A U.S. Senator Candidate Says Illegal Immigration Costs $130 Billion Per Year, But He's Actually Full of Shit

Seeking to represent West Virginia in the U.S. Senate, former coal mining executive Don Blankenship called for an end to illegal immigration, saying it costs billions of dollars a year.

"We have to stop illegal immigration, costing us $130 billion a year to house and feed and give benefits to people that shouldn’t be even in the country," Blankenship said during an April 23 debate among Republican primary candidates.

We wanted to know the facts behind Blankenship’s claim on the cost of illegal immigration.

Blankenship’s statement stems from a report by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) that said illegal immigration costs about $135 billion a year. The group favors stricter immigration policies.

The report has drawn criticism for some of its assumptions, such as a higher-than-usual estimate of immigrants in the country illegally (12.5 million, higher than the typically reported 11 million) and for excluding tax contributions made by U.S.-born children to parents here illegally.

Overall, it’s difficult to determine a precise cost of illegal immigration due to lack of reliable data.