CIS reveals that the cost per “unaccompanied alien child” has more than doubled since FY 2010, when the cost per UAC was $8,217. CIS projects that the cost in FY 2017 will reach $17,613.

CIS senior researcher Nayla Rush, the author of the report, reached the cost per UAC by looking at the total budget requests for UACs in FY 2017 and the number of UACs expected to illegally cross into the U.S. in FY 2017.

“The Unaccompanied Children (UC) program FY 2017 request is $1.226 billion in funding, which is an increase of $278 million from the FY 2016 enacted level of $948 million,” the report reads. “Also included in this FY 2017 Unaccompanied Children program budget request is a contingency fund triggering additional funds not to exceed $400 million. It is expected $95 million will be used from this contingency fund in FY 2017.”

The Obama administration is projecting that it will need to cope with at least another 75,000 UACs illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in FY 2017.

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