Report: President Trump’s Border Wall Will Likely Pay for Itself

It’s been borderline amusing watching Democrats – the tax and spend happy Democrats – pretend they’re all of a sudden worried about the costs of a government program, specifically the cost of building a wall at the southern border.

Fiscal conservatives might be genuinely worried, but a new analysis suggests there should be little concern about the price tag.

Last month CNN reported that Senate Democrats would likely block any measure to fund the wall if it adds to the deficit – you know, the deficit that exploded during the Obama years.

Now however, a new report indicates that President Trump’s border wall will pay for itself.

Steve Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies has run the numbers and revealed that if the wall succeeds in keeping just 9-12% of illegal immigrants from entering the United States, the savings will more than cover the costs.

Bam!

Via the Daily Caller:

President Donald Trump’s border wall only needs to stop about 10 percent of illegal crossing in order to pay for itself, according to an analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies.

The estimated $12 to $15 billion cost of the wall would quickly be offset by the savings to the government if fewer illegal immigrants arrive in the country over the next decade, CIS found. Only a small portion of the population of people who are expected to attempt an illegal crossing in the next decade — between 9 and 12 percent — would have to be stopped for the wall to totally pay for itself.

The analysis from CIS, a group that advocates for moderating immigration levels, relies on fiscal estimates from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NAS) for the average cost to taxpayers of illegal immigrants. NAS estimates one illegal immigrant costs state and local governments approximately $75,000 in a lifetime, taking into account taxes paid and the cost of providing benefits such as education and health care.

So, what is the effectiveness of such a wall? Let’s look to our ally, Israel.

Sen. Ron Johnson explained to CNN that “Israel … had a real problem with illegal immigrants coming in from the southern border, about 16,000 in one year.”

“In two years, they constructed a 143-mile fence, about $2.9 million per mile, and it cut that illegal immigration rate from about 16,000 to I think 18,” he said. “Cut it by 99 percent.”

99%!

That is a statement that even the left-leaning Politifact rated as true.

Democrats can fret all they want over the cost of building a border wall, but the reality on the ground is that it will pay for itself.

Comment: Do you support President Trump’s plan to build the border wall? Tell us your thoughts below.

Rusty Weiss has been covering politics for over 15 years. His writings have appeared in the Daily Caller, Fox... More about Rusty Weiss

Mentioned in this article: