America’s Immigration Battle, By the Numbers

More than 2 million illegal immigrants have been deported since President Barack Obama took office. Both Democrats and Republicans say that this indicates a broken immigration system. For now, the push for comprehensive reform is stalled in Congress.

11.3 million: There were an estimated 11.3 million illegal immigrants living in the United States in 2014. That is equal to about 3.5 percent of the US population. Mexicans make up roughly half of this illegal population. The total number of illegal immigrants from Central America increased to 3.2 million in 2013. About 350,000 new illegal immigrants enter the US each year.

5 million: After immigration reform stalled in Congress in 2014, President Obama announced a series of executive actions to protect as many as 5 million illegal immigrants from deportation. One measure, called DAPA, was designed to provide deferrals for approximately 4 million illegal immigrant parents of American citizens or legal permanent residents who have lived in the U.S. for at least five years. The plan also extended a program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which allows young people who came to the U.S. before the age of 16 to apply for deportation deferrals and work permits. The Executive Actions remain on hold, pending action by the 5th Circuit Court and possibly by the US Supreme Court.

$11.84 billion: In 2012, illegal immigrants contributed $11.84 billion to state and local taxes — roughly 8 percent of state and local tax nationwide.
$103.9 billion: Deporting all 11.3 million in the U.S. illegally would be very costly. It would take more than 20 years for a mass deportation program to remove all 11.3 million and the estimated cost of these deportations would be between 100 to 300 Billion Dollars.

-6.4 percent. Deporting all 11 Million illegal aliens could also hurt the economy. The Bipartisan Policy Center said that deporting all current and future illegal immigrants would shrink the nation’s workforce by 6.4 percent. It would also hurt the housing market, increase the national deficit, and reduce the Gross Domestic Product by about 5.7 percent over the next 20 years.

$1.2 trillion: The Bipartisan Policy Center found that comprehensive immigration reform would actually reduce federal deficits by $1.2 trillion over 20 years. It would also encourage economic growth by 4.8 percent.

403,563: Because of the lack of a comprehensive immigration reform, the government’s immigration efforts have focused on securing the border and on deportations. Starting from President Obama’s first full year in office in 2009 through 2013, the U.S. has deported an average of 403,563 people each year.

$5 billion: The deputy director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that it costs an average of $12,500 to arrest, detain and deport each person who is removed from the U.S. That amounts to roughly $5 billion dollars spent on deportations each year.

$5.1 billion: It costs about $3.9 million to build a single mile of fencing along the US-Mexico border. At least $2.4 billion has been allocated to complete about 670 miles of vehicle and pedestrian fencing. The remaining 1,300 miles could cost an additional $5.1 billion.

73,000: This is the number of unaccompanied children who were caught by the US Border Patrol when they tried to enter the US in 2014. In the past years, most unaccompanied minors trying to enter illegally were from Mexico, but in 2014, most were from the Central American countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

40 percent: By 2030, Hispanics are expected to make up 40 percent of the growth in the number of people who are eligible to vote. As a voting bloc, Hispanics have always supported Democrats in national elections. In 2012, for example, 71 percent of Latino voters chose President Barack Obama.
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Q.1. Will Mr Obama’s Executive Actions ever be implemented?
A.1. Right now, it looks like the President will have to go to the Supreme Court to get approval for his actions. It is not likely that the case can be accepted by the court during the 2015-2016 session, so the matter will be left for the next president to follow up in 2017.
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Q.2. What is the status of the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals)?
A.2. The expanded DACA rules are still stuck in court, but the original DACA program is still functioning under the 2012 rules. This means you can still apply if you were under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012, you entered the States before your 16th birthday and you entered without inspection before June 15, 2012, or your lawful immigration status expired as of June 15, 2012, and you have continuously resided in the United States since June 15, 2007, up to the present time.
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Q.3. What is the status of the executive action for the DAPA program?
A.3. DAPA was designed to provide deferrals for approximately 4 million illegal immigrant parents of American citizens or legal permanent residents who have lived in the U.S. for at least five years. Unfortunately, the DAPA and the expanded DACA are both tied up in the 5th Circuit Court and any favorable action will probably have to wait until we have a new president.

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