Guest column: There is no
political will to tabulate true cost of refugees to taxpayers’ wallets, by
Ann Corcoran 3/21/18
Editor: From time to time we post guest opinion pieces and comments worth
noting. This is another from Bob Enos of Willmar, Minnesota (home
of Jenny-O turkeys!).
Here he is reacting to a pronouncement by the state legislature that it
simply cannot calculate the cost of refugees to the taxpayer.
Of course, since the state’s auditors contend that the numbers simply
are not available, then conversely that means that every economic study from
the likes of ‘Welcoming
America,‘ Global Detroit! (and Lutheran Social Services of MN and Arrive Ministries MN) which claim immigrants and refugees bring economic prosperity to
small towns and dying cities can’t possibly make that conclusion. Data on the true costs are not available says
the Minnesota legislature.
Here is Mr. Enos: On March 10, 2017, the Saint Cloud Times (Minnesota)
newspaper – a Gannett Media publication – reported, “Refugee costs are difficult to gather, report says”. The story was published in the
aftermath of Saint Cloud city council member Jeff Johnson’s spirited but vain
attempt to gather support for a study of refugee resettlement’s economic impact
on his city and county.
Of course, whether the costs are
difficult to gather or not evades the issue. Furthermore, it is but part of a
larger question: Are refugees a net gain to their communities?
In anticipation of the April 15 tax
filing deadline, the following comes from a “pro forma” federal tax return for
the fictitious Mr. and Mrs. Ahmed Mohammed.
What we know of the Mohammed family’s
likely financial scenario comes from several sources: the US Office of Refugee
Resettlement, the MN Department of Employment and Economic Development, the MN
State Demographic Center, the MN State Refugee Resettlement plan, the World Health
Organizations, and probably a few more sources rattling around in my head.
Here’s the Mohammed family profile.
Two parents are raising seven minor
children in a nuclear family. One parent likely works in meatpacking, earning a
maximum of $12 per hour for a 30-hour work week – just two hours shy of
full-time employment, absolving the meatpacker of a health insurance obligation.
The other parent is home (with seven children, someone has to stay home!),
consistent with the 40-50% unemployment rate reported by several public and
private sources.
Consequently, the family’s total wage
income is $18,720. With exemptions and deductions totaling $49,150, there is
ZERO tax liability. Stated another way, the family’s income would have to
increase 145% – to $49,500 – for the family to begin having any federal tax
liability at all.
What’s more, the Mohammed’s are
income-eligible for the “earned income tax credit”, entitling the Mohammed’s to
receive an IRS “rebate” of $6,318.
Sorry Welcoming America. Since none of
you know what the true costs are to local, state and federal taxpayers, you
can’t sell us on more refugees as a vehicle to re-building local economies.
So much for the refugee family which
earns its keep.
Now that we have confirmed the
Mohammed’s tax status, let’s turn to the additional burdens placed upon
taxpayers; the
burdens that the MN Office of the Legislative Auditor finds inordinately
complex.
The income threshold for poverty
guidelines in Minnesota for a family of nine is about $45,900 annually;
consistent with the income required for the Mohammed family to reach tax
liability. The Mohammed’s income is only 41% of that which our federal
government calls a family in similar circumstances 100% impoverished.
There is virtually NO poverty entitlement
program for which the Mohammed’s are not eligible.So, let’s add ‘em up.
Health Care
Since Mr. Mohammed is considered a
part-time employee, publicly-funded Medicaid provides the family health
insurance. We know what our private insurance premiums are costing us, so let’s
be lenient and estimate the value of the Mohammed’s insurance premium at a
$1,000 per month, or $12,000 annually.
Housing
Subsidized housing for a four-bedroom
apartment is close to a $1,000 per month, or $12,000 annually. The Mohammed’s
will have no co-pay.
Education
Estimates for the costs of teaching a
non-English learner are about 50% over a mainstream education, according to
most sources. In Minnesota, educating a mainstream student costs about $6,000
annually; for the refugee student, about $9,000, or $63,000 annually for the
Mohammed family.
Federal supports and sundries
The federal Refugee Reception and
Placement Program contracts with the nine “faith-based” VOLAG’s, to relocate
and place the family over a 30-day period, for $2,225 per person. Total RRP tab
for the Mohammed family: $20,025.
Minnesota’s “Diversionary Work Program”
is intended to help parents prepare for the world of work.
The family can qualify for a benefits
package of up to $70 per person to cover expenses including shelter, utilities,
phone allowances, and other “personal needs”. Total expense for the Mohammed
family: $630 a month, or their eligibility for the cash portion of the
Minnesota Family Investment Program (read: welfare), whichever is less.
For a family of just two, the cash
portion of the MFIP is $408 per month. MFIP assistance lasts for five years.
Oh, and by the way; up to 43% of the Mohammed family’s earned income is
disregarded when determining the net income for computing their monthly
benefits. Essentially, the Mohammed family will be eligible for the maximum
full ride on this program for five years.
If, by some freak occurrence, the
Mohammed family is ineligible for the benefits described above (and how could
they be?), the state Refugee Cash Assistance program will pick up the slack.
RCA provides a monthly standard of $437 for a childless couple, so it’s a safe
assumption that a family of nine will receive at least twice that amount.
The federal Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) and Minnesota Supplemental Aid (MSA) provides cash assistance for aged,
blind, or disabled refugees.
Then there are: Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP), a/k/a food stamps; refugee health screening for
communicable and infectious diseases; employment services; English-language
learner classes; federally-mandated translation services for schools,
hospitals, health clinics, law enforcement, judiciary, and corrections. [And, I will add a cost never calculated and that is the cost of the
criminal justice system if just one of the ‘children’ has a run-in with the
law.—ed]
Finally, there have been suggestions
that employers of refugees, such as in the meatpacking industry, receive cash
subsidies from the US Department of Labor, intended to offset the cost of
training the refugees. In the past, federally-funded “on-the-job” training at
the worksite has enabled employers to recover cash equal to 50% of the
employees’ wages for up to twelve months.
Have I said enough, fellow activists?
Small wonder Minnesota’s Legislative Auditor
can’t get its head wrapped around refugee resettlement finances. And it won’t.
And neither will any other agency of local, county, or state government.
Because it’s the equivalent of pulling a loose thread on your clothing. And
because the motivation, the incentive, simply is not there.
Run the numbers for health care, housing,
education, cash assistance, and sundries, and this one Mohammed family appears
to produce liabilities to federal, state, county, local, and school district
taxpayers of about a HALF MILLION DOLLARS over a five-year period.
So, the hair-splitting and hand-wringing that
reports like the Minnesota Legislature’s Auditor produced this month are simply
a diversion. The question is not whether or not refugee resettlement burdens
the taxpayers. The existence of the burden is beyond question. The central
questions is: how much, if any, burden is our society willing to incur? How much
of a burden is TOO much? Those are political questions. Meanwhile, we as a
nation are now faced with the management of a chronic financial burden.
And with regard to the future political
question, the following proposal is a reasonable starting point for a
conservative’s solution:
Any refugee resettled in the US must
have pre-arranged employment, pre-arranged unsubsidized housing, and a private
sponsor that secures an insurance policy – a bond – to relieve government of
any financial liability, should the resettlement threaten to become a public
charge;
Refugees must be INELIGIBLE for any
public assistance, excluding the public education of minor children, for the
first five years following resettlement;
The taxpaying public is long past the
point for trusting its government agencies associated with refugee resettlement
to audit themselves. It’s time for the establishment of Citizen Review Boards,
bestowed with the legal authority and the funding to retain private,
independent auditors; to identify which public programs are to be measured, the
metrics used to measure them; to share what is learned with the citizenry,
through neighborhood-based discussion and debate; and to recommend reforms or
repeal.
Lastly, it is time for citizens to
DEMAND that state legislatures take up this issue for discussion, debate, and
resolution.
We do not need the permission of the federal
government to protect our communities. What we need is the political will,
along with very thick skin.
Mr. Enos’ guest column is archived in my
category entitled: ‘Comments worth noting/guest posts,’ here.
You will find other columns by Mr. Enos there as well.
Endnote: In 2015, the Center for Immigration Studies took a stab at calculating the cost of Middle Eastern
refugees to your wallets, here.
And more recently the Federation
for Immigration Reform did a calculation, here.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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