Tattering Net

Ranks of Poor, Uninsured In America Grew in 2003 | WSJ | 8.26.04

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans living in poverty increased by 1.3 million last year, while the ranks of the uninsured swelled by 1.4 million, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.

It was the third straight annual increase for both categories. While not unexpected, it was a double dose of bad economic news during a tight re-election campaign for President Bush.

Approximately 35.8 million people lived below the poverty line in 2003, or 12.5% of the population, according to the bureau. That was up from 34.5 million, or 12.1% of the populace, in 2002. …

Nearly 45 million people lacked health insurance, or 15.6% of the population. That was up from 43.5 million in 2002, or 15.2 percent, but was a smaller increase than in the two previous years. …

Illegal Immigrants’ Cost to Government Studied | WP | 8.26.04

A report that found that illegal immigrants in the United States cost the federal government more than $10 billion a year — a sum it estimated would almost triple if they were given amnesty — has drawn criticism from immigration advocacy groups.

“There is a growing consensus in both political parties that our immigration system needs to be comprehensively reformed,” Sharry said. “Our current system of haphazard laws, spotty enforcement, border chaos and unfair restrictions needs to be replaced by a regulatory regime that makes immigration safe, legal and orderly.”

Illegals’ costs outpace tax payments, report says | Washington Times | 8.26.04

U.S. households headed by illegal aliens used $26.3 billion in government services during 2002 but paid only $16 billion in taxes, an annual cost to taxpayers of $10 billion, says a report issued yesterday by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). …

The 48-page report said among the largest government costs were Medicaid at $2.5 billion; treatment for the uninsured, $2.2 billion; food assistance programs and school lunches, $1.9 billion; the federal prison and court system, $1.6 billion; and federal aid to schools, $1.4 billion. …

The CIS report said the estimates were only for the federal government, but costs at the state and local levels were likely to be significant. It said costs to the government of unskilled immigrants “simply reflect the nature of the modern American economy,” and cannot be avoided if the country’s immigration policies remain unchanged. …

The High Cost of Cheap Labor; Illegal Immigration and the Federal Budget | Center for Immigration Studies | August 2004 (PDF)

Social Security and Medicare. Although we find that the net effect of illegal households is negative at the federal level, the same is not true for Social Security and Medicare. We estimate that illegal households create a combined net benefit for these two programs in excess of $7 billion a year, accounting for about 4 percent of the total annual surplus in these two programs. However, they create a net deficit of $17.4 billion in the rest of the budget, for a total net loss of $10.4 billion. Nonetheless, their impact on Social Security and Medicare is unambiguously positive. Of course, if the Social Security totalization agreement with Mexico signed in June goes into effect, allowing illegals to collect Social Security, these calculations would change.