U.S. not offsetting costs of illegals, report says

By Stephen Dinan

December 7, 2007

Illegal aliens are a net drain on state and local governments, according to a new report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that found the federal government does not do enough to help offset those costs.

"The tax revenues that unauthorized immigrants generate for state and local governments do not offset the total cost of services provided to those immigrants," CBO said in its review, released yesterday.

The CBO report, which looked at a series of state analyses, said it's difficult to calculate the exact cost, but noted the overall total net loss "is most likely modest." Still, the report said, that varies state-by-state, with some states saying they get more from taxes paid by illegal aliens than they spend on services for them.

Those costs come in three main areas, the CBO found: education, health care and law enforcement.