How much Trump's deportations could cost Philly taxpayers
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Philadelphia County taxpayers could pay roughly $1,600 each for President Trump's mass deportation push, per a new calculator tool from the Economic Policy Institute.
Why it matters: The estimate is fueling a debate over whether federal tax dollars devoted to deportations could instead fund other public priorities, like food assistance, health care or housing.
The big picture: EPI estimates taxpayers would pay $268.9 billion for deportations over the course of Trump's second term.
- That money comes 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.
By the numbers: Pennsylvania taxpayers as a whole would pay more than $9.3 billion for Trump's mass deportations — averaging about $2,100 per taxpayer across the state, according to EPI's calculator.
That level of funding, according to EPI, could help pay for:
- 🧑🏫 31,200 school teachers, or
- 🧑🚒 32,600 firefighters, or
- 🏘️ 286,100 public housing units, or
- 🍼 230,900 parents receiving 12 weeks of paid parental leave, or
- 🏥 295,500 people on Medicaid
Worth noting: More than 300,000 Pennsylvanians will lose Medicaid due to new federal rules next year.
Zoom out: Taxpayers in Philly's suburbs are paying much more than the state's average, including Bucks County ($3,145 per taxpayer), Delaware County ($3,070), Chester County ($4,038) and Montgomery County ($3,776).
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.
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 a research associate at EPI, tells Axios.
- "In almost every place in the country, there are a lot of people who are struggling to not be hungry, to have affordable housing, kids are in overcrowded classrooms, people don't have health insurance, and those are the things that matter most," Lafer adds.
The other side: In a statement to Axios, a DHS spokesperson blamed the Biden administration for ignoring the costs of illegal immigration and said the Trump administration's self-deportation program saves taxpayers money.
- The spokesperson 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. The statement said that brings the cost of a self-deportation to about $5,100, saving taxpayers more than $13,000 per person compared with traditional deportation.
What we're watching: If Congress approves additional funding through the appropriations process or other avenues, total deportation spending will increase.