Officials don’t know how many undocumented immigrants are in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

Update: An employee of the county commissioner’s office called Thursday morning after this article was released to confirm that Dauphin County is “not” a sanctuary county.

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By: Caroline Machiraju

How many illegal immigrants are in Dauphin County?

That question’s been directed to Dauphin County Commissioners and state Representative Patty Kim. In response, a staff member from Kim’s office said: “An exact number of unauthorized immigrants … isn’t readily available.” She advised contacting the commissioner’s office.  But, likewise, the Dauphin County Commissioners office has not responded to this question, to this point. 

FAIR, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, reports an “estimated 251,000 illegal immigrants” live in Pa. (This figure doesn’t include their roughly 81,000 US-born children, approximately 72,000 of which are in local schools.)

When asked if Rep. Kim is “concerned” about the extent of illegal immigration via email, only an automated: “your concerns are important to me” message was received; we are still awaiting her reply  – more than 10 days later.

🚨🇺🇸MIGRANT CRISIS COSTS U.S. TAXPAYERS $150 BILLION IN A SINGLE YEAR

A new study from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) reveals that the migrant crisis cost U.S. taxpayers approximately $150 billion last year, with much of the burden falling on state and… pic.twitter.com/L0XPK3WSGH

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) August 29, 2024

While the open border has been sold to the citizenry as an act of kindness and sympathy, it’s not without cost to taxpayers, at a time when inflation is at an all-time high in modern history.

Grocery prices, fast food prices, everyday goods prices, car insurance, home insurance, health insurance, electric and gas bills, fuel prices at the pump – all these spiked prices are straining the middle and lower class, to the point of breaking them, leading to a record 12% spike in homeless as well.  

FAIR has calculated the cost to the state’s taxpayers: $937.8M in education; $300.6M in police/legal/corrections; and untold figures in healthcare, public assistance and general govt. services expenses.

Dauphin County is a sanctuary county

Why is Dauphin County now running from its “sanctuary county” status? Hasn’t it been a “sanctuary county” over the course of the Biden Administration?

Word of its “sanctuary” status has been confirmed in numerous news articles, but, suddenly, after seeking information about the number of illegal immigrants in our community, mention of it has been removed from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), which was cited as the source.

As recently as mid- August, CIS listed Dauphin County as a “sanctuary county.” (see screenshot and ABC27 news video.) But, as of Aug. 27^th, it is noticeably missing from their list.

How is this explained? Is it because this issue has worn on the residents of Dauphin County? Are they tired of the strain on services (police, schools, health services, etc.)? And they’re awaiting the inevitable tax burden to now hit? Was it the politically trendy thing to do years ago, but now it’s political death to politicians who support it and their people?