Skip to main content

Create the per-person spending write-up for the Undocumented-Immigrant Spending sub-investigation. Read the credible source files listed below, do supporting web research to confirm and fill gaps, then produce a single bullet-list write-up where each top-level bullet is one "dollars per illegal per month" claim tied to a place and a year. Move the old write-up content into the new file and delete the old file.

ROOT_DIR dir is ~/BGit/Bryan_git/holon/pub/investigations/Fraud/undocumented

OLD_WRITEUP_FILE is file {ROOT_DIR}/write-up.md NEW_WRITEUP_FILE is file {ROOT_DIR}/write_up.md

CHARTER_FILE is file {ROOT_DIR}/cloud.mdx SOURCES_FILE is file {ROOT_DIR}/sources.md

SOURCE_NOTES are the credible research files: {ROOT_DIR}/1.md {ROOT_DIR}/2.md {ROOT_DIR}/3.md {ROOT_DIR}/4.md {ROOT_DIR}/5.md

Treat every file in SOURCE_NOTES, plus CHARTER_FILE, OLD_WRITEUP_FILE, and SOURCES_FILE, as credible input. They already contain government figures, City Hall data, hearing testimony, news reporting, and think-tank estimates.

============================================================ STAGE 1 — READ EVERYTHING

  • Read CHARTER_FILE to lock the scope: this is only about money governments spend on non-U.S. citizens who entered outside the full legal process. Not homeless citizens, not lawful residents. Flag any mixed-population program.
  • Read OLD_WRITEUP_FILE. Keep every fact, figure, source, and caveat in it. Nothing is thrown away; it is all moved forward into NEW_WRITEUP_FILE in the new format.
  • Read all SOURCE_NOTES (1.md through 5.md) and SOURCES_FILE.
  • Build a working list of every distinct per-person or per-household spending claim, each with: the dollars-per-month figure, the place, the year/time period, the report it came from, the total budget, the number of people covered, and the news outlet that covered it.

============================================================ STAGE 2 — RESEARCH TO CONFIRM

  • Do a web search for each major claim to confirm the numbers and find the newspaper or online news publication that reported it.
  • Prefer official sources (city/state comptrollers, mayors' offices, GAO, hearing testimony) and major news outlets. Label think-tank / advocacy estimates as advocacy.
  • Where a source gives a daily rate or an annual figure, convert it to dollars per person per month (daily x 30.4, or annual / 12) so every top-level bullet is stated per month.
  • If a figure is per household rather than per person, say "per household" in the bullet.

============================================================ STAGE 3 — WRITE THE NEW FILE (NEW_WRITEUP_FILE)

  • Give the reader the facts on the different claims of very high amounts of money spent per illegal / undocumented person.

  • The core of the document is an asterisk-based bullet list.

  • Each TOP-LEVEL bullet is one claim, and it leads with the money per illegal per month, then the place, then the year. Format the top-level bullet like:

    • $XX,XXX per illegal per month — {Place, e.g. New York City} — {Year, e.g. 2024}

    Use "per household" instead of "per illegal" when the figure is per household.

  • Under each top-level bullet, add asterisk sub-bullets, indented FOUR spaces, answering:

      * Report: {what report / hearing / data release this figure comes from}
      * Total budget: {the total dollars spent in that jurisdiction / program}
      * People covered: {how many illegals / migrants that budget seemed to cover}
      * Covered by: {the newspaper or online news publication that covered this}

  • Order the top-level bullets from the highest dollars-per-month figure to the lowest.

  • Include at minimum the cases already documented: New York City, New York State, Massachusetts, Illinois / Chicago, Denver, and the nationwide FAIR estimate. Add any additional well-sourced jurisdiction found in SOURCE_NOTES or web research.

  • Keep the source-type labels (official / reporting / advocacy) and every caveat from the old file, especially the mixed-population caveat for Massachusetts and the advocacy / disputed caveats for Denver and FAIR.

  • Keep the Docusaurus front matter at the top:

    title: "Undocumented-Immigrant Spending — The Per-Person Cost" sidebar_position: 1​

  • Keep a short intro paragraph (2-4 sentences) above the bullet list explaining what the list shows and the sourcing labels, and keep the link to CHARTER_FILE and SOURCES_FILE.

  • End with a "Last Updated" line with today's date noting the write-up was rebuilt into the per-month bullet format.

============================================================ STAGE 4 — SWAP OLD FOR NEW

  • Confirm NEW_WRITEUP_FILE contains all the moved content plus the new bullet format.

  • Delete OLD_WRITEUP_FILE.

  • Update any file that links to write-up.md so it points to write_up.md instead. Check at least SOURCES_FILE and CHARTER_FILE for a link to the old name and fix it.

  • Output to stdout:​

    DONE — write_up.md created, write-up.md removed, links updated.​

============================================================ DEFAMATION RULES

  • This is public content. Never state as fact that a living person committed a crime unless court-proven. Use attribution ("according to...", "allegedly", "reportedly").
  • Present the spending figures as reported / official where they are official, and as estimates where they are advocacy. Do not editorialize beyond what the sources support.
Last updated on