Elon Musk Calculated How Much Illegal Immigrants Cost Americans
The new Trump administration's Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) aims to reduce the burden that illegal immigration places on U.S. taxpayers. The department estimates it will cost $150 billion, according to Fox News.
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A government spending-cutting initiative co-led by billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy reported on Platform X on December 9 that they estimate that illegal immigration costs Americans nearly as much as World War I and a number of major American projects (adjusted for inflation).
Illegal immigration: $150,7 billion
DOGE reported that illegal immigration will cost U.S. taxpayers $150,7 billion in 2023 alone.
The agency cited data from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which arrived at the figure by adding together the total federal, state and local spending on illegal immigration and subtracting the total tax contributions paid by illegal immigrants.
On the subject: What Will Happen If All Illegals Were Deported From the US: Spoiler: Nothing Good
World War I: $334 billion
DOGE pointed to a Norwich University study on the cost of US wars, which found that the US spent $334 billion on World War I (adjusted for inflation). That means US taxpayers spent almost half of the war's total cost on illegal immigration in one year (2023).
Apollo Space Program: $257 billion
According to The Planetary Society, cited by DOGE, NASA's Apollo project (the space program that sent the first American astronauts to the moon) cost the United States $25,8 billion from 1960 to 1973. In today's dollars, that's $257 billion.
Manhattan Project: $30 billion
The Manhattan Project, which developed the nuclear bomb and helped America win World War II, cost U.S. taxpayers $30 billion over four years (adjusted for 2023 prices). DOGE pointed to a study in which the National Park Service cited the source of the dollar amount.
Panama Canal: $15,2 billion
The U.S. government spent $500 million to build the Panama Canal, which was completed in 1914. According to a history of the project cited by DOGE, that's $5,2 billion in 2023 dollars.
Hoover Dam: $1 billion
The federal government spent $49 million to build the Hoover Dam, which was completed in 1935 after five years of construction. Adjusted for inflation, that's $1 billion, according to the National Archives.
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PS Meanwhile, the American Immigration Council (American Immigration Council) reminds us that illegal immigrants play an important role in the U.S. economy not only through their labor but also through their significant tax contributions that support government services and programs.
Thus, in 2022, households headed by illegal immigrants paid $75,6 billion in taxes, of which $29,0 billion were state and local taxes and $46,6 billion were federal.
In the same 2022, about 4,5% of the US workforce were illegal immigrants, 89,8% of whom were of working age.
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