Former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint argued on Sunday that implementing immigration reform as proposed by the “Gang of Eight” would “cost Americans trillions of dollars.”
“The study you’ll see from Heritage this week presents a staggering cost of another amnesty in our country and the detrimental effects long term that that will have,” Mr. DeMint, president of the Heritage Foundation, said on ABC’s “This Week.”
“There’s no reason we can’t begin to fix our immigration system so that we won’t make this problem worse,” he continued. “But the bill that’s being presented is unfair to those who came here legally. It will cost Americans trillions of dollars. It’ll make our unlawful immigration system worse.”
Host George Stephanopoulos then cited a 2007 study by Robert Rector, who predicted amnesty for all illegal immigrants would cost at least $2.6 trillion. Mr. DeMint emphatically stated it will cost “much more than that.”
“If you consider all the factors related to the amnesty — and, believe me, this is comprehensive — that it will have a negative long-term impact on our gross domestic product,” Mr. DeMint concluded. “So we just want Congress, for once, to count the cost of a bill. They’re notorious for underestimating the cost and not understanding the consequences.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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