Illegal Immigration

1
Illegal Immigration

• An Examination of the Proposed Reforms
• By Hanya E. Poczynok

2
Talk Overview

• Illegal immigration in perspective
• Main arguments supporting the Presidents
  proposal - what do they mean? Are they accurate?
• Are there alternatives?
• Final thoughts

3
Main Arguments

• Illegal Immigrants perform low paying jobs that
  Americans wont do
• No study has shown that Americans wouldnt do
  these jobs
• Illegal immigration has resulted in a reduction
  of overall wages for unskilled workers (CBO)
• Many illegal workers are recruited before they
  leave their country and employers will even pay
  the coyote fee (Fox News, April 16, 2006)

4
Main Arguments (cont)

• Approximately 60 of Mexican/Central American
  immigrants dont have a High School diploma,
  while unemployment for Americans with the same
  education has increased.
• Conclusion Jobs are filled based on who will
  accept the lowest wage

5
Main Arguments (cont)

• This is not amnesty they have to pay a fine and
  back taxes and go to the back of the line
• There is no discussion about how the government
  would determine what taxes these people owe
• Many have committed fraud (forged Social Security
  cards, etc)
• They are granted a green card and do not have to
  leave the US (normally applicants are required to
  apply for a work visa while in their country of
  origin)
• Conclusion This is amnesty because illegal
  immigrants avoid being prosecuted for breaking
  the law and also get to skip several steps
  leading up to a Green Card

6
Main Arguments (cont)

• Kicking these people out of the country would be
  disastrous for the economy
• Illegal immigrants are only 4.9 of the workforce
  (Pew Hispanic Center)
• Approximately 7.4 million of the 11million
  illegal immigrants hold jobs
• Illegal immigrants do not hold a majority of any
  jobs, even in labour fields

7
Main Arguments (cont)

• Illegal immigrants as a percentage of total
  employees
• 24 of farm workers
• 20 of cooks
• 28 of drywall installers
• 36 of insulation workers

8
Main Arguments (cont)

• The abolition of the bracero programme (which
  imported cheap Mexican labour) didnt adversely
  affect the tomato crops of California as
  predicted (1960s).
• The May 1 protests did not shut down Americas
  economy
• Conclusion Theres no proof that deporting
  illegal entrants would cripple the US economy

9
Main Arguments (cont)

• Illegal immigrants pay taxes and with an aging
  baby boomer population can help ensure Social
  Securitys solvency
• More than 85 of illegal immigrants are Mexican
  (Office of the President)
• The average wage of a Mexican in America is 9
• The poverty rate for Hispanics in America has
  increased 162 from 1980 to present (Pew Hispanic
  Center)
• Many illegal immigrants send some of their wages
  back to Mexico (20 billion annually)

10
Main Arguments (cont)

• Illegal immigrants pay 16 billion in taxes but
  receive over 26 billion in aid (Center for
  Immigration Studies)
• Conclusion
• Illegal immigrants, due to their lack of
  education and their need for supplementary
  services are a drain on an already strained
  American assistance system
• Far from helping to support the US economy, their
  low wages do little to contribute to Americans
  Social Security system
• Money they earn here is not being returned into
  the system as a consumer they send a good
  portion of it back to their home country

11
Main Arguments (cont)

• We cant deport 11 million people!
• These people are admitted law breakers
• Deportation for all 11 million would not be
  required if we were serious about law enforcement
• People come to America because it is attractive
  with its generous aid and good wages
• Crackdowns on employers and Federal employees who
  aid illegal immigrants would make America less
  attractive
• A temporary amnesty period for employers who turn
  in their illegal employees would force many
  illegal immigrants to leave
• Conclusion
• Consistent enforcement of the law is necessary to
  maintain order in a country excusing illegal
  behaviour - even because of extenuating
  circumstances - is unconstitutional and sets a
  bad precedent.
• Enforcing these laws would pressure employers to
  abide by the law and illegal entrants to leave.

12
Alternatives

• Attrition (enforcing current laws)
• Fingerprint illegal immigrants who are caught and
  prohibit them from applying for a work visa for a
  period
• Create a General Worker visa class if low-paying
  jobs are left vacant and encourage broad
  application (from all countries)
• Upgrade the border motion sensors, UAVs, etc

13
Alternatives (cont)

• Build a GOOD fence
• At 150/foot it would cost us 1.5 billion
• Pass legislation to make it a felony for a
  Federal employee to help an illegal immigrant
  gain Federal assistance
• Increase funding for detention facilities/erect
  temporary detention facilities (to stop catch
  and release)
• Consider altering the automatic citizenship law
  in cases where anchor babies are involved

14
Final Thoughts

• Mexico has a corrupt government and we are
  subsidising it
• Bribery is common
• Illegal immigrants to Mexico are often beaten or
  raped
• Absorbing Mexicos population doesnt solve its
  problems
• The United States already has very generous
  immigration laws
• Integration of large numbers of one ethnic group
  are very difficult socially and often lead to
  ethnic strife (Netherlands, France, etc)
• Currently, nearly 10 of the population of Mexico
  resides in the United States (1 of 7 Mexican
  workers lives in America)
• Senate bill contains no real teeth to prevent
  further illegal droves from entering the US

15
Final Thoughts (cont)

• Creating a worker class of undereducated people
  of a certain ethnicity seems like an invitation
  for social unrest
• Giving people a cut and excusing illegal
  behaviour sets the stage for future incidents -
  we did it twice, why not a third time?
• Citizenship is forever! If absorbing large
  numbers of illegal immigrants is the wrong thing
  to do, we cant undo it we should try other
  alternatives first

16
Final Thoughts (cont)

• What the bill will not do First, our cities
  will not be flooded with a million immigrants
  annually. Under the proposed bill, the present
  level of immigration remains substantially the
  sameSecondly the ethnic mix will not be
  upsetContrary to the changes in some quarters,
  the bill will not inundate America with
  immigrants from any one country or area, or the
  most populated and deprived nations of Africa and
  Asia
• -Sen. Edward Kennedy upon passage of the
  1965 Immigration Act