Trump deportations cost Pa. taxpayers nearly $2,100 each
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Pennsylvania taxpayers would pay nearly $2,100 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 could instead fund other public priorities such as health care or housing.
By the numbers: Instead of contributing $9.4 billion, or $2,064 per taxpayer, on mass deportations, the calculator finds Pennsylvania taxpayers could fund 31,202 school teachers, 32,610 firefighters or 295,520 people on Medicaid.
- That money could also cover 4.3 million SNAP recipients.
- In Allegheny County, where roughly 26,000 people are expected to lose Medicaid coverage next year under new federal rules, more than $1 billion in taxpayer spending — $2,313 per taxpayer — could fund Medicaid for 33,883 people, per the tool.
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 is from a combination of money from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, regular appropriations and other repurposed funds.
- DHS told Axios in July that the government spends roughly $18,000 per non-voluntary deportation.
Zoom out: American taxpayers would broadly pay about $2,358 each for President Trump's mass deportation push, per the tool, or more than 118 million additional SNAP recipients over the remaining 2.5 years of the Trump administration.
- Nearly 12 million could receive Medicaid.
What they're saying: "... 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," Gordon Lafer, a professor at the University of Oregon and research associate at EPI, tells Axios.
The other side: A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Axios in a statement 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 non-voluntary removals.
What's next: If Congress approves additional funding through the appropriations process or other avenues, total deportation spending would increase.