Do you want 77 cents per day or $64,940?

We both know that immigration systems across the Western world are a bit of a mess, but whatever your views, park them for less than two minutes.

Obviously, hitting a big target is easier than a small one, so why do the wealthy and the politicians that serve them insist we should all target immigrants to improve our standards of living?

Let’s focus on the US because the figures are easier to get, but this issue affects all Western countries. We’re using a mix of figures from the Fed, US government and some other sources. These numbers are not 100% accurate, but they’re still very illustrative.

The 12.8 million illegal immingrants cost US taxpayers about $91 billion per year, once the taxes they pay are included.

If all the immigrants were removed and assuming that the money saved was shared evenly between all Americans, each citizen would be $278.73 better off per year.

To put that another way, they’d receive less than 77 cents per day. Doesn’t feel like much financial help, does it? Particularly as removing one million migrants per year would cost almost as much as is currently spent on supporting all the migrants. So, the first 77 cents payment won’t happen for about 12.5 years, until the costs of removing them have been covered.

Since 1989, the wealthiest 10% of Americans have captured an extra 6.6% of all the US wealth, giving them a total share of 67.4%.

If we took that 6.6% of US wealth and gave it to the poorest 50% instead, they’d each receive $64,940, without even removing any immigrants. That’s the equivalent of 233 years of almost 77 cents per day.

And it’s not as it if it would be hugely unfair to the wealthiest 10% of Americans. They’d still be hoarding 60.8% of all US wealth, compared to just 9.1% for the poorest 50% of Americans.

It also has the benefit of not having to waste time and money raiding Mexican restaurants and farms. The wealthiest 10% of Americans are well documented and easy to find – they’re the ones with expensive accountants and relatively tiny tax bills.

Which would you choose? $64,940 today or wait 12 and a half years for less than 77 cents a day?

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Click to copy post textWe both know that immigration systems across the Western world are a bit of a mess, but whatever your views, park them for less than two minutes. Obviously, hitting a big target is easier than a small one, so why do the wealthy and the politicians that serve them insist we should all target immigrants to improve our standards of living? Let's focus on the US because the figures are easier to get, but this issue affects all Western countries. We're using a mix of figures from the Fed, US government and some other sources. These numbers are not 100% accurate, but they're still very illustrative. The 12.8 million illegal immingrants cost US taxpayers about $91 billion per year, once the taxes they pay are included. If all the immigrants were removed and assuming that the money saved was shared evenly between all Americans, each citizen would be $278.73 better off per year. To put that another way, they'd receive less than 77 cents per day. Doesn't feel like much financial help, does it? Particularly as removing one million migrants per year would cost almost as much as is currently spent on supporting all the migrants. So, the first 77 cents payment won't happen for about 12.5 years, until the costs of removing them have been covered. Since 1989, the wealthiest 10% of Americans have captured an extra 6.6% of all the US wealth, giving them a total share of 67.4%. If we took that 6.6% of US wealth and gave it to the poorest 50% instead, they'd each receive $64,940, without even removing any immigrants. That's the equivalent of 233 years of almost 77 cents per day. And it's not as it if it would be hugely unfair to the wealthiest 10% of Americans. They'd still be hoarding 60.8% of all US wealth, compared to just 9.1% for the poorest 50% of Americans. It also has the benefit of not having to waste time and money raiding Mexican restaurants and farms. The wealthiest 10% of Americans are well documented and easy to find - they're the ones with expensive accountants and relatively tiny tax bills. Which would you choose? $64,940 today or wait 12 and a half years for less than 77 cents a day?

Thank you

Do you want 77 cents per day or $64,940? © 2026 by Jethro H. Forclift is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0