Trump’s mass deportations cost average NV taxpayer $2,421, report finds

Nevada taxpayers paid $2.7 billion on mass deportations in 2025, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).

Clark County taxpayers accounted for $1.8 billion of that amount, and Washoe County taxpayers accounted for nearly $600,000.

Analyzing IRS statistics of income, an Institute for Policy Studies estimate of the costs of the Trump administration’s deportation program in 2025, and other data, EPI estimates that the deportations cost the average taxpayer $2,421. 

That’s money that could have been allocated to other public services and public servants in Nevada, argues EPI, including, SNAP for 1.3 million people, Medicaid for 187,000, medical care for 47,000 veterans, or 10,000 school teachers.

The EPI analysis shows by state how much U.S. taxpayers contributed to mass deportations following the signing of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2025. The 900-page One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes provisions that expand the Department of Homeland Security’s detainment budget and quadruple Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s annual detention budget. 

The administration promised to remove one million immigrants annually, provide Border Patrol and ICE agents with an annual $10,000 bonus over the next four years, expand detention centers to hold 10,000 immigrants, and further expand the border wall. 

While funds for mass deportations increase, cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, and other public assistance programs also occurred under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, leaving thousands locally and millions nationally vulnerable. 

Nationwide, the Trump administration used $268.9 billion in taxes to fund mass deportations, totalling $2,358 per taxpayer. Taxes that could fund 118.2 million SNAP recipients, 1 million firefighters, 9.7 million public housing units, or 6.2 million parents with 12 weeks of paid parental leave. 

In 2025, the Department of Homeland Security reported more than 605,000 deportations and 1.9 million immigrants who voluntarily self-deported. ICE also saw its number of officers and agents double since Trump took office. 

“The Trump administration’s immigration policy is not just inhumane, it is also a huge waste of public resources,” EPI President Heidi Shierholz said in a release. “Every dollar spent on mass deportations is a dollar not spent on critical investments like education, health care, and affordable housing.”