The Truth with Lisa Boothe: John Lott on the Hidden Taxpayer Cost of Illegal Immigration and Criminal Prosecutions

Lisa Boothe sits down with Crime Prevention Research Center President John Lott for a wide-ranging discussion about illegal immigration, crime, deportations, and the financial cost of prosecuting and incarcerating noncitizens accused of crimes. Lott breaks down his recent research estimating the taxpayer costs associated with criminal prosecutions, using a Virginia fentanyl case to illustrate how legal proceedings, jail time, public defenders, prosecutors, and eventual incarceration can add up. He argues that a relatively straightforward case can cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars and that violent-crime prosecutions can be substantially more expensive. His published analysis estimates that prosecuting 248,000 people at $150,000 per case would total $37.2 billion, while a $600,000-per-case scenario would approach $149 billion. Those figures are Lott's estimates and depend on the assumptions used in his analysis. Lisa and Lott also discuss the distinction between being charged with and convicted of a crime, sanctuary policies, ICE enforcement, deportation proceedings, and the challenges of identifying criminal histories from other countries. Later, the conversation turns to recent U.S. crime trends and Lott's argument that tougher enforcement and increased legal concealed carry can help deter crime.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.