President Obama's latest executive amnesty program will cost taxpayers $7.8 billion a year a Heritage Foundation scholar told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Tuesday.
"I estimate that, at least, 3.97 million illegal immigrants would be eligible to obtain legal status under [the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability program]. The average DAPA eligible individual has a 10th grade education," Heritage Foundation Senior Fellow Robert Rector testified. "Assuming all DAPA eligible individuals receive legal status, cash payments from [the Earned Income Tax Credit] and [the Additional Child Tax Credit] to DAPA recipients would equal $7.8 billion per year."
Rector did also note that DAPA recipients would pay $7.2 billion a year in Social Security, Medicare and income taxes, but by law, all of those Social Security and Medicare taxes must go to the Social Security and Medicare trust funds to pay for future Social Security and Medicare benefits for DAPA recipients. Rector estimates that DAPA recipients will consume $1.3 trillion in Social Security and Medicare benefits over their lifetimes.
The costs of Obama's amnesty will only become larger if DAPA recipients are ever made eligible for Obamacare benefits. Under Obama's current amnesty program, DAPA recipients only receive Social Security Numbers, work permits, and drivers licenses. But if they were to ever be given permanent legal residence, then they would also be eligible for Obamacare, which Rector estimates would cost tax payers another $14 billion per year.
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