A VIEW FROM THE CHEAP SEATS
By Rich Trzupek
Immigration Nation
Apologies to the Minutemen and Jim Oberweis, but this whole immigration flap is little more than a lot of pointless, and expensive, noise. We go down this road every five years or so and nothing really changes. Nothing will change this time either, except for spending several billions more to no good end, and five years from now we�ll be searching for a new solution all over again.
Should illegal immigration be curtailed? Of course it should. Any phrase that includes the word �illegal� demands attention. We�re a nation of laws. Selective enforcement should never be an acceptable option.
There are other reasons that are often given to cut back on illegal immigration. Illegals take jobs from American workers, some say. We�re also told that illegals are a drain on the economy. Those arguments are dubious at best.
The nation�s unemployment rate has been extremely low for some time. If we have an overabundance of workers, it sure doesn�t show up in the numbers, which�incidentally�reflect a very healthy economy. American workers are doing quite well thank you, and it�s silly to point a finger at illegals working for less than minimum wage.
They take the jobs that the average American doesn�t want, earning money that we would turn our noses up at, but which is a positive bonanza compared to what they have known. Who exactly is the loser in this equation?
Do they receive government benefits? Sure. But again, what�s the big deal?
It�s easy to calculate what illegals cost us in terms of benefits of lost taxes. It�s easy to calculate what illegals cost us in terms of benefits and lost taxes. The other half of that equation is what they give us. Without those workers, doing the ugly work, it�s quite likely that the economy would not be so robust, which would mean everybody�including the government �would make less money. At best, the comparison is a push.
There is a sensible solution to the problem. Like most sensible solutions, it�s one that involves steps we will never take.
First of all, legal immigration quotas ought to be increased dramatically to reflect demand in the job market. And, just as the Federal Reserve adjusts interest rates as inflation grows or shrinks, immigration quotas should be tied to unemployment rates.
Republicans would never go for expanding immigration of course. Too many Republican voters are of the Jim Oberweis, �keep �em the hell out� variety for that to fly.
Increasing legal immigration would only make sense if we formalized what the market has already decided: that the minimum wage is too high. A lower minimum wage would create more legal jobs for those immigrants, instead of forcing them to sign on for the same work under the table.
But a lower minimum wage? The very idea would give Democrats a heart attack. While that might not be a bad thing, several million Democratic coronaries would place an enormous strain on our health care system.
The final, and most effective, piece of the puzzle would be to actually enforce the laws that prohibit hiring illegals. If they can�t get work, they�re not going to come here. If there are jobs, they�ll find a way, and no fence nor any number of National Guardsmen is going to make a difference. Neither party is willing to take that step.
When the last immigration law was passed, it contained stiff penalties for employers who hired illegals. Federal prosecutors took the new law seriously, at least for a little while.
In year one, prosecutors filed over 100 cases against employers who hired illegal immigrants. Had they been allowed to press the issue, jobs for illegal would have quickly dried up and we would not be having this discussion.
But they were not allowed to press the issue. Aggrieved employers complained to their representatives in Congress. �Why are you picking on us?� they cried. �We�re just giving jobs to people who want them.� There�s something to be said for that, if one ignores the whole illegal part.
Prosecutors got the message, delivered in no uncertain terms by Congressional leaders of both parties: leave our employers alone. Last year, the Feds prosecuted less than 10 companies for hiring illegals.
Sensible quotas, market wages and actual (not theoretical) enforcement are the answers to the problem, such as it is. None of this will come to pass.
Instead, we�re left with a Congress that has fallen in love with spending money�making one wonder how Democrats can possibly spend more when they get another shot at Congress (though they must, for has anyone ever met a Democrat who said that Republicans were being too generous?). A fence and soldiers is just another way to throw money at a problem, without actually solving it.
The solutions are out there, but we�ll never be able to face them.