In the year since roughly 90 immigrants who illegally crossed the U.S. border were dropped off at Union Station and left to wander Denver in the cold, more than 35,000 have come.

The cost responding to this humanitarian crisis is $36 million and counting.

While the majority of these new arrivals have stopped in the Mile High City on their way somewhere else, a Denver Gazette analysis found immigrants residing in the U.S. without authorization cost Colorado $187.9 million, while pumping roughly $2 billion annually into the economy.

Any exploration of the population of people who are in the U.S. without authorization — such as their size, how many are the workforce, the number of children — makes certain assumptions. Simply put, The Denver Gazette’s analysis relies on the best assumptions of a population that is in constant flux.

The analysis has several limitations.

Notably, none of the estimates included the more than 35,000 new arrivals over the past year. This is because the study estimating the size of this population in Colorado that The Denver Gazette relied on is from 2021, the latest data available.

Nor does the $188 million cost include the $36 million-plus that Denver taxpayers have paid to temporarily feed, shelter and transport the 35,588 immigrants from South and Central America who have fled their home country in the past 12 months and crossed the southern border. This taxpayer-funded response to the humanitarian crisis unfolding at the southern border with Mexico is, in theory, temporary.

Also because of the recent immigrant surge, the estimate does not capture the more than 3,100 immigrant students — nor the associated costs — in Denver Public Schools this academic year.

The Denver Gazette analysis also does not reflect any emergency health care — typically covered by Medicaid or absorbed by hospitals — over the past year because the most recent data obtained from the state is from fiscal year 2021-2022.

These caveats illustrate the costs — driven by the unprecedented spike in immigration — that national studies on illegal immigration did not capture.

To calculate the costs and benefits of unauthorized immigration to Colorado, The Denver Gazette relied on research by the Pew Research Center that estimated size and demographics of these immigrants.

The analysis duplicated the estimate conducted by the federal government by examining the main cost drivers of illegal immigration — public safety, education and health care.

One final note: That economic benefit analysis is dynamic, rather than static, while the costs are “hard.” Another way of looking at this analysis is that the benefits can be viewed as indirect and diffused, while the expenses are direct.

For example, the incarceration cost is the expense for jailing individuals, but it does not take into account the cost of the crime, both tangible — such as the value of a stolen car, lost wages, etc. — and intangible, such as reduced quality of life and suffering. The benefits analysis also doesn’t capture the intangible effects of earnings, which support American businesses — from rent and purchases to cheaper wages.

Here’s how we did it:

Incarceration

The Colorado Department of Corrections tracks the number of immigrants as part of its State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, a federal grant used to offset some of the costs associated with incarcerating individuals who are in the country illegally.

To qualify for the federal funding, state prisons and county jails provide the U.S. Department of Justice with a list of names of immigrants and the number of days each served behind bars.

Total annual cost: $2,691,917

Education

Children are guaranteed an education in the U.S. since the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1982 that held states cannot constitutionally deny students a free public education based on their immigration status.

But because the Colorado Department of Education does not track the immigration status of students, The Denver Gazette relied on research by the Pew Hispanic Center, which estimates 7% of the estimated 160,000 immigrants living in Colorado are school children.

The math:

7% of Colorado enrollment (160,000) = 11,200

Average per pupil cost: $9,596

11,200 x $9,596 = $107,475,200

Total annual cost: $107,475,200

Health care

Unauthorized immigrants do not qualify for public benefits, although they can receive emergency Medicaid through a pregnancy. They also can receive public benefits, such as food stamps and Medicaid, through Health First Colorado for their U.S. born children.

The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing tracks the emergency care provided annually.

Total annual cost: $77,800,501

Cost per person

Roughly 5.7 million people call Colorado home.

The math:

$187,967,618 (Cost of public safety, health care and education) ÷ 5,773,714 (Colorado’s 2020 population) = $32.56

Total cost: $32.56 per Colorado resident annually.

Benefits

Immigrants who come to the U.S. to work frequently send money back to their home countries. Studies suggest immigrants send roughly 10% abroad in what’s called “remittances.”

To ensure a conservative analysis, The Denver Gazette subtracted 10% for the total earnings, before taxes.

The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 74.3% of the 160,000 unauthorized immigrants in 2021 (the latest estimate available) were in the workforce. The calculation assumes these immigrants earn minimum wage, which in Colorado is $13.65.

But because studies show unauthorized workers often make up to 35% less than those who work legally in the country, The Denver Gazette lobbed that off of the $3.3 million tally to ensure the analysis did not overestimate the economic impact.

The math:

118,880 (74.3% of 160,000 total unauthorized immigrants in Colorado) x $28,392 (annual minimum wage) – 10% (remittances) – 35% (pay differential) = $1,974,515,962.

Total benefits: $1.9 billion

Sources: Pew Hispanic Center, Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing, Colorado Department of Education, Colorado Department of Corrections, U.S. Census Bureau.

Editors note: An estimated 7% of the 160,000 immigrants living in Colorado without authorization are school-age children. An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that 7% of all Colorado students are immigrants.