2.19.2007

U.S. Immigration: Do Not Lose Sight of the Benefits

A highly-controversial issue that has surfaced in America, especially California and other Mexico-bordering states, is the one of immigration. There are plenty of critics of current immigration policies as they relate to national security, and rightly so. But when critics direct their attention at citizens of Mexico, the discussion takes on a nasty, personal tone. There is general worry that terrorists can easily cross into the U.S. through Mexico. That critique is justifiable. However, Americans are increasingly seeing Mexicans as freeloaders cashing in on the generosity of America, and then sending their new wealth back to their native country. Many Americans claim that Mexican immigrants who live here drag down their quality of life, and point to overcrowded neighborhoods and communities where the only language spoken is Spanish (apparently proof enough to natives that Mexicans have no intention of integrating into the American way of life).

The government is responding to the national security issue by going after undocumented workers. Fear has recently riveted immigrant families across the country as federal agents (pictured) forayed through neighborhoods, work sites, and jails in a nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration, mostly from the south. Nationwide, federal officials have launched a full-blown offensive to find and deport illegal immigrants. “It is part of a two-pronged approach,” stated Virginia Kice (pictured), spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: “secure the nation’s borders while stepping up enforcement within.” By focusing on national security, the federal government has found a convenient way to also address emotionally-charged concerns by U.S. voters that Mexican immigrants are not paying their fair share. Two separate issues, that of national security and that of keeping immigrants from unfairly sapping our economy, have certainly been fused together.

Kice recently stated that immigration “makes a mockery of the system and sends the wrong message to those who follow orders.” In a recent Time Magazine poll, three-fourths of American citizens stated that the United States is not doing enough along its borders to keep illegal immigrants out (see picture). Americans believe that immigration is harmful to the U.S. economy, and firmly believe that all immigration should be restricted and call for tighter border control to keep all immigrants from entering. But, is it true? Is immigration really harmful to our economy? Or are there benefits to economic growth that we should be very concerned about tampering with?

The side effects of immigration can be both positive and negative. But in my opinion, the negative effects of immigration can easily be outweighed by the positives. In Douglas Bower’s article, “American Economy Benefits from Mexican Immigrants,” he proves that immigrants venture to the “land of opportunity” with an insatiable thirst for work and a desire for a better life, and to not just “freeload” off the economy. When immigrants come to the United States, they immediately increase the demand for U.S. goods and services. They shop for food in local grocery stores, and they move into apartments or homes in the area. Many times, immigrants are the ones that occupy apartments that are shabby and dilapidated—ones that other groups (i.e. natives) are not interested in. The hundreds of thousands of units rented to immigrant families put upward pressure on all real estate prices. But immigrants also bring down prices in other areas, such as food. Restaurant prices are kept lower by illegal labor in the kitchen; fruit and vegetable prices are kept lower by illegal field hands willing to work for less than their American counterparts. Immigrants put money into the economy and also serve as a hedge against inflation.

Opponents may argue that immigrants do not contribute as much to the economy as proponents would like us to believe, due to the fact that they send at least half their earnings back to their country of origin. However, thanks to research by the Economic Roundtable, a research think-tank in Los Angeles, CA, that claim does not seem to carry much weight: 400,000 illegal workers in L.A. County spend, on average, $5.7 billion annually on food, rent, transportation and other necessities.

There is another claim that immigrants are creating rising unemployment issues by taking jobs from American citizens. A U.S. Department of Labor study noted that the perception that immigrants take jobs away from American workers is “the most persistent fallacy about immigration in popular thought” because it is based on the mistaken assumption that there are only a fixed number of jobs in the economy. Unemployment in California, which accounts for 24% of the country’s (illegal) immigrants, has tracked the low national rate. And as any economist knows, a lower unemployment rate is a key to a happy and healthy economy.

In response to the “freeloading” issue, Stephen Moore conducted a study, titled “A Fiscal Portrait of the Newest Americans”, where he demonstrates how immigrants benefit America: immigrants contribute $10 billion to the U.S. economy each year; immigrant households pay more than $90 billion in annual direct taxes to the U.S. federal, state and local governments, while only receiving $5 billion in welfare. Without their contributions, the economy would suffer enormous loss; immigrants and their families pay $80,000 more in taxes than they use in any services, over the course of their lifetime. This is more than the average native-born American.

As I see it, it is a waste of time to get carried away with the immigration issue. Yes, national security is extremely important. But many of the people who will get caught up in a policy designed to secure our borders are also collectively bringing real long-term economic benefits to the United States as a whole. American fears of the harmful economic consequences of immigration are not justified and it is unfortunate that no one is speaking more convincingly for the other side.

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