Illegals use more tax dollars than they contribute

The U.S. Congressional Budget Office has released a report showing that illegal aliens use more tax dollars than they pay, particularly in education, health care and law enforcement.

The study estimated that nationwide, 60 percent of illegal aliens are uninsured and 50 percent of the children are uninsured. The average income of illegals was $27,400, while Americans earned $47,800. This difference puts illegals in a lower tax bracket, reducing the amount of federal and state income tax revenue they generate.

Education is the largest single expenditure in state and local budgets, and multiple states reported 20 to 40 percent higher costs educating non-English speaking students, many of whom have illegal alien parents. In New Mexico, for example, statistics from 2004 show 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.

Undocumented immigrants are more likely to access emergency rooms and urgent care facilities because most do not have health care, the study said. In Arizona and other border areas, states paid nearly $190 million in health care costs for undocumented immigrants in 2000. That amount, which the study says likely has risen since then, represents one-quarter of all uncompensated health care costs in those states that year.