GOOD FOR THE ECONOMY IMMIGRANTS ARE A NET PLUS FOR AMERICA'S BOTTOM LINE.Byline: GARY JASON Jason, in Greek mythology Jason, in Greek mythology, son of Aeson. When Pelias usurped the throne of Iolcus and killed (or imprisoned) Aeson and most of his descendants, Jason was smuggled off to the centaur Chiron, who reared him secretly on Mt. Pelion. ONE of the major arguments against immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. is that illegal immigrants are an economic drain on the country. It is said that immigrants use services such as schools and emergency-room care while paying almost no taxes. They come here only to get on welfare, take jobs from our citizens and drive down wages for our workers. Such claims seems so self-evident to so many people that when a group of 500 economists -- including five Nobel laureates Winners of the Nobel Prize are scientists, writers and peacemakers who have been awarded in their field of endeavour, and who are known collectively as either Nobel laureates or Nobel Prize winners. -- issued a statement that immigration is an economic net plus for the country, the reaction was one of stunned disbelief. But some reflection indicates that the economists are right. Begin with taxes. Illegal immigrants pay the same sales taxes the rest of us do. And they pay property taxes as well, either directly (when they own property, which some do), or indirectly when they pay rent. They also typically pay income and Social Security taxes (which are never returned to them), and would pay more if we allowed them to apply for and obtain green cards. As for immigrants coming here to get on welfare, a report by Hans Johnson at the Public Policy Institute of California Public Policy Institute of California is an independent, nonpartisan, non-profit research institution. Based in San Francisco, California, United States, the institute was established in 1994 with a $70 million endowment from William Reddington Hewlett. graphs the relationship between illegal immigration "Illegal alien" and "Illegal aliens" redirect here. For other uses, see Illegal aliens (disambiguation). Illegal immigration refers to immigration across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country. and employment rates over the last 15 years. What it shows is a very clear direct relationship between the rate of illegal immigration and the unemployment rate: Whenever the unemployment rate drops below around 6 percent, the flow of illegal immigration rises sharply; conversely, when the unemployment rate rises above around 6 percent, the flow of illegal immigration slows dramatically. This would hardly be the case if illegal immigrants were coming here to collect welfare. And again, if we allowed them to apply for green cards, we could simply revise the rules for green-card holders to deny them various sorts of assistance that support people who won't work. How about the idea that the immigrants are taking jobs from American citizens? A recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center found no correlation whatsoever between the employment rate in a state and its rate of immigration flow. For example, of the 10 states with highest unemployment rates, five had high rates of immigration while five had low rates. This study looked both at a period of robust economic growth and a period of slow growth. And regarding immigrants' driving down wages, most economic studies debunk de·bunk tr.v. de·bunked, de·bunk·ing, de·bunks To expose or ridicule the falseness, sham, or exaggerated claims of: debunk a supposed miracle drug. that idea. One study by David Card David Edward Card is a Canadian labor economist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Card earned his B.A. from Queen's University in 1978 and his Ph.D. in Economics in 1983 from Princeton University. (of the influx of Cubans from the Mariel boatlift The Mariel boatlift was a mass movement of Cubans who departed from Cuba's Mariel Harbor for the United States between April 15 and October 31, 1980. The boatlift was precipitated by a sharp downturn in the Cuban economy, leading to simmering internal tensions on the island ) showed almost no impact of immigration upon either the wage or unemployment rate of the native low-skilled workers in the area. While a much-trumpeted study by Borjas initially claimed that immigration causes an 8 percent drop in the wages of unskilled labor, he later dropped the figure by half, and even then the study has met with criticism. Indeed, a study by Peri and Ottaviano showed that immigration might have a positive effect on native workers' wages. The economic case for immigration becomes even stronger when you include the less visible benefits of immigration. Consider the role of immigration in holding down inflation. What if we had to pay double or triple what we currently do to get crops harvested, buildings cleaned, landscapes maintained, homes built and so on? The ripple effect ripple effect Epidemiology See Signal event. through the economy would jack up prices, then wages, resulting in a burst of inflation that would lead to high interest rates and recession. Moreover, the immigrant labor often frees up other more economically productive labor. If someone takes over caring for my yard, the time he saves me enables me to take on a heavier teaching load at my college, or to sell more telecom services, both of which activities provide far more income to me and far greater benefit to society. Lower-skilled workers often are motivated to upgrade their skills, which in the short term is a hassle, but in the long term results in a life of much higher wages and (again) much greater payoffs for society as a whole. Finally, consider the upcoming boomer bust. The 79 million baby boomers See generation X. constitute 27 percent of the nation's population, and will be retiring en masse en masse adv. In one group or body; all together: The protesters marched en masse to the capitol. [French : en, in + masse, mass. over the next decade. But the boomers had far few children than prior generations (far fewer than the replacement rate of 2.1 kids per woman). Who will provide the labor to replace all those people, not to mention provide the new labor needed to care for them as they age -- since so many of them will have no children to care for them? CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Pedestrians wait in line to enter the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. at the border in Tijuana, Mexico. Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion