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Commentator: Illegal immigration hurts the economy
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection bike patrol agent assists Mexicans being returned to Mexico after they were apprehended for entering the United States illegally in Nogales, Ariz. San Diego resident Nancy Parker says the costs of undocumented immigration outweigh the benefits.
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Tess Vigeland: This week as part of our election coverage, The Real Economy, we're hearing from people across the country about the issues that matter most to them.
Today, San Diego resident Nancy Parker argues illegal immigration hurts the economy -- more than helps it.
Nancy Parker: It's time we did something about illegal immigration in the United States.
I always hear talk about the economic benefits of illegal immigration -- cheap labor and all -- but it also has economic costs nobody seems to mention.
Many who work here illegally don't keep the money they earn in this country. Instead, they send it off to relatives in their home countries. It's a drain of resources that doesn't do anything for economic growth here.
A lot of the work they do is off the books, so many aren't even paying taxes. Yet they're still using free health care, food stamps and other services meant for low-income and senior citizens.
I am not anti-immigrant. I understand why people would risk their lives to come to this country. But we need to have compassion for our own people who are being denied services that are going to illegals.
And it's not just services, it's jobs also. I'm always hearing illegal immigrants are doing work nobody else wants to do. Try telling that to someone who's been out of work for three years. I know a lot of Americans who'd be just fine working in the construction industry.
Lately, we're hearing a lot about the income gap. Well, maybe one of the reasons poor Americans aren't making as much is because illegals in this country are willing to work for even less.
And what about the direct cost of illegal immigration: all the law enforcement, detention and deportation has to add up to something. Just think of where else we could be using that money.
At the end of the day, illegal immigration is just plain wrong. Make all the excuses you want, they've broken the law. If we went to their countries without immigrating through proper channels, we'd be tossed out on our ear immediately.
Vigeland: Nancy Parker is a retiree living in San Diego. Let us know what issues are most important to you this election year -- write to us.
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Ms. Parker lost me at " we need to have compassion for our own people". She says she is not "anti-immigrant", but I'm afraid that yes, she is. Immigrants, here legally or undocumented, are "people" who deserve compassion. By using the words "our own people" she betrays her bias and her xenophobia.
In order to debunk "illegal immigrants are doing work nobody else wants to do" she says: "I know a lot of Americans who'd be just fine working in the construction industry". Well she may know one, but I believe she's being untruthful by saying "a lot". It has been well documented that in severely restrictive states such as Alabama crops are rotting in the fields because of the inability to find workers to pick them, and I have read that construction jobs in New Orleans are going begging due to a lack of construction workers.
Undocumented workers may earn less than documented workers but that is because employers can pay them less because the employers know the workers cannot complain. So these workers are exploited, and there are even cases of workers not being paid at all when employers know the workers cannot go to law enforcement.
Ms. Parker is wrong about taxes as well. Undocumented workers do pay taxes, because it is deducted from their paychecks, but they often do not file tax returns, and thus they lose any refunds they are due, as well as their payments into Social Security and Medicare. The cash economy of the undocumented is greatly exaggerated. Also, the undocumented do not collect food stamps. That's a great myth, perpetrated by the conservative media. Collecting food stamps would expose the undocumented to government scrutiny, and they do not risk it.
I think Ms. Parker should try to be better informed and actually listen to some stories that do not come from the "Unfair and unbalanced" news network.
Yes, you ARE anti-immigrant, Nancy. And it's been a rather long time since I've heard such a long list of fallacious arguments and red herrings.
Homeward remittances are a drain on our economy? The few pennies that they manage to send home pale in comparison to the billions squandered on things like giant embassies in Iraq, modern munitions spent in our various wars, and the care we'll need to provide to our wounded for decades to come.
"I know a lot of Americans who'd be just fine working in the construction industry." News flash, Nancy: when the $8 Trillion housing bubble burst, the construction industry went to hell in a handbasket. Construction isn't hiring anyone, and that is certainly not the fault of immigrants, legal or otherwise.
"Well, maybe one of the reasons poor Americans aren't making as much is because illegals in this country are willing to work for even less." News flash #2: we're not competing with illegals in the US, thanks to the fact that our government has sold us down the river to "globalization", i.e. a tax and regulatory structure that favors non-union multi-nationals that have moved our jobs abroad, our wages and living standards are increasingly determined by sweatshop wages in "emerging nations", not by illegals in the US.
Pour out that pitcher of haterade, and fill it with perspective.
The reality is that illegal immigration has lowered the pay of many americans. Many industries like lawn care, construction, factories, food processing plants, day labor, hotels and many fast food restaurants are dominated by illegal aliens in some parts of the country. Illegal aliens are exploited and will work for less than minimum wage. The reality is high teenage unemployment. Many first jobs for young people are no longer available because the employer can find someone to work cheaper. The issue of illegal immigration is about the lack of law enforcement in the United States for the past 25 years. The United States of America is a country of laws. The Federal Government show enforce these laws and not look the other way or try and give amnesty. The amnesty given in 1986 is proof that this is a bad idea. The best idea is to deport ALL illegal aliens, secure the border and go after any employer who hires an illegal alien.
Just got back from a trip to S. Florida through Belleglade, Labelle trust me these people are not living the American economic dream. It looks like a hard life I bet the work is hard dirty and you have little to show for it. Nope I don't see any of our 20 somethings doing it . ON the other hand maybe we can round up retired conservatives put them in the field...The AVERAGE American would not last the day!
Illegal aliens are here because we demand and consume the goods and services produced by illegal aliens while at the same time keeping the number of immigration visas too low for the number of workers that come/stay here illegally to produce the goods and services that we demand and consume. For every $1 dollar that an illegal alien earns and may or may not send abroad a greater value is realized by the companies that hired them which go on to sell a good or service to a paying customer. The profits of those final transactions stay here and benefit the economy. Those profits are taxed which then are used for the few remaining services that illegal aliens use like education and emergency health care. The reason people can't get construction jobs today isn't because of illegal aliens. It's because the housing boom of the last decade was unsustainable and those jobs have gone away. It's going to take a very long time for construction jobs to get anywhere close to what they were at the height of the housing boom. That's a major factor why the number of illegal aliens has fallen since the recession...the demand for their services is falling. Other low paying jobs that illegal aliens are seasonal or require that the move several times during the year like in agriculture. Many Americans aren't willing to work in those types of conditions.
On the other end, despite high unemployment, Americans don't necessarily jump at high paying jobs. For instance, there are labor shortages in the remote parts of the country that are undergoing booms in oil and gas drilling. Also, Americans largely don't study degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math despite the high paying jobs that graduates can get. It's mainly foreign students and workers that pursue those degrees.
If we stopped demanding and consuming the goods and services produced by illegal aliens and/or increased number of immigration visas too low for the number of workers that come/stay here illegally to produce the goods and services that we demand and consume, we wouldn't have to spend as much as we do on arresting and deporting illegal aliens.
Ms. Parker would have been exactly right, that illegal immigrants should be kicked right out on their butt or that they are illegal, illegal, illegal, ... in 1986!!
The problem with both her statement and logic is that undocumented immigrants do not exist in a moment of time (now). They have been coming across the border now for generations, decades and they have done this with the GOP and DEM Congress blessing. They have crossed because of a very broken, unfriendly, and clogged immigration processing system; with our own corporations literally beckoning to the undocumented, to come and get paid the big bucks (to them)!!
Parker's flaw is in the culpability she puts upon these generations of immigrants already here! The blame must go to Congress, U.S. business, and all those related voters who for going on 30-years, have condoned and marginalized this undocumented, all but official system. They have turned the eyes until for the GOP (and base), it became a voting issue!!
Why even good ole boy Mitt Romney had "illegals" working for him until it became an election issue (an issue of his 2006 and 2008 and now, 2012 campaigns)!! So how dare Parker and other GOP "marginalizers", condemn undocumented immigrants when it is very much these same deport them all types, who have looked the other way for many years; promoted illegal crossing for self-serving financial gain!!
It is time for change, change the immigration system so it actually allows expedient and timely legal immigration. Then make the border something that only criminals would have to cross illegally and get them. Make business pay if they promote hiring the undocumented.
But do all this AFTER making right, the wrong that has been done upon 11-million undocumented and their families. These millions need a pathway to get out of the shadows and then to prove their worth to the United States.
Ms. parker's comments really irritated me. I would think as a resident of one of the most expensive cities to live in in America she must be doing ok. I would rather see us end all these wars, tax the wealthy, tax corporations so that we can provide health care to those that need it (Illegals included) rebuild infra structure and renewables. I think we could absorb those that are illegal and be a better country for it.
I would have to disagree with Nancy, immigrants do benefit the economy.
Actually, a vast number of illegal immigrants work as migrant laborers that follow harvests through the United States, moving up and down with the seasons and sometimes returning to Mexico for the winter. Others work in the restaurant business, others in construction, others cleaning houses, and others in factories. This is a very diverse population doing many, many jobs. Often, an individual will work more than one job at a time. If they have false papers, they can apply for jobs at chains like McDonald's and Burger King, but if they don't, they typically get paid under minimum wage; many illegal immigrant waiters in Mexican restaurants, for example, only earn a portion their tips and have no salary at all. Regardless, many still pay taxes. That same waiter who only earns a portion of his tips usually has to pay some of that to taxes.
There is also works on a bill in California called California opportunity & Prosperity Act (COPA). COPA directs California’s Governor to petition the President and other federal agencies to: to help illegal immigrants by providing relief and or exemptions from federal immigration enforcement actions against COPA members and their families; and decriminalize employment of COPA members. In order to qualify for the program they need to pay state taxes.
Hopefully this bill will pass so people like Nancy can stop blaming illegal immigrants for Americas F' up economy.
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