[Washington Examiner] The result of President Joe Biden’s permissive folly at the southern border is that the immigrant population of the United States grew by a record 8 million people in the last four years, with over half that number entering the country illegally. This mass of foreigners who have no right to be here and are not wanted by American citizens has inflicted financial havoc on state and local governments. If Congress does not act, the illegal population will add to federal deficits as well.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, Biden’s failure to secure the border will add $300 billion to the federal deficit over the next 10 years. Other estimates place the financial burden of Biden’s illegal immigration wave to federal, state, and local governments at over $150 billion a year.
Most illegal immigrants are ineligible for most federal welfare programs, but there are important exceptions. More than half of illegal immigrant households include a child born in the United States. These children are eligible for all federal welfare programs. Many states have also extended Medicaid eligibility to illegal immigrants directly, and six states allow them to collect food stamps. All illegal immigrant children are also eligible for school lunch and other benefits under current law.
Finally, and most importantly, immigrants who have been paroled into the United States for a term longer than a year — most illegal immigrants released into the country by Biden have a two-year parole term — are eligible for all federal welfare programs. Parole status, granted by Biden to most of the illegal immigrants he allowed into the country, drives illegal immigrant welfare spending.
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