Deportations to cost the Heartland billions
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Taxpayers on both sides of the state line would each pay roughly $1,800 toward President Trump's mass deportation push, according to a new calculator from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
Why it matters: The estimate fuels debate over whether billions of federal dollars devoted to deportations could instead fund other public priorities such as food assistance, health care or housing.
How it works: EPI estimated each area's share of federal income taxes to calculate what taxpayers in each state, county and city would contribute. Areas that pay a larger share of federal income taxes shoulder more of the cost.
By the numbers: According to EPI, Missouri is contributing an estimated $3.6 billion toward federal deportation and detention costs. Kansas is contributing an estimated $1.8 billion.
- Both states land at about $1,800 per taxpayer, below the national average of $2,358.
- Kansas' share could instead pay for about 8,000 elementary school teachers over the remaining 2.5 years of Trump's term, according to EPI's calculator.
- Nationally, the full $268.9 billion could fund more than 925,000 teachers, nearly 12 million people on Medicaid or public housing for 9.7 million households.
Context: The $268.9 billion slated for deportations over Trump's second term comes from a combination of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, regular appropriations and other repurposed funds.
- DHS previously told Axios in July that the government spends roughly $18,000 per non-voluntary deportation.
Zoom in: Some of that money is landing here. DHS completed a $734 million purchase of two detention facilities from CoreCivic, including the 1,000-bed Midwest Regional Reception Center in Leavenworth, which sold for $238.4 million.
- CoreCivic said it expects to keep operating the site under its existing ICE contract.
- A DHS press release credited the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for the new detention funding.
What they're saying: "I don't think people realize how much money is being spent on these mass deportations," Gordon Lafer, a professor at the University of Oregon's Labor Education and Research Center and research associate at EPI, tells Axios.
- "Instead, we're spending an unbelievable amount of money chasing down, detaining, deporting people," he said, noting that most undocumented people lack criminal records.
The other side: DHS blamed the Biden administration in a statement to Axios for ignoring the costs of illegal immigration and said the administration's self-deportation program saves taxpayers money.
- DHS encouraged undocumented immigrants to use the CBP Home app, saying the U.S. offers a free flight and a $2,600 stipend to self-deport, bringing the cost of a self-deportation to about $5,100.
Go deeper: How Trump's "self-deportation" push has ramped up