Pro

Jim Gilchrist, MBA, CPA, Founder and President of The Minuteman Project, said in an Aug. 26, 2005 speech titled "The Crushing Economic Burden of Illegal Immigration" and delivered at an immigration conference in Beverly Hills, California [transcript made available on Oct. 10, 2005 in FrontPageMagazine.com]:

“I’ve tried to figure out the costs since I have this tax background. What is the cost to each of us as taxpayers to support 30 million illegal aliens, many of whom are working in the underground economy and not contributing to the tax system? And yet they’re using the system that bona fide taxpayers provide and pay for… I had to make my own estimate, since the government will not give me these numbers, nor does it care to calculate them… I’ve come up with my own numbers. And I will stand by these numbers. The annual gross cost to U.S. taxpayers to provide schooling, hospitalization, and whatever plethoric benefits are out there for the 30 million illegal aliens is approximately $400 billion per year funded by bona fide U.S. taxpayers. That’s $400 billion per year and going up.”

Aug. 26, 2005