New analysis shows Education Costs continue to drive state expenditures
A new study of the costs of illegal immigration to Texas shows that the Lone Star State spends at least $4.5 billion annually on expenditures directly related to illegal immigrants. Furthermore if recent estimates from the Pew Hispanic Center on the student population in Texas are accurate the number could rise to as high as $6 billion annually.
With no major changes in state policy in the last three years the increase in cost is primarily driven by increases in population.
Some research has shown that the illegal immigrant population is stabilizing due to the recent economic downturn. Nonetheless most estimates show a Texas immigrant population that is between 1.6 to 1.9 million.
These numbers are worrying because they continue to show that the costs to Texas continue to rise and represent a significant portion of the Texas budget" said Rebecca Forest the director of the Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas. The cost of education alone now exceeds the entire federal dollars for education that Texas receives each year."
The numbers come out as the Texas House Committee on State Affairs prepares to hold a hearing on a number of immigration-related bills. Among them is HB 276 by Rep. John Zerwas (R-Houston) which would require state agencies to routinely monitor the expenditures related to illegal immigration.
These numbers are compelling but they are at best an estimate of the costs with a wide variation depending on unknown factors" Zerwas said. The best way to shed light on this problem and be able to make informed public policy decisions is to collect the data at the agency level and let the people of Texas know where their tax dollars are going."
The study was conducted by James Bernsen who led a similar analysis in 2006 for the Lone Star Foundation that showed a net cost to Texas of $3.5 billion at that time.
