Educating the "other" children - education of illegal immigrants may be necessary

American Demographics, Oct, 1997 by Berna Miller

Californians are tired of paying school and other taxes that support illegal immigrants and their families. But the cost of not educating the children of undocumented aliens could, in the end, be far greater.

Americans have mixed feelings about immigrants these days. When it comes to children, the feelings become even more mixed. The issues surrounding the education of illegal immigrant children are social, political, moral, and economic. They involve each of us as community members and taxpayers, and also as employers and colleagues. Education is the largest public cost associated with illegal immigration, and it's likely to have long-term consequences. Whether we like it or not, these children will probably remain in the U.S. and become adults who either contribute to the economy or do not.

Nearly half of American adults in 1994 thought that children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants should continue to qualify for U.S. citizenship, according to the National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey. But this means that about half thought they shouldn't (a few weren't sure or refused to answer the question). Nearly half agreed that children who don't speak English when they enter public schools should be taught in their native language for a year or two until they learn English. At the same time, however, 80 percent also agreed that yesterday's immigrants managed to move up, and that today's immigrants should do the same without any special favors.

The debate is largely regional in nature. Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Texas are the seven states with the largest concentrations of illegal immigrants. These seven states alone contain about three-fourths of the illegal immigrant population of the U.S. Many people and local government officials in these high-immigration states feel that they should not have to foot the bill for services used by illegal immigrants who are in the U.S. because the federal government has failed to enforce immigration laws and police borders.

Eighty-nine percent of those who live in the Mountain states think immigrants should not get any special favors, according to the General Social Survey, as do 85 percent of those living in the Southwest and 82 percent in the Pacific states. Slightly fewer, 76 percent, of those living in the Northeast believe that there should be no special favors for immigrants. Over half of Americans surveyed in 1994 living in the Mountain, Pacific, South Atlantic, and West North Central regions felt that children born to illegal immigrants in this country should not automatically be given U.S. citizenship.

HOW MANY--AT WHAT COST?

The U.S. had an estimated 3.7 million undocumented alien residents in 1993-94, according to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The estimate rose to 5 million by October 1996. Since illegal immigrants are already denied access to most public welfare programs, the largest cost associated with illegal immigration is public-school education of their children.

The Urban Institute of Washington, D.C., estimates that the cost of educating the 640,000 undocumented aliens enrolled in public schools in the seven hardest-hit states in 1993-94 was approximately $3.1 billion. This figure does not include the cost of educating citizen children of illegal immigrants or the cost of special programs for immigrants such as English as a Second Language (ESL) classes.

Another estimate places the 1994 number of illegals enrolled in school somewhat higher, at 730,000 nationwide, according to a study done by Donald Huddle of Rice University for the Carrying Capacity Network of Washington, D.C. Huddle estimates that the annual cost of educating these children without providing any special programs is $4.5 billion. An additional $891 million goes for the 414,000 illegal immigrant school children enrolled in special programs. Further, Huddle estimates that 490,000 citizen children of illegal aliens were enrolled in school in 1994, at an additional cost of $3 billion. It all adds up to 1.2 million children of illegal immigrants, whose education costs $8.4 billion.

The net educational cost of immigration may not be as high as these studies indicate because they don't fully account for the complex issue of revenue and taxes that illegal aliens and their children provide to local and national economies. The major problem with estimates of immigration costs is that they "create an inherent statistical bias toward making immigration look more expensive," says Jeffrey Passel of the Urban Institute. Education looks expensive in the short term, but it is a long-term investment. It offers few immediate benefits, but substantial future ones.

To further muddy the waters, citizen children of illegals are classified as members of immigrant households while they are in school, but as U.S. citizens when they grow up and get jobs. Even though this income is a direct product of the costs expended for illegal aliens, it is not included when the books are balanced. "The descendants of immigrants also generate costs and revenue. When you look at it this way, across a lifetime, there is a net gain on average from immigrants," says Passel.