The Cost of Illegal Immigrants in Texas Research Paper

The Cost of Illegal Immigrants in Texas - Research Paper Example This quote is an extract from the Dallas Morning News, which examined the financial effects of the illegal immigrants in Texas. This calculation was done on behalf of the millions of taxpayers who were paying heavily in tax dollars for the presence of illegal immigrants residing in the state. The reason why this problem is especially prominent in Texas as opposed to the other forty-nine states of America is that this state is situated in the very south of the country. Due to its location, it is very near to Mexico, and thus Mexicans illegally emigrating from their own land often settle down or take refuge in this state. Thus, there are thousands of such unregistered immigrants residing in the state of Texas, the costs of which are paid for by the taxpayers and legal inhabitants of Texas, as well as the government responsible. The reason why the presence of these illegal immigrants proves to be such a financial challenge for the legal citizens of this state is that they consume the pu blic goods, which the government provides to the residents of this country. The US, being a developed country, provides several such goods to its citizens, such as health, education, and defense. These are all public goods, which it provides to every citizen of the country. These costs are especially prominent concerning health care costs, which these illegal immigrants incur. â€Å"The Texas Hospital Association has estimated the annual cost of uncompensated care to illegal immigrants at nearly $400 million a year†.... In addition, as mentioned in the news extract above, these costs included the cost of 66,000 births in one year, which makes up a large proportion of these costs. These services however are not completely free of cost for these citizens. The government finances them using the tax dollars that these citizens themselves pay out of their own incomes, in the form of both direct and indirect taxes. However, only the legal citizens of the country pay direct taxes on their income, as they are the only ones of whom the government has a record. Thus, this allows for tax evasion by all those illegal citizens who reside in the county without the permission or knowledge of the government. They do not pay direct taxes on their incomes, and therefore avoid having to pay the government for all the above-mentioned public good and services that it provides to them. In other words, they are able to avail these services free even when they are not the ones paying for them. The legal citizens who are ta xpayers, bear the whole cost of such goods and services, even when there are thousands of other illegal consumers present. Thus, this is a heavy financial burden for the taxpayers to bear, since they pay not just for themselves, thus severely testing the patience of these law-abiding citizens. Moreover, due to the geographical location of the state of Texas, it is especially vulnerable to this problem. Another cost that these citizens pay because of the presence of these illegal immigrants is the disruption in law and order, which they cause. Their presence is often accompanied by several offences, which include robberies and drug trafficking. This is a large disadvantage for those citizens who abide by the law and hope for peaceful and