Justin wrote about how we the taxpayers picked up the tab for President Obama and Secretary Kerry’s eloquent dinner in Paris earlier today. In keeping with the theme of price tags, how much do you think it’s costing us to resettle refugees from the Middle East? Well, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, it’s over $64,000 per person–$64,370 to be exact. The Washington Free Beacon’s Ali Meyer reported on the study:
“The report is really about how much more, how expensive it is, given our refugee resettlement system, to bring folks in,” explains the author of the report, Steven Camarota.The cost to resettle them in the United States is 12 times the cost of resettling them in a neighboring Middle Eastern country. Instead of resettling them here, the report explains that 12 refugees can be helped in the Middle East for five years or 61 refugees could be helped for a year.
“I think you can argue that it would make more sense, the most effective use of the money, is to help people in the region, rather than spend all the money here,” Camarota said.
Because refugees are eligible for all welfare programs they have very high rates of participation in government assistance programs.
The report finds that 91.4 percent of refugees receive food stamps, 73.1 percent are on Medicaid, 68 percent receive cash assistance, 36.7 percent receive Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, 32.1 percent receive Supplemental Security Income, and 18.7 percent live in public housing.
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With these economic figures, along with the startling gaps in the screening process, no wonder why Americans aren’t getting behind the Obama White House’s refugee stance. Yet, opposition is probably more grounded in the national security issues than the economic ones, but it still provides another layer in this debate
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