Refugee costs: $8.8 billion, $80,000 per immigrant, free welfare, Medicaid
America’s big heart in welcoming tens of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers from war torn and disaster-ravaged nations comes with a huge cost that is choking taxpayers — and barely making a dent in the worldwide refugee crisis, according to a new report.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform Monday put the five-year price tag at $8.8 billion in federal and state costs, or nearly $80,000 per refugee. There are some 18 federal and state programs refugees can tap for financial help, including food stamps, child care, public housing and school loans.
On a yearly average, it is $1.8 billion, or $15,900 per refugee. Included in that are enormous refugee resettlement costs such as $867 million in welfare, housing assistance and education.
That is nearly five times the pay for a private in the Army Reserve.
What’s more, said the FAIR study provided to Secrets, 50 percent of refugees remain on Medicaid for five years.
“Most of this cohort arrives here without financial resources and possessing few marketable job skills. And the American taxpayer is being asked to feed, clothe and shelter them, in addition to funding job training programs,” said the report titled “The Fiscal Cost of Resettling Refugees in the United States.”
Dan Stein, president of the immigration reform group, said an alternative should be providing temporary help near where the refugees live and eventually repatriating them....
CAIRCO Research