According to a University of Alabama study released this week, the recent passage of anti-immigrant bill HB 56 in the state could eventually cost the Alabama economy as much as $10.8 billion. The losses result from immigrants in the state abandoning as many as 80,000 jobs, as well as the loss of over $350 million in state and local sales taxes. The low estimate for how much the immigrant exodus from Alabama will cost the state is $2.3 billion.
Alabama legislators should not be surprised that HB 56 is proving costly to the state, as Arizona previously served as a model of the public cost of this type of legislation. Less than a year after Arizona passed SB 1070, the resulting economic boycott alone had resulted in over $250 million in losses, mostly from the state’s conference and convention industry. According to the Center for American Progess, if all undocumented immigrants in Arizona were to be successfully deported, the result would be a $48.8 billion loss to the state’s economy and the elimination of 581,000 jobs held by immigrants and native-born citizens alike.
As study after study reveals how costly anti-immigrant legislation can be to the state that passes it, it is somewhat surprising that more and more states continue to jump on this bandwagon. The answer for why this is lies in the opposing argument that undocumented immigrants actually pose enormous costs to state economies as well. One recent University of Arizona study found that the overall annual cost of undocumented immigrants to the U.S. counties bordering Mexico can be as high as $8 million per county.
However, these numbers are only half of the story, as one must necessarily compare them to the economic benefits Arizona experiences as a result of its immigrant population. One study published by Judith Gans of the University of Arizona found that by subtracting the amount of money spent by Arizona on health care, education and law enforcement for its immigrant population from the amount paid by these individuals in taxes, Arizona receives an annual net surplus of $940 million. And this does not even take into account the tremendous economic output of immigrants as workers and consumers in the state.
It seems that some states and localities in the U.S. may finally be taking notice of how valuable naturalized and non-citizen immigrants can be to their economies. Last year the city of Dayton, Ohio unveiled its “Welcome Dayton” plan, courting immigrants to live and work in the city. And just this week Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder proclaimed himself “the most pro-immigration governor in the United States,” arguing that he wants to make his state more friendly to immigrant workers, particularly those with skills and advanced degrees, who he believes could reinvigorate Michigan’s economy.
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