Burning Atlanta

I get so damned tired of the "But they're good for the economy" argument I could puke. Seems like every other week there's ANOTHER study showing a net plus or minus. I've gotten to the point that I really don't care anymore. I don't base right or wrong on a dollar plus or minus.

At least this study comes from the government so people can't scream about bias so much. They can scream about incompetence, instead. *S*

CBO study

A study by the U.S. Congressional Budget Office released Tuesday backs up the view that undocumented immigrants sap more tax dollars than they provide, especially in education, health care and law enforcement.

The study also showed that while undocumented workers represented just 5 percent of state and federal service costs, their tax revenue did not offset the amount spent by government. The authors of the study stated that, "the general consensus is that unauthorized immigrants impose a net cost on state and local budgets. However, no agreement exists as to the size of, or even the best way of measuring, that cost at a national level."

In education, which the study notes is the largest single expenditure in state and local budgets, multiple states reported 20 to 40 percent higher costs educating non-English speaking students, many of whom come from the homes of undocumented immigrant parents. Using New Mexico statistics from 2004 as a model, education spending on undocumented immigrants comprised $67 million of the state's $3 billion education budget.

The study estimates there are 53.3 million school-age children in the U.S., 2 million of whom are undocumented immigrants and another 3 million who are legal citizens, but whose parents are not.  We're paying for 5 million kids that wouldn't  be here if our laws were enforced. FIVE MILLION!!! Are you shittin' me?