Democrats’ open-border agenda has a $613 billion price tag

OPINION:

Another migrant caravan is on the move.

More than 600 people from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Ecuador and Haiti are marching through Mexico with their sights set on our southern border.

Under the Biden administration, a scene like that would have meant another wave of releases into American communities. Today, the message from the Trump administration is simple: If you attempt to cross our border illegally, you will be arrested and sent home.

That approach could change dramatically if Democrats regain power.

The Democratic Socialists of America have brazenly advocated for policies that would open America’s borders and grant amnesty to illegal aliens. The platform has been accepted with open arms by the modern-day Democratic Party.

Democrats have shown that they are unwilling to stand against the radical infiltration of the DSA, with 192 Democrats in the House of Representatives having recently voted against a simple resolution condemning socialism and its disastrous historical record.

The Democratic National Committee seems to have fully accepted this radical takeover, and there are no signs of it stopping now. Few, if any, “moderate” Democrats are left because most of the energy and money comes from the socialist wing of their party.

Make no mistake: Though they may not call themselves socialists, the establishment moderates who remain are entirely beholden to the momentum of their radical allies.

A new White House report from the Council of Economic Advisers puts a $613 billion price tag on the DSA’s immigration policies. Of all major policies studied by the council, seven non-immigration pillars would add an additional $49 trillion to federal deficits over 10 years.

That is roughly $355,000 for every American household.

Hardworking Americans do not have $355,000 sitting in rainy-day funds for this DSA experiment, nor should our next generations pay the price of their anti-American agenda.

Since January 2025, the Trump administration has made historic gains in securing the southern border. Nearly 17 consecutive months have had zero releases at the border, illicit drug flows have declined and violent crime rates have plummeted.

The Department of Homeland Security estimates that 2.5 million illegal aliens left the country in 2025, providing substantial savings to the federal budget. If that pace continues, the resulting reduction in government costs would grow significantly over the coming years: $6.7 billion to $8.4 billion in 2025, $13.3 billion to $16.9 billion in 2026, $20 billion to $25.3 billion in 2027 and $26.7 billion to $33.7 billion in 2028 and thereafter.

The DSA’s amnesty and open-border policies would reverse $227 billion to $287 billion in projected fiscal gains from President Trump’s immigration enforcement actions. Ending deportations and detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and eliminating funding to increase enforcement would cost Americans $79 billion to $139 billion over 10 years, according to the Council of Economic Advisers.

Research shows that illegal aliens, as a population, are lifetime net recipients of government benefits. Because illegal aliens have lower incomes and evade taxes at higher rates than the general population, the net lifetime fiscal cost to American taxpayers is $166,716 per illegal alien, or $1.4 trillion to $1.9 trillion in total.

Granting amnesty to the existing illegal alien population would also create an estimated $36 billion to $47 billion in new annual costs for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Department of Housing and Urban Development housing vouchers, and Medicaid.

A one log-point decline in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest rates is associated with a 0.48% rise in monthly rent prices for new leases and a 1.8% increase in the monthly property crime rate per 100,000 people. Taken together, the Council of Economic Advisers predicts that DSA immigration policies could cost taxpayers $440 billion to $613 billion over 10 years.

The DSA’s policies are not far from becoming reality. Democrats have already demonstrated how far they are willing to go to appease their radical base. Democrats forced a shutdown of the Homeland Security Department on Feb. 14 after Republicans rejected their demands to reform the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics, ending the longest agency shutdown in U.S. history at 76 days after President Trump signed the bipartisan legislation. That obstruction undermined our public safety and cost Americans billions of dollars in real gross domestic product.

The DNC even adopted a resolution urging lawmakers to abolish ICE during its summer meeting in Austin, Texas, alongside a competing measure that called only for reforming the agency.

ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection are saving lives, taxpayer dollars and the very fabric of our country. Weakening or abolishing the agencies that defend our sovereignty — such as the DSA promises — would be a grave mistake.

If Democrats have their way, our borders will be flooded, our communities overwhelmed and the American people left holding the bill for their cheap-labor replacements and the coming housing crisis.

We saw the insanity of the leftists’ open-border policies once before and are still paying for it. We cannot make the same mistake again; otherwise, lives will be lost and our nation will be left bankrupt.

• Rep. Sheri Biggs represents South Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District and is a member of the Republican Study Committee.