A report conducted by a New Jersey lawmaker found that 1-in-1o residents in the state are illegal immigrants and they are costing taxpayers well over $7 billion a year.
New Jersey Republican assemblyman Paul Kanitra released the “Report on the Cost of Illegal Aliens to New Jerseyans” on Tuesday, which gives a comprehensive breakdown of how many illegal immigrants are residing in the state, its costs to taxpayers, and the current state of the border crisis. The report called for a number of enforcement measures and the abolishment of incentives that attract illegal immigration to the state.
Kanitra’s office estimated that, as of April 2024, there were roughly 894,000 illegal immigrants in New Jersey. Out of a state of just under 10 million, this would equate to nearly 1-in-1o New Jersey residents being an unlawful immigrant.
New Jersey taxpayers spend money every year on housing, legal services, medical care, education, police and fire services, and other general state government services, the report found. Altogether, Kanitra’s office concluded that New Jersey residents are paying $7.3 billion annually to cover the cost of illegal immigrants.
“This report follows my academic trip down to the southern border of these United States,” Kanitra wrote. “I believe that I have achieved greater insight, for myself and my constituents, on the crisis unfolding along the border, particularly at the Rio Grande River.”
The assemblyman released his report in conjunction with a video he took during a trip to the southern border. In the video, he met with members of the Texas Department of Public Safety, who are now on the frontlines fighting the ongoing U.S.-Mexico border crisis.
“During my border trip, judges, Border Patrol agents and Texas state troopers unequivocally stated that our actions here in New Jersey are incentivizing and encouraging people worldwide to break our laws and access the taxpayer-funded benefits we’re providing,” Katrina said in the video.
The lawmaker called on New Jersey leaders to take a number of measures to mitigate the crisis, such as including citizenship or legal status on state IDs, ending education subsidies for illegal immigrants, requiring employers to use E-Verify, and requiring reporting of legal status of those using healthcare services, among other proposals.
Federal immigration authorities continue to deal with an unprecedented crisis at the southern border. Since President Joe Biden took office, at least 6 million encounters have taken place at the southern border.
