Watch | ‘How much does illegal immigration cost Connecticut?’ (WTNH)

As published by WTNH News 8  — “How much does illegal immigration cost Connecticut?”

As President Donald Trump directs a nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration, leaders in Connecticut are trading barbs over the future of the state’s own policies affecting those in the country without legal status.

State Sen. Rob Sampson, a Republican from Wolcott, has introduced legislation that would require proof of citizenship or lawful residency in order to receive taxpayer-funded benefits.

Sampson points to policies like the state’s extension of Medicaid benefits to children without legal status as an example of spending that would be targeted by his legislation.

Yankee Institute: Conn. spends $1.3 billion on undocumented immigrants

Sampson also argues that Medicaid benefits and other state policies – like the granting of drivers’ licenses to those without legal status and a law that generally limits cooperation between Connecticut law enforcement agencies and federal immigration officials – amount to an open invitation for immigrants who entered the country illegally to come to Connecticut.

“My concern is not with the undocumented population per say,” Sampson said. “It’s with the Democrats in power who continue to entice people to come to our state who are not lawful citizens at the expense of our taxpaying neighbors.”

State Sen. Matt Lesser, a Democrat representing Middletown and nearby communities, pushed back on Sampson, saying he sees no evidence of enticement of those in the country illegally.

Lesser has been a strong backer of providing Medicaid to children in the state who do not have legal immigration status.

“If you’re asking me if a kid in my neighborhood was battling cancer, should they be able to see a doctor when they’re sick, absolutely,” Lesser said.

The notion that immigrants who are in the country illegally impose a cost on citizens and those with lawful residency is hardly new, but the debate over exactly how much those individuals cost Connecticut has been renewed with the arrival of the new federal administration.

In an appearance on ‘This Week in Connecticut with Dennis House,’ Carol Platt Liebau of the Yankee Institute cited a study that estimated the cost of illegal immigration in Connecticut at $1.3 billion.

Asked if he thought that figure was accurate, Gov. Ned Lamont said, “No, it sounds totally fanciful.”

The governor referred the press to members of his administration for additional figures saying, “Take a look at that, ask our guys to verify.”

News 8 asked Lamont’s budget office, formally known as the Office of Policy and Management, if the state had their own accounting of the total amount of taxpayer dollars going to those who are in Connecticut without legal status.

“No, it would take costly and time-consuming academic research to develop an accurate figure,” Lamont’s budget spokesperson wrote in a statement. The statement went on to say that the Yankee Institute and the organization that conducted the original study did not contact the administration for information.

The organization that conducted the original study was also the subject of Democratic criticism. Lesser characterized the authors of the report, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), as “white supremacist.”

Lesser’s characterization echoes the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an advocacy organization which has labelled FAIR a hate group.

FAIR describes itself as a “non-partisan, public interest organization” that “evaluates policies, seeking out solutions that help reduce the negative impact of uncontrolled immigration on the nation’s security, economy, workforce, education, healthcare, and environment.”

Asked to respond to claims that the study was authored by a disreputable source, Sampson said, “I would say the same about the Southern Poverty Law Center.”

In addition to Sampson, multiple Connecticut Republicans have cited FAIR’s figure, including the Minority Leader of the Connecticut House of Representatives.

In analyzing FAIR’s report, News 8 reached out to two state agencies associated with the two largest cost categories identified in the study: the state Department of Education and the state Department of Corrections.

The FAIR study places the cost of illegal immigration on Connecticut’s education system at $689.4 million. News 8 asked the Office of Policy and Management and the State Department of Education if they had any accounting of the total number of students in Connecticut public schools who are in the country illegally.

“No,” the Office of Policy and Management spokesperson said. “School districts do not ask about immigration or citizenship status when students enroll in public schools.”

The FAIR study places the cost of illegal immigration on corrections and law enforcement at $157.8 million. The state Department of Corrections did not respond to News 8’s questions by broadcast deadline on Friday.

On the matter of education spending, Lesser noted that federal law and U.S. Supreme Court precedent generally protects the right of all children to access public education.

“That’s what the Supreme Court said in the early eighties,” Lesser said.

Sampson stressed he was not interested in superseding federal law or denying anyone the right to public education.

“My bill is the start of a conversation about reversing the incentives to come to Connecticut,” Sampson said. “That’s what need to happen.”