What do you think we should do about the illegal immigration issue? I will have three posts on this topic: This one is designed to identify some of the facts and problems. The second one will be to expand my thoughts on these points. The final one will be to identify my solutions to the entire matter. Review these topics and feel free to comment.
• Ronald Reagan once implemented a program that offered 3-million of them amnesty. Was that a mistake?
• Now 12-million more of them have followed. WHY?
• Should Mexicans be treated differently than immigrants from other countries?
• It takes 6 years or longer for them to legally get into our country. Is that appropriate?
• These are basically honorable, industrious and desperate people looking for work, which does not exist in their own country. Why is there so little work in Mexico?
• What could or should be done to establish more opportunities in their own country.
• They take the least desirable jobs. Then they learn skills and make contributions that enrich us.
• They are exploited by ruthless employers.
• Since they are forced to hide under the radar, they do not pay income taxes or social security taxes, which our government desperately needs.
• The jobs they take could be entry-level jobs for our own high school students and other citizens.
• When there are so many people competing for the low-end jobs, it drives the wages down for all concerned.
• They seek medical treatments in emergency rooms because hospitals are required to treat emergency cases, but if they were legal, they could make more money and pay for health insurance, which would cut down on the costs that are passed on to the rest of us.
• They are a drain on our schools and other resources.
• They are also consumers who stimulate the economy and create other jobs.
• They send many billions of our dollars to their country.
• Americans feel like we are being force to adopt their language and culture when it ought to be the other way around.
• If we send them all home our economy would suffer greatly because we would lose many consumers and create vacancies in millions of apartments and homes, which would dump a lot of fuel on an already burning housing market. Do you want your real estate values to plummet?
What are your thoughts?
Be sure to check out my other blog about Family Finances
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3 comments:
I am not surprised that something like the Arizona immigration law would be enacted but wonder why it had to come to this?
I have seen illegals in the country for as long as I can remember but their numbers have grown so large over the last 20 years that they are now a large component of society.
The fact that they will work for less money and are seemingly happy to do so is part of the reason they should have been here as documented ,legal, above board green card carrying members of the population in the first place. If their skills are comparable to a legal citizen they should be paid a legal citizens wage.To get that wage they need to be documented instead of under the radar.
I am sure that just because they are working for less than a documented legal citizen the contractor who employs them is charging just as much as he would for a legal work force and pocketing the difference.
The taxpayers of the country are paying in extra taxes anything they might be saving by buying from anyone who hires illegals.
What is gained by having an unassimilated subculture of wage slaves who don't speak much of the dominant language, keep their culture separate in many ways, and often live here for a defined period with no intention of becoming part of the American society?
A Guest Worker program with documentation for anyone wanting to participate would go a long way to solving this.
Having worked in many foreign countries over the years and always with a visa I can say that anyplace I have ever been has very strict rules on foreign workers,strict border enforcement and visa enforcement. No place I have been would have allowed me to stay after my visa expired. Why is it so unusual to suggest that America enforce its borders and immigration laws? How is it possible to have a country under the rule of law and not enforce the law?? Or only selectively enforce it?
It is possible I am somewhat biased on this issue as my wife was held up at gun point by two illegals,who were later caught and prosecuted and are now serving time. Had they been in the country legally would they have chosen the same career? I don't know but the fact that they were here at all was avoidable.
Will enforcing the immigration laws cause the economy to loose more ground? It is hard to say as so much of the manufactured goods come from off shore and mainly China that maybe a few Walmarts will close here and there. It would seem that anyone with a skill could continue employment and may find more opportunities.
Is there a measure or index of the effect of illegal employment on the economy? Will crime go up or down? Will fewer drivers be on the roads? Will that cause gasoline prices to rise or fall? Will more or less food be in the stores?? Will home prices go up or down?? Will rents rise or fall?
Should Mexico be overthrown and assimilated as the 51st state?
What kind of border enforcement does Mexico practice on its southern border??
Is it true that 30% of the prisoners in American jails are illegals??
I am sure that if Canada was paying more money than Colorado for my services I would try to get employment there and send enough home to make it worth my while to risk the consequences of being there illegally particularly if it meant that my family could live a better life and my sympathy goes out anyone in that circumstance. However the drug and human trade that comes along with this is another set of issues that need to be dealt with at the same time. Maybe legalizing drugs and taxing them like alcohol is part of the solution??
Good questions / points. However, I believe a few of your bullet point 'facts' are a bit misleading.
Illegal immigrants pay significant income and payroll tax. This is documented in several sources including USA Today article, the Tax Foundation, Reason Magazine, and elsewhere. For example: http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2008-04-10-immigrantstaxes_N.htm
Also, despite the costs of education, health care, and other social services, there reasonably authoritative studies that suggest that that the cost of providing social services compared to taxes received is modest. In fact, the 2007 Congressional Budget Office document cited below suggests that the cumulative cost across all levels of government for social services is completely offset by taxes and it is only at the state and local level where costs incurred by such programs MODESTLY exceed related tax revenue.
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/87xx/doc8711/12-6-Immigration.pdf
These studies do not take into account the reduced costs for goods and services provided by (exploited) illegal immigrants.
Thanks for the input Bob and ED
I do not trust CBO numbers because they work with numbers provided by biased parties.
There is no doubt the American people are net losers when it comes to the Illegals monetary contributions. They do indeed pay some taxes but they take out much more.
That could all be fixed, or at least the gaps can be narrowed, if they make a respectable wage and can afford health care and other gov't services.
By making them truly equal,in both what they take out and what they pay in, a lot of the bitterness on both sides ought to dissipate.
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