Washington D.C.- Congressman Steve King (R-IA), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Immigration, issued the following statement after the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released an analysis showing that the illegal alien amnesty bill known as the “DREAM Act” will increase federal spending and deficits by billions of dollars if it becomes law. A report prepared by the Center for Immigration Studies claims that passage of the DREAM Act would have a similar negative effect on state and local government budgets.
“With the release of the CBO report, we now have two studies showing that the DREAM Act will break budgets on both the state and federal level,” said King. “These budget-busting numbers occur even though amnesty advocates scaled back the scope of the legislation.”
“On Tuesday, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) released a report showing that giving in-state tuition discounts to illegal aliens under the DREAM Act will place an annual cost of $6.2 billion on state and local taxpayers. These costs will not be subsidized by the federal government, meaning that the bill sends a multi-billion dollar unfunded mandate to the states that will result in tuition increases, tax increases, or both.”
“Yesterday, the CBO report revealed that, beginning in 2021, federal deficits would swell by at least $5 billion as those who received amnesty gain access to federal welfare programs. What’s worse, CBO has suggested this number could rise well beyond their published estimate.”
“Taken together, these two studies show that providing illegal aliens with amnesty under the DREAM Act places a costly burden on federal, state and local taxpayers. The DREAM Act amnesty bill is a nightmare for Americans who want the federal government to balance its budget, and it will result in Americans paying higher taxes and tuition fees.”