Washington Examiner: Illegal migrant crime cost $166.5 billion, three times the price of deportation

Paul Bedard at the Washington Examiner had this discussion on our recent piece at Real Clear Investigations.

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The cost of crime from 662,000 criminal illegal migrants sought for deportation has been pegged at three times the much-hyped price of President-elect Donald Trump’s “mass deportation” plan.

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In an analysis from the Crime Prevention Research Center, the costs of crime from the top targets of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations was set at $166.5 billion. That number is based on the cost to victims, a price list developed by the National Institute of Justice.

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Crime Prevention Research Center President John R. Lott Jr., who did the analysis for Real Clear Investigations,said the cost was based on just one of the crimes “each of the 662,566 ‘non-detained’ noncitizen offenders on ICE’s list” has been previously accused of.

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“Murders account for almost $153.8 billion of the $166.5 billion in estimated criminal victimization costs. Another $6 billion involves sexual assaults/offenses, and an additional $5.2 billion comes from sexual assaults and sexual offenses,” he wrote.

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“Half of the crimes these non-detained individuals commit don’t have cost estimates. These crimes include kidnapping, embezzlement, extortion, smuggling, traffic offenses, and weapon offenses,” he added.

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Lott’s analysis compared that to the estimated price of Trump’s “mass deportation” plan. He set that at about $58.3 billion.

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Other estimates have been higher and based on more illegal immigrants being removed, but Lott focused on those that the Trump team is expected to be focused on in its effort to deport migrants with the worst criminal records.

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Paul Bedard, “Illegal migrant crime cost $166.5 billion, three times the price of deportation,” Washington Examiner, November 27, 2024.