States like California run deficits; do illegal aliens have anything to do with it?

California is a big state and so are its annual budget and budget deficit. Whether a state, federal government or household, there is a basic reason for having a budget deficit; more money goes out than comes in. Tax and spend Democrats have proven to be expert at both.

California Governor Schwarzenegger along with a Democrat controlled state legislature have racked up a $14 to $20 billion deficit (depending on who does the accounting) and for many years have "balanced" the budget by issuing more and more bonds to supply missing funds. Not even the slightest effort has been made to "live within its means"; i.e. not spend more money than it receives from its high state taxes.

When Republicans suggest that at least part of the money crunch is due to elaborate benefits paid to illegal immigrants, the Governator bristles. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called it a "big mistake" to blame illegal immigrants for the state's huge multi-billion dollar budget gap, after Republicans proposed a decrease of benefits for illegal immigrants to save money. Schwarzenegger said: "There is, you know, always a time like this where you start pointing the finger at various different elements of what creates the budget mess, and, you know, some may point the finger at illegal immigrants, I can guarantee you, I have been now four years in office in Sacramento, I don't think that illegal immigration has created the mess that we are in."

Republicans (unlike Republican-in-name-only Schwarzenegger) contend "There's a cost associated with illegal immigration whether we're in a deficit mode or not," (Assemblyman Ted Gaines, R-Roseville) "I think it just becomes more (significant) when we're in a deficit mode and we're having to make tough cuts across the board in education and health and human services. Those should be provided to the citizens of this country and people who came to this country legally" (and "only those" I might add).

Although Democrat lawmakers sympathetic to illegal immigration may disagree, Republicans on Tuesday said illegal immigrants cost the state $9 billion annually, citing a Federation for American Immigration Reform study released in 2004. (How much more is it in 2008?) They estimate that California spends about $7.7 billion alone on education for children of illegal immigrants.

It is difficult to disagree with the notion that benefits given by states like California and the federal government are a major attraction for many to enter the country illegally. One spokesman said "It serves as a magnet and taxpayers should not be burdened with those costs".

Information forwarded to me describes the billions of dollars spent in this country as a result of the undeterred illegal immigration. All the web sites mentioned are legitimate but some are no longer available on the internet. Also, some numbers are not current so the true cost today is likely higher than that shown.

1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens
each year. http://tinyurl.com/zob77%20 (an estimate made in 2002; how much more would that be now?)

2. $2.2 Billion a year is spent on food assistance programs
such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.
http://www.cis...org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

3. $2.5 Billion a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.
http://www.cis...org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

4. $12 Billion a year is spent on primary and secondary school
education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of
English!
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html

5. $17 Billion a year is spent for education for the
American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

6. $3 Million a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

8. $90 Billion a year (2006) is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare &
social services by the American taxpayers.
http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html

9. $200 Billion a year in suppressed American wages are
caused by the illegal aliens.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's
two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular,
their children may make a huge additional crime problem in
the US.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html

11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 million illegal aliens
that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal
aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine,
meth, heroine and marijuana, crossed into the U.S. from the Southern
border.
Homeland Security Report:
http://tinyurl.com/t9sht

12. The National Policy Institute, 'estimated that the total cost of
mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average
cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period' (if we could do it, but I doubt it is politically or otherwise feasible, nor do I recommend it).
http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf

13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 billion in remittances back
to their countries of origin. ($25 billion to Mexico)
http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm

14. 'The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million sex
Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants in the United States ".
http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml

The total cost is more than $340 billion each year.

California and other states with illegal immigrant populations are experiencing similarly high costs; no wonder states like California that have a large illegal immigrant population are having budget deficits.