The plan causes a drain on the social security trust fund --- costs will be high

(Rajeeve Thakur, J.D., Washington and Lee University School of Law, May 2010; B.A., University of Toronto, honors., “Totalization with Mexico: A Path to Immigration Reform,” pg online @ https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1311&context=crsj //pa-ef)

C. Economic Impact

Under the current law, social security entitlement is available to individuals that now have legal status on earnings that they obtained while working legally or illegally. 166 This could result in significant costs for the U.S. social security system. 167 These potential costs are difficult to estimate because of the lack of reliable data quantifying the large number of undocumented workers in the United States. 168 Recent studies indicate that approximately 11.8 million illegal immigrants are living in the United States. 169 Estimates also indicate that more than half of illegal immigrants come from neighbouring Mexico. 170 If even a fraction of these individuals claimed social security benefits under a totalization agreement, the costs would be staggering. Estimates also indicate that the number of illegal immigrants is increasing over the long-run. 171 So a totalization agreement that permits individuals to more easily claim benefits for the time they spent [*631] working illegally could lead to a continual negative impact on the fund's long-term sustainability.