What a shock.
Ed Rubenstein, here:
One AAF report put the total cost of removing all 11.3 million illegals living in the U.S. at between $420 billion and $619 billion. That is based on the assumption that 20% of the aliens would leave voluntarily [The Budgetary and Economic Costs of Addressing Unauthorized Immigration: Alternative Strategies, By Ben Gitis and Laura Collins, March 6, 2015].
But let’s do the math. Deducting those who would self-deport we are left with 8.96 million illegals that the U.S. government would have to forcibly deport. Dividing AAF’s low and high cost estimates by these involuntary deportees, we arrive at a per deportee cost ranging from $45,000 to $67,000. By comparison, ICE—the government agency in charge of deportations, estimates that it costs $12,500 to deport an illegal alien. [ ICE reveals cost for deporting each illegal immigrant, By Mizanur Rahman, San Francisco Chronicle, January 27, 2011]. ...
To understand why AAF inflates its deportation cost estimates, just follow the money. Not the Federal tax money: the donor money. The Koch brothers [have] given millions to the forum as part of the now-familiar quid pro quo: our money for your “research” supporting open borders [The newest dark money power player: American Action Network, By Zachary Roth, MSNBC, March 18, 2014]. The Kochs see illegal aliens as a profit center rather than a problem.
