One of the most divisive issues facing America is illegal immigration. The Trump Administration wants to deport those who reside here illegally, while immigration supporters claim immigrants are an important part of our economy, pay substantial taxes and their cost is vastly overstated. So, who’s right?

From a California perspective, I was curious about the relative accuracy of these claims that are so radically different. Google searches on the cost of illegal immigration in California provide significant data. Unfortunately, the Google artificial intelligence summary contains hallucinations; when one digs deeper into the underlying websites, it becomes apparent that AI did not correctly summarize the situation.

Two websites contain the most relevant information.

The first is the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left leaning nonpartisan organization that provides extensive quantitative analyses of various tax issues. According to Wikipedia, ITEP’s analyses are utilized by observers across the political spectrum and by analysts within government.

The second is the Federation for American Immigration Reform. In written testimony before the House of Representatives on March 7, 2024, FAIR stated, “FAIR is a national, nonprofit,........

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