Immigration Politics: Educating illegal immigrants is costly

This OpEd, published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, on the cost of educating the children of  undocumented immigrants, is from a conservative think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. Its interpretation of the facts behind the costs leaves out the tax contributions of such immigrant families and the causes of the increase in immigration since 1990, including the impact of NAFTA and the resulting exports of U.S. government subsidized corn on the Mexican rural economy. However, it is important to be aware of this kind of economic argument against immigration and to be prepared to address it.  

Educating illegal immigrants is costly : "No one can deny that increasing numbers of children of illegal immigrants attend public schools in the United States and that U.S. taxpayers pay the costs. Those sympathetic to illegal immigration tend to remain silent about these costs, while illegal-immigration opponents often fall short on specifics. In the interest of more informed discourse, here are the numbers." August 17, 2010, Atlanta Journal Constitution, OpEd by Lance T. Izumi, Koret senior fellow and senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute. The Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy states, on its website, that its mission is to "promote the principles of individual freedom and personal responsibility. The Institute believes these principles are best encouraged through policies that emphasize a free economy, private initiative, and limited government."