In her nearly forgotten capacity as state comptroller, Carole Keeton Strayhorn just released “Undocumented Immigrants in Texas: A Financial Analysis of the Impact to the State Budget and Economy.” Strayhorn says it’s the “first time any state has done a comprehensive financial analysis of the impact of undocumented immigrants on a state’s budget and economy, looking at gross state product, revenues generated, taxes paid and the cost of state services.”
Cutting to the juicy stuff, her statement continues: “The absence of the estimated 1.4 million undocumented immigrants in Texas in fiscal 2005 would have been a loss to our gross state product of $17.7 billion. Undocumented immigrants produced $1.58 billion in state revenues, which exceeded the $1.16 billion in state services they received. However, local governments bore the burden of $1.44 billion in uncompensated health care costs and local law enforcement costs not paid for by the state.”
The report is available at the comptroller’s Web site here.
This article appears in December 8 • 2006.