The Net Benefits and Residual Cost from U.S. Border Management of the Initially Inadmissible

Abstract

Border management is a government activity affecting immigration and the economy. Benefit–cost and equivalent decision analyses are used to evaluate U.S. border management for 2017. Controversial issues arise. Among these are the issue of standing and the values of asylum, a criminal career, child custodial care, foreign deaths, fiscal and labor market effects, and distributional weighting. Sixteen unique shadow prices (imputed marginal value) are computed. Those shadow pries are combined with proportions and levels of border management outcomes. The aggregate result is not only a large expected present value net benefit per year from managed outcomes of $46.6 billion but also a large residual unmanaged annual cost of $23.7 billion. Significant uncertainty exists, but estimated net benefits remain positive.