Tracy Jan writes in the Washington Post’s Wonkblog:
“Refugees have been at the center of a political maelstrom, accused of everything from terrorism to being a drain on taxpayers — prompting President Trump, in one of his first official acts, to suspend the country’s four-decade old refugee resettlement program.
But a new study shows that refugees end up paying more in taxes than they receive in welfare benefits after just eight years of living in this country.
By the time refugees who entered the U.S. as adults have been here for 20 years, they will have paid, on average, $21,000 more in taxes to all levels of government than they received in benefits over that time span, according to a working paper released Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research that examined the economic and social outcomes of refugees in the U.S.
“There was a lot of rhetoric saying these people cost too much, but we didn’t actually know what that number was,” said William N. Evans, an economist at the University of Notre Dame who co-authored the paper.
Trump, in his January executive order temporarily barring refugees from entering the country, had directed the State Department to study the long-term costs of the refugee admissions program to federal, state and local governments.”
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Read the complete story at the link.
Trump’s immigration policies usually are not based on facts. He uses anti-immigrant anecdotes (some fabricated or exaggerated) along with policy statements straight out of the Bannon, Miller, Sessions, Kobach White Nationalist playbook to “whip up his base” and promote xenophobia.
PWS
06-14-17