White House economists put lifetime cost per illegal immigrant at $166,716 in report on DSA plans

Right · 2The White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) released a report estimating that the average illegal immigrant carries a lifetime net fiscal cost to taxpayers of $166,716. 1 2 Right · 2Applied to the illegal immigrant population already in the country, the council's model puts the taxpayer cost between $1.4 trillion and $1.9 trillion. 1 2 Right · 2The report also says immigration policies backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, including mass amnesty and expanded federal benefits, could cost taxpayers $440 billion to $613 billion over the next decade. 1 2

Right · 2Most of that comes from benefits: the report says extending SNAP, federal housing assistance and Medicaid would add $361 billion to $475 billion in federal spending over ten years, including $3.6–4.7 billion a year for food stamps, $2.3–3 billion for housing and up to $40 billion a year for Medicaid. 1 2 Right · 2The CEA also estimates that ending current enforcement measures would erase $227 billion to $287 billion in projected taxpayer savings, for a net cost of $79 billion to $139 billion over ten years after reduced enforcement spending is subtracted. 1 2 Right · 2Breitbart reports the same document prices eight policy pillars the administration attributes to the DSA, including Medicare for All, universal rent control, the Green New Deal, a 32-hour workweek and a billionaire wealth tax, at about $49 trillion over ten years, or roughly $355,000 per household. Seven were scored against the federal budget, while the eighth, abolishing police and prisons, was assessed through its effect on crime. 2 1

Right · 2Fox News compared the $166,716 figure with the roughly $124,000 that College Board 2025–26 data puts on four years at an average in-state public university, a comparison Breitbart repeats. 1 2 Right · 2White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital that President Trump had empowered ICE to remove criminal illegal aliens, and that "radical Democrats" want open borders and amnesty, policies she said would cost taxpayers billions. 1 2 Right · 1The administration says it has gone 16 consecutive months without releasing illegal immigrants at the southern border. Fox News adds that the White House cited a 73% rise in drug interdictions through August 2026 compared with the same period in fiscal 2024. 1

Right · 2The report arrives less than three weeks before the midterms, as Democrats campaign on affordability and socialist-aligned candidates have won some primaries. Fox News said it asked the DSA for comment, and neither outlet reports a response or any independent assessment of the CEA's methodology. 1 2