Illegal Immigrants in Texas: Impact on Social Services and Related Considerations 1

Abstract

A survey conducted of undocumented aliens and providers of public services showed that the state of Texas receives more from taxes paid by undocumented persons than the cost of the state to provide them with public services, such as education, health care, corrections, and welfare. The same survey showed that six cities in the state (Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, McAllen and San Antonio) together expended more to provide services to undocumented aliens than they received in taxes. The survey concentrated on undocumented persons not detained by the immigration authorities and found that this group constituted a distinct population from those in detention centers in that the former exhibited normal characteristics of settled families while the latter were predominantly the familiar young, single and peripatetic male.

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