By: Mark Glennon*
Ralph Martire is the often-quoted Executive Director of the progressive Center for Tax and Budget Accountability. His op-ed in last week’s Daily Herald was headlined “Illinois tax policy and the ability to help migrants” called for raising taxes to assist migrant families.
Here are his key claims along with some facts.
The migrant “crisis” (Martire’s word) for Illinois is how to care for 35,000 migrants – “35,000 plus migrants who have arrived in the state over the last two years,” though later he says, “There are around 35,000 migrants in Illinois.”
That’s preposterous. The 35,000 are just the asylum seekers recently bused to Chicago from Texas. There are probably around 680,000 illegal aliens in Illinois, which is the estimate last June from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). The Migration Policy Institute estimated Illinois’ unauthorized population at 425,000 five years ago. The Center for Immigration Studies estimated the illegal population nationally at 12.8 million in October. Illinois’ share of that, based on population, would be about 500,000, though we are probably getting more than our share thanks to welcoming and sanctuary policies.
“The vast majority of migrants – also known as “people” – came here legally,” Martire says and “They’re seeking asylum to escape Venezuela’s politically repressive government and an economy in such poor shape that around half the population lives in poverty.”
Not really. The vast majority came here illegally. Even asylum seekers entered the country illegally, though they are legally protected from deportation once they are in.
More importantly, it’s pretty hard to claim even asylum seekers are here legally when they are lying in their asylum requests. Most of them are economic refugees, not political refugees as they claim, thereby voiding asylum status. Estimates of how many asylum seekers are valid range from less than half to just 15%. Asylum seekers wait from three to ten years just to have a hearing scheduled, during which they are free to stay. Once migrants are told by an immigration judge to leave the country, they have 90 days to do so, but many never do, according to the New York Times, which says some 1.3 million have been ordered to leave but are still in the country.
Venezuela’s former General Counsel in Chicago recently said, “When they request asylum in the United States, migrants have to say something against their government. But everyone in the Venezuelan community knows that it’s a lie.”
Illegal immigrants include 1.7 million known “gotaways” in the U.S. who entered just since 2021 who never had contact with immigration officials. They include the bad ones who know they wouldn’t have a chance for asylum – those who have criminal records or are on terrorist watch lists. Nobody knows how many of them are in Illinois.
Migrants pay their own way in the long run, Martire says, citing “a recent study by the Wharton Business School finding that immigration has a “net positive effect on combined federal, state, and local budgets.”
But the only Wharton study I can find saying that is eight-years old and it covered legal immigration as well. It’s not even clear whether it covered illegal immigration at all. Regardless, it certainly didn’t cover the hoard of illegal immigrants who have come in recently – over 10 million just since 2020.
The cost of the undocumented migrants is astronomical. Wirepoints recently calculated just the direct costs of Illinois welcoming programs at $2.2 billion already spent or committed over the last few fiscal years. That’s just the tip of the iceberg because illegal immigrants also impose their share of cost on most other government services, such as schools and public safety. A FAIR study released last March estimated the total annual cost of illegal immigration to federal, state and local taxpayers at $151 billion. That’s net of the taxes they pay in. Other estimates put the total cost as high as $451 billion.
The reason why many communities aren’t accommodating them is simple: money, Martire wrote. So, raise taxes. “The problem is Illinois’ tax system doesn’t generate enough revenue growth to cover the cost of maintaining the same level of public services from one fiscal year into the next. That’s no bueno,” he says “because over 94% of all state spending on services goes to the core areas of education, health care, human services and public safety.
That’s mighty hard to square with his claim that migrants pay their own way, though maybe Martire was trying to distinguish between short term-costs and long-term benefits. But how long would it take for more revenue to start materializing from a tax increase, assuming one could ever get passed? Still more of Illinois’ tax base would have fled as a consequence and the financial crises in Illinois and Chicago would have worsened. It’s also awfully misleading for Martire to say 94% of state spending goes to core services. Over 20% of the state budget goes to pensions alone.
Martire isn’t stupid. Why he would put his name on such an article, and why the Daily Herald would publish it, are beyond me.
*Mark Glennon is founder of Wirepoints.
Audio and summary 
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
Possible solution:
1. Chicago and other Sanctuary Cities “buy” Gary Indiana for small change.
2. Illegal immigrants “work to own” neighborhoods which they inhabit and gentrify.
3. Illegal immigrants pay back Chicago and other seed capital providers with return of investment plus reasonable profit.
What a PR victory that would be for open-border cheerleaders. And, somewhat equitable.
It’s so obvious what they are doing.
What all these liberals want to do is spend taxpayer money. I doubt you will ever see one of these people extend a invitation to “migrants” to come share their home with them. Remember, charity begins at home…and in this case it should be Ralph Martire’s home.
Martire is a charlatan. He claims The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability is bipartisan. It is overwhelingly represented by the mentally disordered liberal far left, with a heavy concentration of union clowns. Any Republican representation are RINOs. He should just change the name to The Center for Tax.
Unbiased, accurate journalism and fact checking have gone the way of the horse and buggy. Write some tripe up, throw it against the wall and see if it sticks.
Excellent!