Deporting 11.2 million undocumented immigrants from the U.S. has been found to be "fiscally and economically costly," according to a new study.

The American Action Forum found the U.S. government would have to spend approximately between $400 billion to $600 billion to address all the undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S. and prevent future unlawful migration. The American Action Forum, which describes itself as a "center-right policy institute," noted that removing all undocumented immigrants from the U.S. requires their apprehension, detention, legal process and transportation to their native country. If all 11 million undocumented immigrants were removed from the U.S., the country's GDP is projected to decline by $1.6 trillion.

Based on the American Action Forum's calculations, the cost to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants, under current U.S. laws, would range between $103.9 billion and $303.7 billion. Apprehension and detainment of undocumented immigrants could cost up to $243.3 billion and $35.7 billion, respectively.

Funding for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) immigration agencies, specifically the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), would require an upper estimate of $315.7 billion.

Must Read: Population Rate of Foreign Born Latino Immigrants to Drop By 2060, Says Census Bureau

"Depending on how the government conducts its apprehensions, it would need to spend $100 billion to $300 billion arresting and removing all undocumented immigrants residing in the country, a process that we estimate would take 20 years," noted the report, titled, "The Budgetary and Economic Costs of Addressing Unauthorized Immigration: Alternative Strategies" by Ben Gitis and Laura Collins.

In a 2011 memorandum issued by ICE to its employees, the agency acknowledged it only has enough resources to remove 400,000 undocumented immigrants per year, which is less than 4 percent of the estimated total of the undocumented population in the U.S.

If U.S. law enforcement was able to remove all undocumented immigrants from the country, the U.S. economy would be 5.7 percent smaller in the next 20 years. Collins and Gitis noted, "For purposes of comparison, note that the decline in real GDP during the Great Recession was quite similar - 6.3 percent. This suggests that real GDP would be about $1.6 trillion lower in 2034 than CBO's baseline estimate."

"The American Action Forum's findings further underline the failures of our immigration system, and highlight the great economic opportunities that commonsense reform can offer," said National Immigration Forum Executive Director Ali Noorani in a statement, noting the study "underscores the urgent need for commonsense immigration reforms."

As Latin Post reported, President Barack Obama's immigration executive actions taken in November would increase the U.S. economy by at least $90 billion by 2024. Obama's two deferred action programs have been temporarily blocked pending a lawsuit by 26 U.S. states, but the "plausible upper-bound projections" could see the U.S. GDP increase by 0.9 percent, or $210 billion by 2024.

__

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

Related