The cost of crime from 662,000 criminal illegal migrants targeted for deportation has been estimated to be three times higher than the much-discussed price of President-elect Donald Trump’s “mass deportation” plan.
An analysis by the Crime Prevention Research Center pegged the criminal costs of the top targets of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations at $166.5 billion. This figure was calculated based on the cost to victims, using a price list from the National Institute of Justice.
John R. Lott Jr., President of the Crime Prevention Research Center, who conducted the analysis for Real Clear Investigations, explained that the figure is based on just one crime each of the 662,566 ‘non-detained’ noncitizen offenders on ICE’s list has previously been accused of.
“Murders make up nearly $153.8 billion of the total $166.5 billion in estimated criminal victimization costs. Sexual assaults/offenses account for another $6 billion, and additional sexual offenses bring in $5.2 billion,” Lott wrote.
“Half of the crimes committed by these non-detained individuals don’t have available cost estimates. These crimes include kidnapping, embezzlement, extortion, smuggling, traffic offenses, and weapon offenses,” he added.
Lott compared this to the estimated cost of Trump’s “mass deportation” plan, which he estimated at $58.3 billion. While other estimates suggest higher costs based on the removal of more illegal immigrants, Lott’s analysis focused on those migrants with the most severe criminal records, whom the Trump administration is expected to target in its deportation efforts.