Between border towns being as crazy as the Old West and loaded buses heading to big East Coast cities to make a point, immigration is a hot topic right now. It isn’t likely to go away anytime soon, either. So as we approach the midterms, let’s explore a few of the big questions that we would be wise to consider in our candidates.
The Lay Of The Land
Each year over 1 million immigrants come to America legally. There are about 45 million immigrants in this nation right now, which is about 14% of the overall population. The most common country of origin is Mexico, with a number of Asian countries after that. Roughly 60% meet the necessary requirements and become citizens eventually. Almost half (45%) of all immigrants live in California (24%), Texas (11%), or Florida (10%), and almost two-thirds live in just 20 major metropolitan areas around the country.
What Are The Education Levels?
Immigrants and US-born citizens are almost equally likely to have a Bachelor’s degree (32% to 33%), but in every education level below that immigrants are on average significantly less educated than US-born citizens. It depends on where they come from, though - immigrants from Asian countries, for example, are far more likely to have a Bachelor’s or advanced degree than US-born citizens, but those from Mexico and Central America are far less likely. There’s a place for both high- and low-skilled immigrants, but how many do we bring in and what is the right balance? It’s an important question to think about as we examine candidates’ policies.
What Are The Effects On Jobs And The Economy?
Proponents of immigration point out the benefits to the national Gross Domestic Product, or the overall amount of stuff produced in this country. One study found that immigrants are significantly more likely (80%) to become entrepreneurs and create jobs than native-born citizens.
There’s always been a debate about the impact immigration has on wages and jobs for native-born American citizens. It’s a complicated situation, and both sides of this argument are generally half correct. Basic economics applies here, like everywhere else: as the supply of workers goes up, the price that businesses have to pay for those workers goes down. Because a higher proportion of immigrants are low-skill, the low-skill native-born citizens are the ones who suffer most from the resulting wage drops and job competition.
On the other side of the coin, though, one person’s lower wage means another person’s increased profits. With lower costs for immigrant labor, the employers benefit tremendously, allowing for continued expansion and job creation. The net effect is essentially wealth redistribution from native-born low-skill workers to both immigrant workers and native-born employers. Is this a win? This is a key question we need to consider when it comes to immigration policy!
Another key question is that of housing. If immigrants generally live in cities, it creates more demand for housing, which drives the price up. If they also generally earn lower wages, then that can have a stagnating effect on earnings. So, if we have more expensive housing costs and stagnating wages, is that a win for American cities?
What Are The Costs?
The cost of illegal immigration to US taxpayers is staggering, with estimates from $116 billion up to $250 billion per year. This cost is the difference between taxes paid and services used by illegal immigrants. The bill to US taxpayers per illegal immigrant is estimated at $9,232 per year, meaning another $20 billion per year. To put it into perspective, this amount of money could completely end veteran homelessness, expand the entire National School Lunch Program, hire hundreds of thousands of police officers or teachers, or provide food for more than 7 million additional needy families.
Another huge factor in any cost comparison: assistance programs. Immigrants are significantly more likely to use social services than native-born citizens – as much as 57% more likely. Being generally lower wage workers, they also pay less into the system in taxes on those wages, meaning that a large share of the imbalance must then be paid by native-born citizens.
How much of these costs can – and should – we absorb? It’s another key question we need to consider.
What Is The Impact On Crime?
The Government Accountability Office estimates that 25% of federal prisoners are in the country illegally. Setting aside the crime of being here illegally (yes, it is a crime), large swaths of those convictions are for crimes like murder, assault, drugs, burglary, and sex offenses, as high as 50% in some states. On a related note, we are seeing known or suspected terrorists passing through our southern border at unprecedented levels in recent months. Though a financial cost is hard to associate with this before something bad actually happens (and even then it’s impossible to value lives with a dollar amount), I think we would all agree they can be completely devastating to both individuals and communities.
What Now?
So where does this leave us? There are a lot of big questions we need to confront on immigration, and given the divisive nature of the issue we’ll likely have ample opportunity to do so over the next few months. Generally speaking, legal immigration is a net positive, though there are still some questions that need to be answered on how to do it right. Illegal immigration, however, is bad news, both from a human perspective and from a financial perspective. We need some real solutions on that one, and fast!
Even though immigration is a tricky subject, we do ourselves a major disservice by ignoring it, or by limiting ourselves to our preferred echo chambers. Strike up a friendly conversation with someone who disagrees with you so you can learn firsthand what the other side thinks. Agree that disagreeing is okay, and keep a cool head about things. And, most importantly, check out the positions of your candidates! Vote for those you think have the best ideas, and engage in the political process. Regardless of where you come down on the issue, active engagement of informed citizens is in all of our best interest.
Guess what, the President isn’t going to solve your local immigration issues. That’s a job for YOUR local & state government! So here’s three small things you can do that make a BIG impact:
