Pro

The Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform (CAIR) wrote in its article "Economic Costs of Legal and Illegal Immigration" on cairco.org (accessed Oct. 19, 2011):

“The economic and social consequences of illegal immigration… are staggering… Illegal aliens have cost billions of taxpayer-funded dollars for medical services. Dozens of hospitals in Texas, New Mexico Arizona, and California, have been forced to close or face bankruptcy because of federally-mandated programs requiring free emergency room services to illegal aliens. Taxpayers pay half-a-billion dollars per year incarcerating illegal alien criminals. Immigration is a net drain on the economy; corporate interests reap the benefits of cheap labor, while taxpayers pay the infrastructural cost… $60 billion dollars are earned by illegal aliens in the U.S. each year. One of Mexico’s largest revenue streams (after exports and oil sales) consists of money sent home by legal immigrants and illegal aliens working in the U.S… This is a massive transfer of wealth from America – essentially from America’s displaced working poor – to Mexico. The total K-12 school expenditure for illegal immigrants costs the states $7.4 billion annually.”

Oct. 19, 2011