Our analysis in this paper shows that immigrants generated a fiscal surplus of about $14.5 trillion from 1994 to 2023, that the average immigrant is much less costly than the average US-born American, and that immigrants impose lower costs per person on old-age benefit, education, and public safety programs.
February 3, 2026
Cato Institute: Immigrants’ Recent Effects on Government Budgets: 1994–2023
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