Dr. Robert Trenschel, chief executive officer of Yuma Regional Medical Center, told the House Committee on Homeland Security in February that the influx of illegal immigrants seeking medical services has skyrocketed over the past two years.
During his testimony, Trenschel told the committee that his hospital incurred more than $26 million in unreimbursed medical costs from December 2021 to November 2022 alone. He said that amount equals the salary and benefits to support 212 bedside nurses.
“The City of Yuma has 100,000 people and we’ve had over 300,000 people cross the border here,” the healthcare executive said. “That’s three times the population of Yuma coming across the border. We are the only hospital within a 3-hour radius – which means they come here.”
Yuma County Supervisor Jonathan Lines testified to the House Committee on Homeland Security that the influx of illegal immigrants is forcing American citizens in need of care to drive hundreds of miles away to receive it.
“We have seen surges that have resulted in large numbers of people being taken directly to Yuma Regional Medical Center. We have seen women approaching the border in labor, I’ve witnessed that multiple times, to the point where our emergency room and our maternity ward was overrun,” Lines testified in September.
“I had several people tell me that they had to travel to San Diego or to Phoenix to deliver their baby or to have regular surgery that had been scheduled that had been put off. We had an 18-month period where it was almost impossible to go into the hospital…”
Illegal immigration is estimated to cost taxpayers in Arizona a whopping $3.19 billion this year, or $5,230 per illegal alien, according to a report from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). That figure includes $1.36 billion in education costs and $631.3 million for law enforcement and correction expenditures. Health care, public assistance, and general government services help round out the bill.
FAIR’s report finds illegal immigration’s annual net burden on the U.S. economy topped $150 billion in 2022. The overall price tag is around $182 billion in federal, state, and local costs, but $31 billion of that is offset by total tax contributions from illegal immigrants. The report shows that the federal government is responsible for more than $66 billion of the total, an increase of 45 percent from 2017. The states cover $115 billion, up 30 percent from 2017.
The numbers are part of a newly released GOP House Homeland Security Committee report tracking the failures of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The committee report details the costs to taxpayers from the Biden administration’s refusal to enforce U.S. immigration laws.
“Imagine what we could use this money for,” U.S. Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) wrote on this X account.
Illegal aliens in the United States are imposing around $182 billion in federal, state, and local costs annually.
Imagine what we could use this money for.
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) November 15, 2023
The Biden administration funneled nearly 1.4 million illegal immigrants into the United States in fiscal year 2023 alone, according to the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). The government watchdog estimates the annual cost to care and house the known “gotaways” and the illegal aliens released into the country under Mayorkas’ watch could hit an astounding $451 billion.
Arizona is on the frontline of the humanitarian disaster, particularly the Grand Canyon State’s law enforcement officers.
As the House Homeland Security report notes, the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office was allocated more than $12 million by the state in March 2021 to support law enforcement efforts tied to the border crisis. The county’s budget summary notes that “costs associated with the crisis have forced the department to spend money on detaining illegal immigrants that would otherwise have been used for salaries and benefits, necessitating an increased request for funding for the latter.”
Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels testified to the House Judiciary Committee in February that in 2022, “border-related booking costs” totaled $4.3 million, while 1,578 suspects were booked into the county jail for “border-related crimes.”
Farmers and ranchers have watched the border debacle claim their time, possessions, and safety.
John Ladd, a fourth-generation cattle rancher on the San Jose Ranch in the southeast corner of Arizona, said the drug cartels control both sides of the border.
“We’ve had four vehicles stolen. Probably the biggest impact is the damage on the fences and water line,” he said in a GOP House Committee on Homeland Security video. “Probably at least 30 percent of my income goes to time and fixing stuff. It’s every day.”
John Ladd is on the frontlines of the cartel-controlled Southwest border every day—on his own ranch. Hear his story ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/yZxPP3hZ9B
— House Homeland GOP (@HomelandGOP) August 15, 2023
“Numerous states have devoted substantial resources to respond to the crisis sparked by Mayorkas’ policies, especially given the Biden administration’s refusal to provide relief to these states or change its policies,” the GOP-written committee report states. “These efforts have cost the states billions of dollars. States like Texas and Arizona have borne the brunt of this cost, with Texas spending the most—more than $4 billion as of November 2022. Texas is projected to spend more than $9 billion by the end of 2024 to secure its border.”
In Yuma, Trenschel said his hospital saw costs beginning to escalate in 2021, when the number of illegal immigrants being treated per month rose from around 50 to as high as 200, and “settling” at around 100. That’s more than double the hospital’s usual traffic. The healthcare executive told the Homeland Security Committee that in 2021, the hospital treated more than 1,000 illegal aliens.
“Migrants often require three times the amount of human resources to resolve their cases and provide them with a safe discharge…” he told the committee.
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Illegal Immigrants” by John Modlin.
