Estimate for Deporting Illegal Immigrants: $94 Billion

“Stop the madness! DEPORT,” one of many like-minded comments in a previous post on illegal immigration, is an opinion that has always lacked a price tag. Another figure — the estimated 12 million foreigners in the United States right now without permission — hinted that it would not be cheap. And others doubted whether it was even possible.
So it fell to Senator Susan M. Collins, Republican of Maine, to try popping the question on Thursday.
During a hearing with Julie L. Myers, chief of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, she asked, “Could you give us some idea of what the cost of trying to locate, detain and deport all of the 12 million people who are here illegally would be?”
Lo and behold, an answer shot back with ease: “Our agency has estimated that it would cost at least $94 billion.”
She emphasized that it was a “very rough” estimate, not taking into account the likely deterrent effects of a nationwide hunt for evey illegal immigrant. Many may choose to return home on their own and avoid the average month-long stay in a holding cell.
In fact, detaining the illegal immigrants would be one of the most significant costs of the round-up, according to a spokesman for the agency who did the math for CNN:
He said the amount was calculated by multiplying the estimated 12 million people by the average cost of detaining people for a day: $97. That was multiplied by the average length of detention: 32 days.
ICE officials also considered transportation costs, which average $1,000 per person.
But that amount can vary widely, the spokesman said. Some deportees are simply driven by bus across the border, while others must take charter planes to distant countries, he said.
Finally, the department looked at personnel costs, bringing the total to roughly $94 billion.
With the budget deficit standing at $205 billion for the fiscal year, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the $94 billion would require Congress to go deeper into the red or deeply cut the budgets of other programs.
In any event, pack this factoid away in the immigration debate folder of your brain. You’ll probably be hearing it again in the future