Approximately 4.9 million undocumented immigrants are eligible for President Barack Obama's deferred action programs, which would temporarily avoid their deportation, but it could cost at least $20 billion to deport them all.

While the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) programs' implementation are expected to start soon, Republicans have been attempting to block funds for the programs by attaching amendments to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) 2015 funding bill. The amendments, which will first defund DACA, could, however, expand the budget deficit in the next decade. According to Politico, deporting even three million undocumented immigrants eligible for deferred action could range between $20 billion to $25 billion.

The DHS' Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency does not monitor the costs for deportation, but the agency noted the "life cycle cost" during the 2013 fiscal year was approximately $8,661.

ICE spokesman Jennifer Elzea, via Politico, said the agency "does not track the average cost of removal for an alien, but rather the average life cycle cost per alien." She later added, "This cost is inclusive of the Immigration Enforcement Lifecycle including all costs necessary to identify, apprehend, detain, process through immigration court, and remove an alien."

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) expected 1.5 million undocumented immigrants to utilize the deferred action programs, despite the Obama administration noting 4.9 million.

The DHS funding bill amendments could save the government $14.85 billion by 2025, which includes a projected $10.25 billion from increased earned-income credit payments, according to the CBO. If the amendments pass Congress, the CBO estimated $22.3 billion in potential revenues would be lost by 2025, which includes $17.1 billion at the expense of Social Security. In the end, the House amendments will increase the country's deficit by $7.5 billion.

As Latin Post reported, the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) estimated the U.S. GDP will increase by 0.4 percent over the next 10 years, which will equate to $90 billion in "real GDP" by 2024 -- based on the current worth of the U.S. dollar. The CEA also projected a "plausible upper-bound projection, based on the more optimistic estimates in the economic literature" that the country's GDP could increase by 0.9 percent, or the equivalent of $210 billion by 2024. With the 0.4 percent GDP growth projection, the country's federal deficit could decrease by $25 billion by 2024. The optimistic 0.9 percent GDP growth could result in the federal deficit being cut by $60 billion by 2024.

"These estimated effects are significant but are a fraction of the economic benefits that would occur if these actions were superseded by Congressional action on commonsense immigration reform," wrote the CEA.

While the House passed the amendments on the DHS bill, Senate Democrats have blocked efforts for the bill to move forward. Obama said he will veto legislation that would negatively impact his immigration executive actions despite DHS funding ceasing on Feb. 27

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency will handle the DAPA and DACA application process. The revamped DACA application is expected to rollout on Feb. 18, while DAPA applications are projected to commence in mid-May.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

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