Cost of Illegal Immigration in Wisconsin

Illegal immigrants contribute to sales, property, and state income taxes for Wisconsin, but the state’s taxpayers are faced with a heavy cost to manage the services needed for illegal immigration.

Unauthorized immigrants accounted for about 1.5 percent of the state’s population, or 85,000 people, in 2012, according to the Pew Research Center. Illegal immigrants made up about 55,000 workers, or 1.8 percent of Wisconsin’s labor force.

Unauthorized immigrants paid $98.7 million in state and local taxes in 2010, which included $66.9 million going to sales taxes, $22.9 million spent on state income taxes, and $8.9 million accounting for property taxes, the American Immigration Council reported, citing the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy. The institute concluded that legal status for unauthorized immigrants would raise their tax input to more than $131 million.

Urgent: Do You Support Immigration Reform?

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimated the illegal immigrant population in Wisconsin at about 95,000 in 2010.

The cost to the state’s taxpayers was $883 million a year for illegal immigration services, according to FAIR. The estimated cost included $348 million a year for the education of children of illegal aliens and $145 million a year on welfare programs for illegals.

Costs also included $68.1 million annually for criminal justice action from illegal immigration and $61.7 million for unreimbursed health care services. There was an estimated $260 million for additional operating costs throughout the state. The annual cost for each of the state’s native-born headed households was $399.

Unauthorized immigrants still help improve the state’s economy. According to a report by the Perryman Group, Wisconsin would lose $2.6 billion in economic activity if illegals were removed from the state. The report estimated there were more than 14,500 jobs held by unauthorized immigrants.

Vote Now: Do You Support Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants?

Foreign students in Wisconsin contributed $308.6 million to the state’s economy in the 2013-2014 academic year through tuition, fees, and living expenses, noted the Association of International Educators.

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