Washington, D.C. — The topic of mass deportation of the nation’s 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants has been steadily gaining national attention as politicians and advocates receive airtime to discuss immigration proposals and policy options. As last week’s Gallup poll reaffirmed, a small minority of Americans—only 19 percent—believe that unauthorized immigrants should be deported from the United States. In contrast, the vast majority of Americans want sensible solutions to immigration policy, with 65 percent believing that unauthorized immigrants should be allowed to get legal status and a pathway to citizenship.
In analysis released today by the Center for American Progress, Associate Director for Immigration Policy Philip Wolgin discusses the cost of a mass deportation strategy, with research showing that the average cost per person would be $10,070, for a total of $114 billion to remove 11.3 million people.
The figure includes the high costs required to find each and every unauthorized individual, something that would be—aside from the high costs—a logistical nightmare. CAP’s $114 billion estimate also includes the cost to detain these individuals while they wait for removal, to process them through the already overburdened immigration courts, and to transport them abroad.
Read the full analysis here.
For more information or to speak to an expert on this topic, please contact Tanya S. Arditi at [email protected] or 202.741.6258.
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