As of June 2023, some immigration experts estimated that roughly 17 million illegal immigrants resided in the U.S., with at least 16% of the population arriving under the Biden administration. While migrants from all over the world cite many reasons for coming, one of the biggest is that illegal immigrants are getting several benefits when they arrive. Many have argued that the well-being of those who are here illegally seems to be prioritized over those who are here legally.

Several sanctuary cities offer migrants free housing, food, schooling, and medical care. States such as California have gone as far as to provide free gender transition procedures for illegal immigrants. Other states that are running out of space have asked residents to open up their own homes to undocumented individuals and families. Several airports, schools, and hotels that American citizens use as part of their daily lives have even been transformed into shelters.

Some have argued it’s hard to ignore the rise in crimes such as robbery, murder, and threats of terrorism that the wide open border welcomes. Among Christians, this crisis has sparked a conversation as to how to go about this chaos in a loving manner. But while all of these concerns are worth addressing, there is another group facing the consequences of Biden’s lack of border control ?" namely, U.S. taxpayers.

Ira Mehlman, media director at the Federation for American Immigration Reform, shared on “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” on Tuesday that there’s an estimated $150.7 billion burden on taxpayers, which is directly tied to the illegal immigration. As a result of Democratic policies, Mehlman said the illegals showing up in the sanctuary cities are “entitled” to the services, which “costs a lot of money.” He added that the money needed to take care of the migrants is “money that the [states don’t] have to begin with.”

Mehlman highlighted that cities like New York chose to cut down on education and police budgets in order to spend money on the migrants. NYC budgeted $12 billion “between now and the end of 2025,” he explained. “New York is now spending more on care of the migrants than they are spending on police, fire, and sanitation combined.”

Additionally, Mehlman noted that one of the ways taxpayers are getting the short end of the stick is through the health care system. “Under the Affordable Care Act, illegal aliens were not eligible for taxpayer-subsidized health insurance programs. And that was deliberate,” he said. “Now, you have states like California … deciding that they are going to use state taxpayer money in order to subsidize health care for illegal aliens.”

Mehlman described a lot of what’s happening as “self-induced crises.” But the states facing the consequences of their own policies then “turn around and ask everybody else to bail them out.” And the issue with that, he said, is that “whether the money is coming out of state … local coffers, or … from the federal government, it’s still the people’s money. It’s our hard earned dollars.”

Ultimately, taxes are “supposed to be providing services for us,” he urged. “Instead, they’re taking this money and creating new magnets for people to come here and abuse the system.”

Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, pointed out that amid this financial fiasco, the Biden administration still wants to send “$60 billion over to Ukraine.” He concluded, “Let’s shut off the border [and] we might have a little extra money to work with.”