Amnesty Bill: Senate doesn't even know what the costs will be!

Update: (via National Review/The Corner and Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation):

Giving amnesty to illegal immigrants would increase the costs outlined in this testimony. Some 50 to 60 percent of illegal immigrants lack a high school degree. Granting amnesty or conditional amnesty to illegal immigrants would, overtime, increase their use of means-tested welfare, Social Security and Medicare. Fiscal costs would go up significantly in the short term but would go up dramatically after the amnesty recipient reached retirement. Based on my current research, I estimate that if all the current adult illegal immigrants in the U.S. were granted amnesty the net retirement costs to government (benefits minus taxes) could be over $2.5 trillion

Update 2: S.1348, noted below, is not the actual bill that will be presented to the Senate. The text of the bill released on Friday, May 18th (The Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007) can be found here (pdf version).

Section 401 of the proposed Senate Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act Amesty Bill of 2007 (S.1348) calls for an Immigration Impact Study. One would think that we would want to know the costs BEFORE the amensty bill is passed.

But then again, this is how they do it in Washington:

SEC. 401. IMMIGRATION IMPACT STUDY.

(a) Effective Date- Any regulation that would increase the number of aliens who are eligible for legal status may not take effect before 90 days after the date on which the Director of the Bureau of the Census submits a report to Congress under subsection (c).

(b) Study- The Director of the Bureau of the Census, jointly with the Secretary, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall undertake a study examining the impacts of the current and proposed annual grants of legal status, including immigrant and nonimmigrant status, along with the current level of illegal immigration, on the infrastructure of and quality of life in the United States.

(c) Report- Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Bureau of the Census shall submit to Congress a report on the findings of the study required by subsection (b), including the following information:

(1) An estimate of the total legal and illegal immigrant populations of the United States, as they relate to the total population.

(2) The projected impact of legal and illegal immigration on the size of the population of the United States over the next 50 years, which regions of the country are likely to experience the largest increases, which small towns and rural counties are likely to lose their character as a result of such growth, and how the proposed regulations would affect these projections.

(3) The impact of the current and projected foreign-born populations on the natural environment, including the consumption of nonrenewable resources, waste production and disposal, the emission of pollutants, and the loss of habitat and productive farmland, an estimate of the public expenditures required to maintain current standards in each of these areas, the degree to which current standards will deteriorate if such expenditures are not forthcoming, and the additional effects the proposed regulations would have.

(4) The impact of the current and projected foreign-born populations on employment and wage rates, particularly in industries such as agriculture and services in which the foreign born are concentrated, an estimate of the associated public costs, and the additional effects the proposed regulations would have.

(5) The impact of the current and projected foreign-born populations on the need for additions and improvements to the transportation infrastructure of the United States, an estimate of the public expenditures required to meet this need, the impact on Americans' mobility if such expenditures are not forthcoming, and the additional effect the proposed regulations would have.

(6) The impact of the current and projected foreign-born populations on enrollment, class size, teacher-student ratios, and the quality of education in public schools, an estimate of the public expenditures required to maintain current median standards, the degree to those standards will deteriorate if such expenditures are not forthcoming, and the additional effect the proposed regulations would have.

(7) The impact of the current and projected foreign-born populations on home ownership rates, housing prices, and the demand for low-income and subsidized housing, the public expenditures required to maintain current median standards in these areas, the degree to which those standards will deteriorate if such expenditures are not forthcoming, and the additional effect the proposed regulations would have.

(8) The impact of the current and projected foreign-born populations on access to quality health care and on the cost of health care and health insurance, an estimate of the public expenditures required to maintain current median standards, the degree to which those standards will deteriorate if such expenditures are not forthcoming, and the additional effect the proposed regulations would have.

(9) The impact of the current and projected foreign-born populations on the criminal justice system in the United States, an estimate of the associated public costs, and the additional effect the proposed regulations would have.