Question

Are there any opportunity costs involved with current proposed immigration policy changes, such as the repeal of DACA?  

Answer 1

Donald Trump has proposed eliminating or severely modifying the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Many Americans believe that the presence of unauthorized immigrants is harmful to the economy and would like to see steps taken to reduce their presence. However, a repeal or roll-back of DACA would harm the economy and cost the U.S. government a significant amount of lost tax revenue. We estimate that the fiscal cost of immediately deporting the approximately 750,000 people currently in the DACA program would be over $60 billion to the federal government along with a $280 billion reduction in economic growth over the next decade.

Those eligible for DACA, often called “Dreamers,” registered with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.Deporting the approximately 800,000 Dreamers would cost the government nearly $10 billion. For perspective, the annual budget for ICE is just over $5 billion. Not only would it cost exorbitant amounts of taxpayer dollars to deport all of the Dreamers—or any significant number of them—but the opportunity costs should alarm the president, his administration, and the average American.Every dollar spent to deport Dreamers is a dollar not spent enforcing immigration laws against individuals who knowingly and purposefully entered the U.S. illegally, individuals engaged in drug or sex trafficking, and undocumented individuals committing serious felonies.

So, the oppurtunity cost of proposed immigration policy is the deportation of DACA participants would cost the American economy billions of dollars, as well as billions of tax dollars foregone, while doing little to address the true concerns that Americans may have about unauthorized immigrants.