| WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A report prepared by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) finds that illegal immigration costs Colorado about $1.1 billion a year, or about $612 for every native-born household in the state. The report, The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Coloradans, looks at just three essential state provided services and programs: K-12 education, public health care, and incarceration from criminal illegal aliens. According the report, illegal aliens in Colorado pay about $160 million in taxes, reducing the net costs to the state to $912 million annually. However, since most of the jobs currently held by illegal aliens would likely be filled by legal workers, at higher wages, the taxes paid by illegal aliens would have been collected anyway. The release of The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Coloradans coincides with worsening fiscal news for the state. While the state spends more than $1 billion on services for illegal aliens, Colorado is faced with a $101 million budget shortfall for the current fiscal year. |