Do immigrants pose a fiscal burden on the host country budget? : a case study for Michigan.

Abstract

Using i) the Public Use Micro Sample data from the 2000 US Census of Population and Housing, and ii) fiscal information from the state of Michigan Budget Office, we estimate the net (benefit minus cost) fiscal impact of immigrants in the state of Michigan. We have shown that both immigrant and native-born households are fiscal burden to the state although financial burden for native-born households is less that that for foreign-born households. When we classify immigrants by their country of origin, immigrants from some specific countries actually add a net amount to the state coffer.Immigrants, Tax Revenues, and Government Expenditure