Robert Rector, a senior research fellow with the Heritage Foundation, expects the bipartisan immigration "reform" proposal, which includes a path to citizenship, will end up costing taxpayers more overtime than the trillion-dollar calculations he testified to during debate over the 2007 immigration reform bill

“[The proposal] seems to be virtually identical to the 2007 bill and would be extremely costly to the U.S. taxpayers,” Rector said. “Granting amnesty or legal status to illegals will generate costs in Medicare and Social Security alone of $2.5 trillion above any taxes paid in.” According to Rector, the majority of the illegal immigrants who would eventually be legalized by the legislation are largely uneducated, and therefore more likely to be dependent on government assistance. In fact, 50% - 60% of the new immigrants are high school dropouts, and 75% - 80% have no more than a high school degree. “It’s not like they pay in a lot when they are young, and they take it out when they’re old. They are in fiscal deficit every year of their lives,” Rector explained. “For example, the typical household headed by someone who does not have a high school degree, as I said in that paper in 2007, got back then $30,000 in benefits and paid $10,000 [in income and consumption taxes]. It’s a net cost of $20,000. That would be significantly higher now.” One main difference between immigration now compared to the first wave in the late 19th - early 20th centuries is the welfare state. In the bad old days, if you didn't make it, you didn't eat, and in fact something like 20% of the immigrants in the old days ended up going home. These days, if you can't, or don't feel like, working, you just hop on the welfare train. Even many who do work qualify for benefits from one or another welfare program. The big lie being told by all the usual suspects is that immigrants will somehow be good for the economy. Right now, corporate profits as a fraction of GDP are at an all-time high: Corporate profits hit record as wages get squeezed. Amnesty will "help" the economy, by enriching the top 10% in wealth, who hold 80% of publicly traded corporate stock. For everyone else, expect further pressure on wages.