Representative Keller (R-FL):

I rise today to discuss the impact illegal immigration has on taxpayers. Today, we have 11 million illegal aliens in the United States. Last year, our Border Patrol agents arrested 1.2 million illegal aliens attempting to enter the U.S. from Mexico.

Illegal aliens continue to enter the U.S. from the Mexican border at the rate of 8,000 per day, and I saw that firsthand on a recent trip to the Mexican border. The economic impact of illegal immigration on taxpayers is catastrophic.

Illegal immigration costs taxpayers $45 billion a year in health care, identification, and incarceration expenses. The cost of the estimated 630,000 illegal aliens in my home State of Florida is about $2 billion a year, meaning every family in my congressional district pays a hidden tax of $315 each year, yet they still face artificially depressed wages because of illegal immigration.

The House has recently passed a tough border security bill to address this problem, and I urge the Senate to act now to protect taxpayers.

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