By Liz Farmer | Governing
While the national debate rages over immigration, new research shows how much new immigrants cost state and local governments in the short-term — and how much they pay off in the long-term.
Two studies, one by the Urban Institute and a larger one by the National Academies of Science (NAS), find that first-generation immigrants are costlier to state and local governments than native-born adults, but over time, those effects reverse. While first-generation immigrants cost an average of nearly $3,000 more per adult, the adult children of these immigrants eventually catch up and contribute the most on average to federal, state and local coffers.
