The eye-watering financial cost of the migrant crisis hit $150 billion last year and is causing devastating consequences for residents of hard-hit cities struggling to cope with the influx, The Post has learned.
Of that figure, calculated by Washington DC-based non-profit Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), $67 billion came from the federal government, but the majority of the burden was shouldered by states and local governments
That has left huge holes in city budgets, meaning cutbacks for regular US citizens, including:
Denver City Council has to cut $45 million from its budget, including $8.4m from it Police Department and $2.5m from the Fire Department to pay an estimated $90m bill for migrants.
New York City is spending $2.3 billion in costs for housing migrants alone in 2023 and 2024, resulting in city agencies having to cut costs by 5%.
In South Portland, Maine, property taxes have increased to pay for the migrant crisis and the mayor has advised elderly residents to re-mortgage their houses to pay them
Chicago faces a $1 billion budget gap, partly over migrant services, which it is now scrambling to make up