US: Trump Deportation Drive Could Cost Taxpayers $2358 Each
By Staff, Agencies
US taxpayers could shoulder an average of approximately $2,358 each to finance President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, according to an Economic Policy Institute analysis cited by Axios. The estimate is based on a projected $268.9 billion in federal spending on immigration detention and deportations during Trump’s second term.
Rather than representing a direct bill issued to individual taxpayers, the figure reflects how much of the nationwide expenditure would be attributed to each taxpayer based on federal income tax contributions.
The EPI developed an online calculator to estimate the financial burden across US states, counties, and cities, with higher-income areas expected to finance a larger share of the operation.
The analysis sought to illustrate what the projected deportation budget could finance if directed toward social programs instead.
Based on National Priorities Project data, the $268.9 billion could provide Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to more than 118 million additional recipients over the remaining two and a half years of the Trump administration.
The same amount could alternatively provide Medicaid coverage to nearly 12 million people or public housing assistance to more than 9.7 million households. "I don't think people realize how much money is being spent on these mass deportations", Gordon Lafer, a professor at the University of Oregon's Labor Education and Research Center and research associate at EPI, told Axios.
"In almost every place in the country, there are a lot of people who are struggling to not be hungry, to have affordable housing, kids are in overcrowded classrooms, people don't have health insurance, and those are the things that matter most".
“Instead, we're spending an unbelievable amount of money, chasing down, detaining, deporting people,” Lafer said, noting that most undocumented immigrants do not have criminal records. “It costs money that is desperately needed for other things in almost every community in the country.”
The estimated individual contribution varies considerably depending on how much federal income tax is collected in each jurisdiction.
Washington, D.C., taxpayers could contribute an average of $3,930 each. According to EPI, that amount could instead finance food assistance for 455,000 additional people, housing support for 21,000 households, or Medicaid coverage for 30,000 people.
In Connecticut, the projected cost stands at approximately $3,395 per taxpayer. The equivalent funding could provide SNAP benefits to 1.9 million people, public housing assistance to roughly 181,000 households, or Medicaid coverage to 186,000 people.
Residents of states contributing a smaller share of federal income taxes would face lower estimated costs. In West Virginia, for example, the average contribution would be approximately $1,297 per taxpayer.
EPI said the same funds could support SNAP benefits for 328,000 people, housing assistance for 46,000 households or Medicaid coverage for 31,000 residents.
The Department of Homeland Security rejected the analysis’s framing, accusing the previous Biden administration of overlooking the financial burden associated with undocumented immigration.
A DHS spokesperson also argued that the administration’s voluntary departure program costs substantially less than arresting and forcibly removing undocumented immigrants. The department encouraged migrants to use the CBP Home application, saying participants are offered a free flight and a $2,600 stipend to leave the United States voluntarily.
According to DHS, the program brings the cost of each voluntary departure to approximately $5,100, saving taxpayers more than $13,000 per person compared with a conventional deportation.
DHS previously told Axios that a non-voluntary deportation costs the government approximately $18,000 per person.
