Tyler Schipper, associate professor of economics in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of St. Thomas, spoke with WCCO-TV to explain the costs associated with the large-scale U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation underway in Minnesota. Schipper provided context on federal spending levels, comparing the billions allocated for immigration enforcement to Minnesota’s annual spending on education, health care and infrastructure, and outlined how detention, staffing and housing costs contribute to the overall financial burden borne by taxpayers.
From the story:
It’s a question many people have been asking: What is the cost of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Minnesota? WCCO was able to get some numbers.
Around 2,400 federal agents are in the state. That’s four times the number of officers in the Minneapolis Police Department.
Between $150 billion and $170 billion in new dollars have been allotted to immigration enforcement from President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which was signed last July.
Tyler Schipper teaches economics at the University of St. Thomas. He taught WCCO some statistics.
“This is a very big number for this operation,” Schipper said.
He later added, “In this one bill for immigration, we are spending about three times what the state of Minnesota spends per year. That’s state education, that’s state health care problems, that’s even roads.”
An additional $45 billion will go to detention centers. Each person captured stays about 47 days before they are deported, costing $7,065 per person.
For perspective, the average rent in Minnesota is $1,600 a month.
Schipper says, “If we just took that money and gave it to somebody, we could give it to somebody and they could pay their rent for four months.”
