Florida GOP lawmakers are talking about introducing an Arizona like tough bill on illegal immigration later this year.
House Republicans William Snyder from Stuart and Ritch Workman from Brevard County say they'll introduce a bill in the Legislature this November that will deal with what they say is the $3 biilion plus costs that undocumented immigrants take from Florida taxpayers.
As PolitiFact tells us on Monday, the source those lawmakers and candidates are getting is actually $3.8 billion, that comes from a 2009 report called "The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Floridians," published by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).
But in a lengthy and detailed analysis, PolitFact's Christina Silva investigates FAIR's claim, and finds it wanting (Silva incidentally classifies the Cato Institute's Center for Trade Policy studies as a liberal policy group, which it may very well be. But we've never known Cato to want to be labeled anything other than libertarian):
"I would take FAIR's numbers with a big shaker of salt," said Daniel Griswold, director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, a liberal Washington, D.C., policy group. "The organization exists to portray immigrants in a bad light."
Still, even if FAIR's math passed muster, the report's findings would not validate Workman's claim.
FAIR concludes the bulk of state expenses related to illegal immigrants, or $3.4 billion, is spent on educating the children of illegal immigrants, including children who were born here and thus are U.S. citizens.
Only $380 million was spent on uncompensated medical care and incarceration, a far cry from Workman's $3.5 billion claim, a seemingly impossible figure, acknowledged FAIR.
"The magnitude of the fiscal cost estimate would require the inclusion of the educational costs," said Martin, who wrote the FAIR report.
That $3.8 billion figure has been tossed out at debates such as in the Republican race for House District 57.
This article appears in Jul 1-7, 2010.