Resettling refugees from the Middle East in the U.S. is not only a security risk but also too expensive, Center for Immigration Studies’ Executive Director Mark Krikorian argued Thursday before a House panel.

“We found that it costs 12 times as much to resettle a refugee from Syria, from the Middle East, in the United States as it does to provide for them in their own region,” Krikorian testified before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.

According to Krikorian, the five-year cost for such a refugee to be resettled into the U.S. is “conservatively estimated” to be $64,000. The United Nations estimates the five-year cost for providing for refugees in the region is about $5,300.

“In other words, each refugee that we bring to the United States from the Middle East means that 11 other people are not being helped with those same resources,” Krikorian said

The CIS head analogized the situation to aiding 12 drowning people.

“The image I like to think about when considering this is: imagine you have 12 drowning people,” Krikorian said.