Mass Deportations
Deporting all of the illegal immigrants is not feasible either financially or logistically.
Estimates vary on the number of illegal immigrants in the United States, but the number
may be around 12 million1. In 2006 the Washington, DC ‘think tank’ Center for
American Progress issued a report stating that deporting 10 million illegal immigrants
would cost $206 billion over five years ($41.2 billion annually), and could reach over
$230 billion2. This includes the increased cost of allocating more resources to tracking
down immigrants and assuming that millions more will return of their own accord when
they see the deportations occurring. In 2007 Julie L. Myers, then-chief of ICE, told a
congressional hearing that they had estimated the cost to be a (comparatively) low $94
billion3. The main divergence was the estimate on just how much it would cost to hire
personnel and pay them to rout out the immigrants. But whether the cost is $94 billion or
$230 billion, the cost would be a tremendous burden in light of the current budget deficit
of over $700 billion.4
ICE’s study also assumed that immigrants would only be detained for an average 32 days
before being deported at a cost of $97 a day5. However, these estimates are based on the
currently existing facilities. Considering that in the five year period between 2004 and
2008, fewer than 1.7 million immigration court matters were completed6, it is simply
inconceivable that the government could handle 10 million cases in five years without
building new detention centers and immigration court facilities and training new
personnel. The building of facilities and training of personnel are both tasks that will
take time and planning to complete. The massive effort involved in quintupling our
deportation system is not only a financial matter, but a logistical one.
The direct cost of tracking down and deporting illegal immigrants is not the only cost of
mass deportations. Many illegal immigrants are married to permanent res