FAIR responded to Tong's accusations, defending the analysis and offering Tong some advice...

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At a news briefing today, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong warned about, "a dangerous lie and slur being peddled around this capitol area and around Connecticut and through the news media that undocumented people and families cost the state $1.3 billion dollars."

This comes after Yankee Institute's Carol Platt Liebau shocked listeners on the radio last week when she said illegal immigration cost the state a whopping $1.3B!

"On an annual basis that is an utter lie. Okay, it is a big fat dishonest, ugly racist, hateful lie, and we have to call it out," argued Tong. "Let me tell you about where they get this number from, just, so we're clear. It comes from the Federation for American Immigration Reform, an anti-immigrant organization, right?"

Tong goes on to argue that FAIR's analysis ignores the "economic benefit" and "economic activity" of illegals, recalling his favorite offensive "joke" that America runs on two things, Dunkin and illegals.

The way Tong sees it, half of America's agricultural farming and meat packing industries are staffed by illegals. So if you refuse to eat anything touched by an illegal worker, then "you will never eat a strawberry or hamburger again." To drive that point home, Tong implied that every single restaurant in Hamden, CT, employs at least one illegal for washing the dishes.

"Who cleans our office buildings and factories?  Landscaping, construction?" wondered Tong.

Tong incorrectly said that the FAIR estimate excluded "economic benefits" from illegal immigration.

He also said FAIR's estimates for education and health care were too high.

"Fifty percent of the education and health care cost in this study is for children with only one unauthorized parent or one parent who doesn't have legal status," said Tong. "So that means there are many citizen children and many children in the study who do have parents with legal status."

Among other complaints, Tong said the study didn't capture "the hundreds of billions of dollars, if not trillions of dollars, it would cost to pull people out of this economy to remove them" or "the exponential cost of destroying their families."

"So, let's stop with this number. It is false, it is fake, it is wrong. It's a lie, it's hateful, and let's not use it anymore," said Tong.

The Centinal contacted FAIR for a response to Tong's wide-ranging accusations.

"Where to start?" wrote FAIR's Media Director.

"First of all, AG Tong does not say anything in his comments that would substantiate his allegation that FAIR's report is "ugly," "racist" or "hateful," said FAIR's statement. "Those are just preposterous and undignified accusations from the state's highest law enforcement official. Like the SPLC, he is just engaging in ad hominem attacks rather than reasoned discussion about an important issue."

"As for his accusation that FAIR's findings are a lie (fat or otherwise), we factor in taxes and fees paid by illegal aliens in arriving at the net cost. Specifically with regard to the costs of public education, again, we acknowledge and estimate the number of children who are U.S. citizens born in the U.S. to illegal alien parents. As we make clear in the report, we include them in the costs associated with illegal immigration because those kids would not have been born here, or be living here, if not for the fact that the parents violated our immigration laws. These are all noted in the section on methodology," explained FAIR.

"Tong also perpetuates the erroneous conclusion that the economic output of illegal alien workers is irreplaceable. If illegal alien workers were not present, most jobs in our economy would be filled by legal workers, most likely at higher wages and with many fewer working off-the-books. The net result would be greater revenue for Connecticut generated by workers who earn more and have declared incomes," said FAIR. "Moreover, I am pretty sure that there were restaurants in Hamden prior to the large-scale arrival of illegal aliens and that the dishes got washed. Moreover, it is pretty certain that there would continue to be restaurants in the city if there were no illegal aliens in the labor force and, that if the restauranteurs could not find low wage human dishwashers, they might turn to machines to wash them." 

FAIR said Tong also ignores the fact that there is no such thing as cheap labor in the United States.

"Illegal aliens provide subsidized labor that primarily benefits the direct employer. These workers often have kids who need to be educated, health needs that need to be met, as well as other human needs," FAIR wrote.

"In 2024, the average per student cost in a Connecticut public school was $24,453. (Kids who require special language instruction and qualify for nutrition programs cost more.) There is no way that these illegal workers, even if they are having taxes withheld from their paychecks, could cover the cost of one child in a Connecticut school, much less multiple kids," argued FAIR. "It is also highly likely that many or most of these employers are not providing health insurance coverage for their illegal workers. Thus, when the worker or a family member becomes sick or injured the taxpayers pick up the medical costs. So, perhaps when you eat at a Hamden restaurant you save a little money when the check comes, but as a Connecticut taxpayer you wind up paying a lot more to subsidize the illegal workers and their families."

"One other point: Tong's remark may backfire on him by putting Hamden on ICE's radar scope," charged FAIR, which is exactly what many Connecticut residents have been hoping for... to be on ICE's radar.

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