Letter writer's numbers substantially overstated

I'm going to go out on a limb. Laurie Wadkins' letter (Bee, Feb. 21 ) regarding the cost of illegal immigration provided a lot of data without providing the sources of that data. The most reasonable data I can find on the subject, material from sources I consider objective, suggest that her figures are wildly inflated.

For example, she says “American taxpayers shell out $383 billion a year to accommodate illegals.” The best data I can find suggests that we have spent about $40 billion a year on social services, K-12 education and prisons since 1996. Excluded from those figures are estimates of the taxes paid by illegals in the form of Social Secuity and sales taxes. She says that 30 percent of our prison population is illegals. According to the U.S. Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics there were less than 30,000 in prison in 2006 under the jurisdiction of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That represents less than 15 percent of the federal prison population. I couldn't find relevant data for state prison populations.

The most important point here is, that if we are going to have a reasonably objective debate on the issue of illegal immigration we need to use accurate facts. Who wouldn't want to end illegal immigration if it really cost us nearly $400 billion a year. That's half of our defense budget and several times what we spend on the Iraq War in a year.

Ms. Wadkins is apparently trying to scare us with outlandishly inflated data. She is entitled to her point of view on this issue, but not her own facts.

BOB WYNHAUSEN

Sandpoint