Why Undocumented Workers Are Good for the Economy
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Wolran Kim
September 2012
As a nation, the United States is formed with a history of immigration. A procession of immigrants continues today and political and economic issues regarding illegal immigrants have become common sense of the American Society. Immigration laws are under political interest’s thumb and the economic loss is enormous according to the current revision of the immigration law. In the midst of all this, undocumented immigrants raise an objection to anti-immigration laws because they have rights to live their livelihood and this land is their future. Alfonso Serrano talks about these issues in his article, Why Undocumented Workers are Good for the Economy, in Time magazine. Tough immigration laws in Arizona and Alabama are costing the states billions of dollars. Business and agricultural leaders have had enough. He warns about the serious economic damages from immigration reform.
According to his article, the constitutionality of the mother of all state immigration laws, Arizona’s SB 1070, is being questioned. The law has made it a crime to be an undocumented immigrant and has spawned a flurry of copycat bills in state legislatures across the country last year. While five states—Utah, Indiana, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama—eventually signed immigration bills into law in 2011, over two dozen states rejected Arizona-style measures. Alarmed by the potential economic woes, experts say, these states eventually thwarted efforts to pass restrictive immigration reform amidst an already trying economic climate, according to several studies. In the few months after its passage, Arizona’s economy lost $141 million, including $45 million in hotel and lodging cancellations and $96 million in lost commercial revenue, according to a joint study by the Center for American Progress and the Immigration Policy Center.
In many states, business leaders are increasingly leading the charge against restrictive immigration measures. Some specialists worry that the U.S. economy could be ruined due to labor shortage and inflation in prices and wages, if all illegal aliens are expelled. Illegal immigrants (illegal workers, undocumented aliens) reached 12 million and employees are up to 7 million. This proportion is 1/20 of all workers, 24% of labor power in agriculture, and 17% of cleaning services. These specific areas will suffer if all illegal workers are dismissed. A city councilman of Santa Ana in California, Alvarez, said that the Arizona immigration law is an evil law. All councilmen in Santa Ana will undergo police interrogation if that law is implemented in his state. The Arizona immigration law is enabled despite the fact that they are all citizens of the U.S. Santa Ana City consists of the most Hispanics along with El Paso in Texas, and all the City Councilman are Hispanic.
In fact, terrorism and other exposed reasons on the surface do not take part of very serious reasons for anti-immigration sentiments. The biggest problem is welfare costs for their children (the costs of education and healthcare), and it is much more staggering than the financial assistance from illegal aliens working for the United States. Mexican illegal immigrants account for 59 percent. This is more than the sum of all illegal immigrants from other countries. The total amounts are 80 percent including those from Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. They do not use birth control. The government should increase the welfare budget for all their children. Economic stagnation also gets along with anti-immigration sentiments beyond legal sanctions to illegal immigrants.
The comical movie, A Day Without a Mexican, is a satire that indirectly expressed the influence of Mexicans in the United States. This film includes Mexicans’ anger and scathing reflection about this country. American society covers with confusion when the Mexicans disappear suddenly; chaos begins at home, in restaurants and cleaning services, and spreads like wildfire across the whole country. California State rushes to emergency breakdowns, and the American people cannot resolve the necessities of lives. This movie portrays disabled people as evil-minded and shows what happens when all the Mexicans finally cross the border to their own country as thrilling revenge.
Illegal immigrants say that the American government does not admit that they still depend on them. The dual contradiction of American capitalism is that they do not want to admit ‘producers,’ but only ‘production.’ Recently, Arizona immigration law, which contains the crackdown on illegal immigrants, was received as an unconstitutional legislation. Double standards in immigration law often use political power to take advantage. The Arizona immigration law, evaluated as the harshest immigration law in the history of the United States, was invalidated by the unconstitutionality verdict of the Supreme Court. President Obama started the election game with a legislative bill about stopping the deportation action for illegal immigrants who are under the age of 30. One research fellow said that illegal immigrants are a burden now, but later will come back as a reward. The costs of low wages, in excess of the number of students and healthcare for illegal immigrants, eventually will be brought back as taxes and other benefits.
The concept of ‘human beings’ without advantages of racism or nationalism will serve more thoughtful conversations, innovative solutions, and successful strategies for dealing with these acute issues. The current immigration policies are less restrictive than other nations, but restriction sentiments toward immigrants have increased. Severe debates are also in every community in the U.S. about the benefits of immigration (providing skills, contributing to taxes, increasing the consumer market, etc.) and the evil influences (all costs of social benefits).
Hostility to potential immigrants and refugees reflects not only racial, ethnic, and religious prejudice but also a desire to maintain the dominant culture of the in-group by keeping out those viewed as outsiders. The conflict between these cultural values is central to the American dilemma of the 21st century. The general perception is that immigration presents a problem rather than a promise for the future. This article reflects the theory, The Economic Impact of Immigration in Chapter 4, showing how immigration gives a positive impact on the economy, especially from undocumented workers.
==================================================
Wolran Kim
September 2012
As a nation, the United States is formed with a history of immigration. A procession of immigrants continues today and political and economic issues regarding illegal immigrants have become common sense of the American Society. Immigration laws are under political interest’s thumb and the economic loss is enormous according to the current revision of the immigration law. In the midst of all this, undocumented immigrants raise an objection to anti-immigration laws because they have rights to live their livelihood and this land is their future. Alfonso Serrano talks about these issues in his article, Why Undocumented Workers are Good for the Economy, in Time magazine. Tough immigration laws in Arizona and Alabama are costing the states billions of dollars. Business and agricultural leaders have had enough. He warns about the serious economic damages from immigration reform.
According to his article, the constitutionality of the mother of all state immigration laws, Arizona’s SB 1070, is being questioned. The law has made it a crime to be an undocumented immigrant and has spawned a flurry of copycat bills in state legislatures across the country last year. While five states—Utah, Indiana, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama—eventually signed immigration bills into law in 2011, over two dozen states rejected Arizona-style measures. Alarmed by the potential economic woes, experts say, these states eventually thwarted efforts to pass restrictive immigration reform amidst an already trying economic climate, according to several studies. In the few months after its passage, Arizona’s economy lost $141 million, including $45 million in hotel and lodging cancellations and $96 million in lost commercial revenue, according to a joint study by the Center for American Progress and the Immigration Policy Center.
In many states, business leaders are increasingly leading the charge against restrictive immigration measures. Some specialists worry that the U.S. economy could be ruined due to labor shortage and inflation in prices and wages, if all illegal aliens are expelled. Illegal immigrants (illegal workers, undocumented aliens) reached 12 million and employees are up to 7 million. This proportion is 1/20 of all workers, 24% of labor power in agriculture, and 17% of cleaning services. These specific areas will suffer if all illegal workers are dismissed. A city councilman of Santa Ana in California, Alvarez, said that the Arizona immigration law is an evil law. All councilmen in Santa Ana will undergo police interrogation if that law is implemented in his state. The Arizona immigration law is enabled despite the fact that they are all citizens of the U.S. Santa Ana City consists of the most Hispanics along with El Paso in Texas, and all the City Councilman are Hispanic.
In fact, terrorism and other exposed reasons on the surface do not take part of very serious reasons for anti-immigration sentiments. The biggest problem is welfare costs for their children (the costs of education and healthcare), and it is much more staggering than the financial assistance from illegal aliens working for the United States. Mexican illegal immigrants account for 59 percent. This is more than the sum of all illegal immigrants from other countries. The total amounts are 80 percent including those from Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. They do not use birth control. The government should increase the welfare budget for all their children. Economic stagnation also gets along with anti-immigration sentiments beyond legal sanctions to illegal immigrants.
The comical movie, A Day Without a Mexican, is a satire that indirectly expressed the influence of Mexicans in the United States. This film includes Mexicans’ anger and scathing reflection about this country. American society covers with confusion when the Mexicans disappear suddenly; chaos begins at home, in restaurants and cleaning services, and spreads like wildfire across the whole country. California State rushes to emergency breakdowns, and the American people cannot resolve the necessities of lives. This movie portrays disabled people as evil-minded and shows what happens when all the Mexicans finally cross the border to their own country as thrilling revenge.
Illegal immigrants say that the American government does not admit that they still depend on them. The dual contradiction of American capitalism is that they do not want to admit ‘producers,’ but only ‘production.’ Recently, Arizona immigration law, which contains the crackdown on illegal immigrants, was received as an unconstitutional legislation. Double standards in immigration law often use political power to take advantage. The Arizona immigration law, evaluated as the harshest immigration law in the history of the United States, was invalidated by the unconstitutionality verdict of the Supreme Court. President Obama started the election game with a legislative bill about stopping the deportation action for illegal immigrants who are under the age of 30. One research fellow said that illegal immigrants are a burden now, but later will come back as a reward. The costs of low wages, in excess of the number of students and healthcare for illegal immigrants, eventually will be brought back as taxes and other benefits.
The concept of ‘human beings’ without advantages of racism or nationalism will serve more thoughtful conversations, innovative solutions, and successful strategies for dealing with these acute issues. The current immigration policies are less restrictive than other nations, but restriction sentiments toward immigrants have increased. Severe debates are also in every community in the U.S. about the benefits of immigration (providing skills, contributing to taxes, increasing the consumer market, etc.) and the evil influences (all costs of social benefits).
Hostility to potential immigrants and refugees reflects not only racial, ethnic, and religious prejudice but also a desire to maintain the dominant culture of the in-group by keeping out those viewed as outsiders. The conflict between these cultural values is central to the American dilemma of the 21st century. The general perception is that immigration presents a problem rather than a promise for the future. This article reflects the theory, The Economic Impact of Immigration in Chapter 4, showing how immigration gives a positive impact on the economy, especially from undocumented workers.