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A Democratic-sponsored immigration enforcement bill supported by Republicans could add $40 billion to the deficit over the next 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said Monday, a figure that could scare off fiscally conservative Democrats being pressed to support it.
Republicans have initiated a discharge petition to move Rep. Heath Shuler’s (D-N.C.) bill, which is opposed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Their targets are mostly Blue Dog Democrats who hail from conservative districts more likely to support tough measures against immigration.
But Blue Dogs are also opposed to adding to the federal deficit, so the cost of the bill could make them think twice before getting on board. Democratic leaders believe the high cost will deter more Blue Dogs from signing on.
So far, 185 members have signed on as co-sponsors. The most recent Democrat was Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) on March 31.
“You need more Democrats and Republicans to get to 218. This report doesn’t help you get there,” said a Democratic leadership aide.
But Republicans say the money is not the point. They point out that the Democrats they’re targeting have already signed on to the bill.
“Democratic leaders are trying to avoid the fact that there’s a bipartisan consensus in support of a real border security bill without amnesty,” said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). “Somewhere in a $3 trillion budget we can find the money to secure our border.”
The Democratic aide stressed that the centrist Democrats who signed on to the bill originally did so before the CBO figures came out.
“How do they expect to get these other ones on?” the aide said.
Shuler spokesman Andrew Whalen said the CBO report does not take into account the cost of illegal immigration borne by local governments. He said North Carolina’s costs for healthcare, education and incarceration related to illegal immigrants is around $1 billion annually. He also said it was alarming to see that the country is depending on tax revenues from illegal workers. Whalen said Shuler’s staff is hoping to meet with CBO officials later this week to go over questions and concerns they have with the report.
His bill includes provisions to authorize the hiring of 8,000 additional border security agents over five years, add new technology along the border and mandate that employers check out all workers’ Social Security numbers against government databases.
The CBO figures were contained in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.). The CBO found that the bill would decrease federal revenues by $17 billion because illegal workers would be forced underground, working off the books and not paying taxes. The new federal judges authorized by the bill would cost the Treasury $30 billion, the letter said. And the federal government would have to spend another $23 billion on the border guards, more detention cells and help for local governments on the border. |
