Newspaper article on the children of illegal immigrants.

[mvccd1000]

This article from my local Arizona paper laid out many of the monetary costs of illegal immigration.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/108644

Without taking a side on this issue, I wanted to post the article because many of the debates devolve into questions about the costs or benefits of illegal immigration. Some of the numbers in the article were new to me.

"No one can say for sure how many of these children are in the United States, or how much they cost. Last year, taxpayers picked up the tab for more than 18,000 babies born in Arizona to parents who could not prove they were in the country legally. Labor and delivery costs alone were almost $88 million for those children."

"It cost an additional $101.7 million to provide one year of medical care to those American children through AHCCCS, according to agency estimates."

"For normal medical coverage under AHCCCS, the child born in the U.S. qualifies for any benefits available to children of American citizens, Holloway said. The parents and their nonlegal children only qualify for emergency medical treatment, she said."

"Mothers who are illegal immigrants account for about 17.2 percent of the children born in Arizona and about 9.5 percent of those nationwide, according to Camarota's studies, based on Census data and records of all births compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics."

[EFerrari]

1. What the hell are we doing taking care of US citizens?

We must be insane. :sarcasm: