Arrest and deport every last one of them. Be legal or be gone! ENOUGH!

[Dandi]

Also, we need to knock their TV & Radio stations off the air up here in the US, if they want to live here they should learn English, so our welfare people do not say they are handicapped and cannot work..if they do not work why should we entertain them all day in front of a TV, or walking around the streets with an IPOD in their ear, bought with welfare money. Then they go home to Welfare HUD housing, better than our workers can afford. Some people on welfare snub us other people who have to live in lower housing because we have no welfare helping us with down payments or monthly payments.

[Dandi]

We should have never started giving anchor babies or anchor children aid, if their parents are not patriotic enough to our country and state to become citizens, then their children should not be either, as they will raise their children with the same hatred, user freeloader type people as their parents. I think the estimate is way under, both census status and $s it cost us.. Our car insurance is higher as they do not carry insurance. children in group home with drug and mental problems.
We need to give and help our own citizens born to citizens, not children of illegals. Even the ones who pay taxes have most of it paid under the table. Look at land lords who demand cash only payments so they do not have to report the income..

[Gabriel]

The Illegal capitol of USA? I didn't know that, we are too busy dealing with our problems and have no time to think whether LA is known as the Capitol of this or that.

[Valley Mom]

So, according to the Times, 6 billion dollars, nearly a quarter of the state deficit, goes to illegal immigrants and their children. Meanwhile, the Cal State University system is not accepting any Spring applicants because of budget cuts. No more state college for our children. Is this the future we want here in California?

[Diego O;Banyon]

America has no obligation any non-Americans until and unless all of our citizens are taken care of first, but after 57 years of listening to these incompetent politicians I will capitulate. Since Wall Street, big business and Obama reward failure I suggest that we as tax payers demand the following.

That all members of congress and states legislatures be paid a tax free annual salary of $1,000,000, that each one of them be provided a private jet, free medical benefits for them and each member of their family, and that be provided a new car of their choice. After all, we should provide only the best for these great leaders. I submit to all, that our leaders are much more deserving and much more incompetent then those on Wall Street and big business so we must reward them appropriately.

Raise the taxes to a rate of 75% and have bread lines.

Einstein defined insanity as, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

[Andrews]

Los Angeles is known world wide as
the Illegal Alien and Gang Capitol of
the USA! How many more illegal aliens
will it take before it is known
world wide as a city that is NO LONGER
part of the USA?!!
Middle America ALREADY believes this!