As another “caravan” of an estimated 4,000 illegals heads toward the U.S. — specially timed and weaponized by activists for the November elections — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has introduced the “Build the Wall, Enforce the Law Act,” which would provide $23.4 billion to construct a border wall, including $5.5 billion that would be available immediately. McCarthy said, “For decades, America’s inability to secure our borders and stop illegal immigration has encouraged millions to undertake a dangerous journey to come here in violation of our laws and created huge loopholes in the legal channels we use to welcome immigrants to our country.”

When the nation is staring down its largest budget deficit since 2012, the wall may seem extraneous. But how much does doing nothing cost?

A recent report from the Center for Immigration Studies indicates that one-fifth of all births in the U.S. are to immigrants, and a sizable number of those are to mothers here illegally. The report’s authors, CIS Research Director Steven A. Camarota, Demographer Karen Zeigler, and analyst Jason Richwine, write, “Our best estimate is that legal immigrants accounted for 12.4 percent — 494,000 — of all births, and illegal immigrants accounted for 7.5 percent — 297,000.”

Those children become American citizens regardless of immigration status because of the widespread misinterpretation of the 14th Amendment. And many of their births are payed for by American taxpayers. “Medicaid will pay for a delivery in almost all cases if the mother is uninsured or has a low income, though some mothers without insurance may not even realize the program has paid health care providers,” the CIS report indicates. “Illegal immigrants and most new legal immigrants are ineligible for Medicaid, but the program will still cover the cost of delivery and post-partum care for these mothers for at least a few months.”

CIS puts the price tag for these births at “roughly $5.3 billion — $2.4 billion of which is for illegal immigrants.” Not to mention the fact illegal immigration as a whole costs upwards of $300 billion annually.

That kind of puts the wall in perspective.

So while the Leftmedia is focused on the caravan, the real problem is far more interwoven into our system, and it will be much harder to solve.