American_Dream_Blues

Chasing the American Dream Effects of illegal Immigrants on US Economy How do illegal immigrants affect the overall U.S. economy' Illegal immigration has both negative and positive impacts on different parts of the economy. As noted above, wages for low-skilled workers go down. But that means the rest of America benefits by paying lower prices for things like restaurant meals, agricultural produce and construction. Another negative impact is on government expenditures. Since undocumented workers generally don't pay income taxes but do use schools and other government services, they are seen as a drain on government spending. Does illegal immigration help or hurt the U.S. economy' I feel it has started a chain reaction of negative impacts that will take decades to turn into a positive. Although the illegal immigrants are taking the lower level jobs at lower wages, they in most cases defrauding the US tax system. Since 1980, he said, all immigrants, including both undocumented and legal, have boosted GDP by $10 billion per year. This is the direct result of illegal immigrants using false social security cards and documentation. While some of our resources are being boosted, other resources are being drained. Such resources are education, medical and social services. Education made be the only advantage of taxpayer money being well spent. While currently the education funds are being drained from illegal immigrants, the future educated student means that in the future they will be paying taxes. If you own a farm, a restaurant, a garment factory or a landscaping company, you're likely to say immigration helps. Immigrants provide a ready source of relatively cheap labor that keeps your business humming and elevates profits. {draw:frame} If you're an American-born high-school dropout seeking work, you're likely to say immigration hurts. Immigrants are taking entry-level jobs at lower wages than you'd accept. The impact on other groups -- taxpayers, consumers -- is open to a variety of interpretations. Each question about the impact of illegal immigration on the economy has many answers, and those are often heavily influenced by ideology. Q: What are the effects of illegal immigration on the overall U.S. economy' A: There's no dispute that a larger pool of workers -- whether legal or illegal -- boosts gross domestic product. More workers means more output. More people means more consumers spending money on food, rent and a range of necessities and luxuries. A better question is: How do immigrants affect the size of the economy per U.S.-born citizen' "GDP per domestic person goes up," said James Smith, a senior economist at the Rand think tank in Santa Monica and lead author of the National Research Council's study "The New Americans: Economic, Demographic and Fiscal Effects of Immigration." Q: How do illegal immigrants affect wages' A: Some economists think undocumented workers drive down wages in low-skilled jobs. Some say that the effect is minimal and that a larger pool of low-skilled workers attracts new industries that can capitalize on them. The most-cited study of immigrants hurting wages was published last year by Harvard economists George Borjas and Lawrence Katz. They found that illegal Mexican immigrants undercut wages for U.S.-born high school dropouts by 8.2 percent from 1980 through 2000. What are the effects of illegal immigration on prices' A: The impact of immigration on prices is closely linked to its impact on wages. If companies are paying lower wages, they can offer their products at lower prices. But many experts say the differences are marginal. Another twist is that immigrants' taxes largely go to the federal treasury as income tax and Social Security payments. By some estimates, about half of undocumented workers use fake Social Security numbers, allowing taxes to be withheld from their paychecks. But the services immigrants consume, such as education and health care, most often come out of state and local budgets. A recent analysis by investment research firm Standard & Poor's found that the Social Security Administration receives about $7 billion a year in payroll taxes that can't be linked to valid names. S&P presumed that most of those funds come from undocumented workers. If that money were diverted to state and local governments, it would pay about half of the education costs for undocumented workers' children, S&P said. In summary, the intent of this article is not to immigrant bash, but a plea to the decision makers that the time for political correctness and pandering is not longer an option. Recent scandals regarding the sale of drivers licenses by the thousands and the fake document industry that has exploded on to the scene only reinforces the argument that the very fabric of this society is in serious jeopardy and we can no longer wait while pandering politicians play the political correctness game. This is not a game. The very future of this country is at stake!