Trump Deportations Could Cost NJ Taxpayers $3K Each, Study Finds

Mass deportations taking place under the second Trump administration could end up costing the average New Jersey taxpayer nearly $3,000, a new study says.

Nonprofit think-tank Economic Policy Institute (EPI) recently released an online calculator that shows how many federal tax dollars are being spent on mass deportations in every U.S. state, county and city. It also shows what that money could be spent on instead, such as teachers, housing and health care.

See the calculator here, and learn about its methodology here.

Nationwide, the federal government plans to spend $268.9 billion – or $2,358 per taxpayer – to carry out mass deportations from fiscal years 2025 to 2029.

New Jersey’s share comes to $10.07 billion – or $2,933 per taxpayer.

According to the EPI calculator, that money could pay for 30,866 school teachers across the Garden State. Alternatively, the funds could be used to pay for 29,062 firefighters, or cover 380,231 people on Medicaid, or cover medical care for 195,365 military veterans. Other ways the money could be spent include paying for 4,229,309 SNAP recipients, creating 363,851 public housing units, or giving 208,501 workers 12 weeks of paid parental leave.

“Every dollar spent on mass deportations is a dollar not spent on critical investments like education, health care and affordable housing,” EPI president Heidi Shierholz said.

THE COST OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

When asked about the study, a spokesperson with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security told Newsweek that there’s a big caveat to consider: the calculator doesn’t consider the price of illegal immigration, which they claimed costs American taxpayers more than $150 billion per year.

“That number will only grow unless our nation’s laws are enforced,” the Department of Homeland Security said. “Deportations are absolutely vital to stop the bleeding.”

Some conservative think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation have put forth similar numbers, with the foundation recently claiming that the current population of undocumented immigrants imposes net fiscal costs of at least $110 billion per year on U.S. taxpayers.

“How much is $110 billion? It is the equivalent of an 82-cent tax on every gallon of gas sold in the U.S.,” a senior research fellow with the foundation wrote last year.

Some ways that illegal immigration is costing taxpayers include increased demand on public schools, roads and sewer/water infrastructure, and police/fire departments, he argued.

• Related: Sherrill Pumps $20M Of Taxpayer Money To Fight Deportation

On the flip side of the coin, some experts have countered that undocumented immigrants pay billions in taxes, while not being able to access many of the services that their money fuels, such as Social Security or Medicare.

According to data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, undocumented immigrants in the U.S. paid $96.7 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022.

“Much like their neighbors, undocumented immigrants pay sales and excise taxes on goods and services like utilities, household products, and gasoline,” the think tank explains. “They pay property taxes either directly on their homes or indirectly when these taxes are folded into the price of their monthly rent. And they pay income and payroll taxes through automatic withholding from their paychecks or by filing income tax returns using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers.”

• Related: NJ Undocumented Immigrants Pay $1B In Taxes, Study Says (Here’s How)

BLAMING BIDEN

Homeland Security spokespeople told Axios that former president Joe Biden should be blamed for “ignoring” illegal immigration. The accusation has been a constant theme in communications from the Trump administration.

On Trump’s first day in office, the White House announced a sweeping wave of presidential actions and executive orders.

“Over the last four years, the United States has endured a large-scale invasion at an unprecedented level,” the Trump administration said. “Millions of illegal aliens from nations and regions all around the world successfully entered the United States where they are now residing.”

Large-scale ICE raids also took place under Biden’s watch, however.

In 2024, the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) reported that the Biden administration was on track to carry out as many removals and returns as the first Trump administration did before them.

“Combining deportations with expulsions and other actions to block migrants without permission to enter the United States, the Biden administration’s nearly 4.4 million repatriations are already more than any single presidential term since the George W. Bush administration (five million in its second term),” the MPI said.

Before Trump took office for his second term, hundreds of people were being arrested and deported from the ICE’s office in Newark every month under the Biden administration.

• Related: NJ Activists Say Biden’s Playbook On Immigration Is Similar To Trump’s
• Related: Detainee Population Surges At ICE Prison In NJ After It Reopens
• Related: 2 Private Prison Companies With NJ Ties May Score Big Profits From Trump Deportations

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