Costs of Illegal Immigrants Cited

At a spirited congressional hearing Wednesday organized by House Republicans, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich and other witnesses painted a bleak portrait of the costs of illegal immigration to American taxpayers.

But Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, which held the field hearing, sharply criticized its tenor, calling the event the latest in a series of repetitive sessions meant to delay making hard choices on the illegal immigration issue.

The hearings are part of a summer-long series that Republican congressional leaders hope will shape the immigration debate.

The House passed a bill last year that focuses on enforcement.

The Senate approved legislation in May that takes a more comprehensive approach, coupling increased enforcement with a guest worker program and a path to legalization for most of the national’s estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.

Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Valley Village) said House Republicans are “sitting on their hands” to avoid finishing a compromise bill with the Senate.

“We should be back in Washington right now getting to work. Instead, the Republican majority is flying around the country in a taxpayer-funded traveling press conference,” Berman said.

Republicans on the committee reject that characterization, calling the hearings informative and necessary as part of the decision-making process.

The San Diego session -- titled “Examining the impact of illegal immigration on American taxpayers” -- shed light on how much the Senate bill, if passed, would cost taxpayers, said Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), the committee chairman.

“It is absolutely essential that we recognize and carefully consider the fact that if legalized, they will also become eligible for many local, state and federal programs,” he said.

One witness, Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, said passage of the Senate bill would cost taxpayers at least $16 billion a year.

Other studies, including one by the Congressional Budget Office, have concluded that illegal immigrants who gained citizenship would spur economic activity and increase tax collections, pushing federal revenues up $75 billion over 10 years.

Antonovich said illegal immigrants in Los Angeles County cost taxpayers nearly $1 billion annually in public safety, healthcare and social services. “The fiscal drain on the taxpayers by those who are here illegally is catastrophic,” he said.

Berman said the House bill, which focuses only on border enforcement, would not address any of the county’s fiscal problems, prompting Antonovich to respond: “It would allow the bleeding to stop, and then we can begin to focus on the costs.”

The hearing unfolded in an orderly fashion, with a few brief moments of scattered applause and boos.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) sparked the biggest outburst when she displayed the decorations of an immigrant sailor she met on a Navy ship.

“This is the person being maligned today,” she said.

Many in the crowd of about 100 people, including veterans, erupted in boos. “That’s ridiculous!” one man yelled.

Jackson Lee criticized the setting for the hearing, in a restaurant at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. She said the public had limited access to the military facility.

Dolores Huerta, a co-founder of the United Farm Workers, who attended the hearing but did not speak publicly, said migrant rights groups have not been allowed to testify at the congressional hearings.

“These hearings ... are not bona fide hearings. They are biased to support the incarceration of decent, hardworking undocumented immigrants,” Huerta said in a statement.