Michigan's share of Trump deportations: $6B
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Michigan taxpayers would pay nearly $1,800 each for President Trump's mass deportation push, per a new calculator from the Economic Policy Institute.
Why it matters: The estimate fuels debate over whether billions of federal dollars devoted to deportations should instead fund other public priorities, such as health care or housing.
By the numbers: Instead of contributing about $6 billion, or $1,791 per taxpayer, to mass deportations, the calculator finds Michigan taxpayers could fund about 22,000 school teachers, 26,500 firefighters or 360,500 people on Medicaid.
How it works: EPI estimated each area's share of federal income taxes to calculate how much taxpayers in each state, county and city would contribute to deportation spending.
Context: The $268.9 billion the administration is slated to spend over the course of Trump's second term on deportations comes from a combination of money from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, regular appropriations and other repurposed funds.
- The Department of Homeland Security told Axios in July that the government spends roughly $18,000 per non-voluntary deportation.
Zoom in: Detroit taxpayers would contribute an estimated $105.8 million, or about $910 per taxpayer, according to the calculator.
- That amount could instead fund about 386 school teachers or 466 firefighters in Detroit.
Zoom out: American taxpayers would broadly pay about $2,358 each for Trump's mass deportation push, per EPI's tool.
The other side: A DHS spokesperson told Axios that the Biden administration ignored the costs of illegal immigration and said the department's self-deportation program saves taxpayers roughly $13,000 per removal compared with traditional deportation.