DREAM Act Will Cost Taxpayers $6.2 Billion

Act Likely to Adversely Affect American College Students

A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies examines the costs and likely impact of the DREAM Act currently being considered by Congress. The act offers permanent legal status to illegal immigrants up to age 35, who arrived in the United States before age 16, provided they complete two years of college. Under the act, beneficiaries would receive in-state tuition. Given the low income of illegal immigrants, most can be expected to attend state schools, with a cost to taxpayers in the billions of dollars. As both funds and slots are limited at state universities and community colleges, the act may reduce the educational opportunities available to U.S. citizens.

The Memorandum is available online here. Among the findings:

Assuming no fraud, we conservatively estimate that 1.03 million illegal immigrants will eventually enroll in public institutions (state universities or community colleges) as a result of the DREAM Act. That is, they met the residence and age requirements of the act, have graduated high school, or will do so, and will come forward.

On average each illegal immigrant who attends a public institution will receive a tuition subsidy from taxpayers of nearly $6,000 for each year he or she attends for total cost of $6.2 billion a year, not including other forms of financial assistance that they may also receive.

The above estimate is for the number who will enroll in public institutions. A large share of those who attend college may not complete the two full years necessary to receive permanent residence.

The cost estimate assumes that the overwhelming majority will enroll in community colleges, which are much cheaper for students and taxpayers than state universities.

The estimate is only for new students not yet enrolled. It does not include illegal immigrants currently enrolled at public institutions or those who have already completed two years of college. Moreover, it does not include the modest number of illegal immigrants who are expected to attend private institutions.

The DREAM Act does not provide funding to states and counties to cover the costs it imposes. Since enrollment and funding are limited at public institutions, the act’s passage will require some combination of tuition increases, tax increases to expand enrollment or a reduction in spaces available for American citizens at these schools.

Tuition hikes will be particular difficult for students, as many Americans already find it difficult to pay for college. Research indicates that one out of three college students drop out before receiving a degree. Costs are a major reason for the high dropout rate.

In 2009 there were 10.2 million U.S. citizens under age 35 who have dropped out of college without receiving a degree. There was an additional 15.2 million citizens under age 35 who have completed high school, but have never attended college.

Lawmakers need to consider the strains the DREAM Act will create and the impact of adding one roughly million students to state universities and community colleges on the educational opportunities available to American citizens.

Providing state schools with added financial support to offset the costs of the DREAM Act would avoid the fiscal costs at the state and local level, but it would shift the costs to federal taxpayer.

Advocates of the DREAM Act argue that it will significantly increase tax revenue, because with a college education, recipients will earn more and pay more in taxes over their lifetime. However, several factors need to be considered when evaluating this argument:

Any hoped-for tax benefit is in the long-term, and will not help public institutions deal with the large influx of new students the act creates in the short-term.

Given limited spaces at public institutions, there will almost certainly be some crowding out of U.S. citizens ─ reducing their lifetime earnings and tax payments.

The DREAM Act only requires two years of college, no degree is necessary. The income gains for having some college, but no degree, are modest.

Because college dropout rates are high, many illegal immigrants who enroll at public institutions will not complete the two years the act requires, so taxpayers will bear the expense without a long term benefit.

Data Source: The analysis in this report is based on one developed by the Migration Policy Institute, which is based on the 2006 to 2008 Current Population Survey (CPS) collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. We have updated their analysis using the 2009 and 2010 CPS. The above estimates focus on the number of illegal immigrants likely to enroll in state universities or community college. It must be emphasized that it is not an estimate of the number of individuals who are eligible for the DREAM Act amnesty or the number that will ultimately meet all the requirements for permanent residence.

The above is a press release from from Center for Immigration Studies. 1522 K St. NW, Suite 820, Washington, DC 20005, (202) 466-8185 fax: (202) 466-8076. Email: center@cis.org. Contact: Steven Camarota, (202) 466-8185, sac@cis.org. The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent research institution which examines the impact of immigration on the United States. The Center for Immigration Studies is not affiliated with any other organization




Reid Angers GOP by Pushing Four Versions of DREAM Act Without Hearing

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has pushed four different versions of the controversial immigration bill known as the DREAM Act without a hearing on any of them, drawing outrage from the top Republican on the committee that would have handled the package.

The Nevada senator, who narrowly escaped a defeat in the November election, has pursued an unusual approach to advancing the bill that gives young illegal immigrants who attend college or join the military a pathway to legal status.

Since September, his deputy Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., has introduced four slightly different versions all bearing the same name. Reid has moved them all to the calendar -- he appears to be teeing up for a test vote, which could happen sometime later this week, on the latest version introduced on Tuesday.

But Republicans balked at the maneuvering. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, railed against the bill and the process Democrats were using to push it. "We now may have a fourth version of the DREAM Act," Sessions said Wednesday. "We haven't had a hearing on that in seven years."

He decried the bill as "amnesty" and pledged to fight it "with every strength and every ability that I have."

A statement to FoxNews.com put out by the Republican side of the Senate Judiciary Committee said all four versions have the same "fundamental" problems, but that Democrats' approach causes unnecessary confusion.

"Democrat leaders, in their rush to pass an unpopular bill during the lame-duck session, have completely bypassed the Judiciary Committee. They have introduced four separate versions of the same bill and, without any committee review, placed each and every one of them on the legislative calendar," the statement said. "This unusual approach creates a chaotic situation, one that makes it more difficult for the public and their representatives -- as well as the press -- to review this deeply controversial measure."

A representative from Reid's office could not be reached for comment.

The latest version of the bill was not available online, but a Senate source said it would lower from 35 to 30 the age at which an illegal immigrant would be eligible to go through the program.

The new version also made illegal immigrants who had committed marriage or voter fraud ineligible, the source said, though those responsible for other infractions like document fraud could still apply.

The changes could be a sign that Democratic leaders are watering down the bill in response to behind-the-scenes grumbling in the Democratic caucus. But the changes appear unlikely to win much support from the Republican side.

All 42 Senate Republicans signed a letter Wednesday vowing to block any legislation until a government spending bill is passed and the Bush tax cuts, set to expire at the end of the year, are extended. A couple of Senate Republicans could cross over once those issues are resolved, but Reid would still have defecting Democrats on his hands.

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., wrote in a column on his Senate website that he would oppose the plan to give "hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants" a path to residency. "I'm not going to support any legislation that I don't think adds to jobs, or to the military or to the economy. Consequently, I won't support any motion to proceed or any kind of cloture measure on the DREAM Act," he wrote. "In addition, I think that it must be part of an overall comprehensive solution to immigration once we have the border secured, and not until then."

Democratic groups, though, are putting on the pressure. Organizing for America sent out an e-mail urging supporters to call moderate Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both from Maine, and urge them to vote yes.

Democratic Party Chairman Tim Kaine said the bill would help build the military, urging Republicans to support it. "The DREAM Act is based on two very simple principles: that children brought up in this country should not be penalized for the actions of their parents and that our country is made stronger by hard-working immigrants who are willing to do what it takes to build a better life in America in a way that makes our country both stronger and more secure," Kaine said in a statement.

But Sessions argued that the bill is not as innocuous as it sounds. "This is not a good idea, it's not well written, it does far more than its supporters say, and it will create litigation in massive amounts that will disrupt the entire ability of immigration officials to do their jobs," he said.

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