Illegal Immigrants Cost L.A. County $1 Billion A Year

Taxpayers in the nationâ??s most populous county pay more than $1 billion annually for services that go to illegal immigrants with the biggest chunks going to welfare and food stamp benefits followed by healthcare.

A new report published by the Los Angeles County Department of Social Services reveals that the county spends $440 million a year on welfare and food stamp benefits for illegal aliens and $400 million on healthcare, contradicting immigration advocates who assure illegal aliens donâ??t use social services. An additional $220 million is spent annually on incarceration costs.

In July of this year alone, Los Angeles County taxpayers spent more than $35 million on welfare benefits and food stamps for illegal immigrants who live in the sprawling county of more than 10 million residents. Each month illegal aliens get welfare benefits through a state program called CalWorks totaling $20 million in addition to $15 million in food stamps.

The county supervisor who requested the report, Michael Antonovich, points out that the figures donâ??t even include the skyrocketing cost of education. He requested the report to further document the â??devastating impactâ? that illegal immigration continues to have on Los Angeles County taxpayers. Antonovich represents a portion of the county that is roughly twice the size of Rhode Island and has about 2 million residents.