Check out this article by Jason Welker about the Economics of Illegal Immigration. It is a refreshing take on an issue that has gotten a great deal of publicity recently. What are your thoughts after reading the article? Is this different from what you have been hearing from both the Republicans and the Democrats lately?
42 comments:
I found it rather humorous that illegal immigration is talked about as a growing problem when the graph illustrated on the page proves that it has gone down considerably from years before. As well as the fact that more illegals are leaving the U.S. than are entering. The article proves that immigration like all things has both a good and a bad side. The article did change my view on illegal immigration greatly as I now see it is not nearly the way Washington would have us think it is.
(P.S. Did they REALLY cite Wikipedia?)
I tihnk illegal immigratin is a problem, not so much because they take citizens jobs, but because they are an unaccounted drain on theUnited States money. The government sets so much money aside for certain things and thousands of people might recieve something that was not intended for them and take away from a citizen who might of need the help (insurance/medicare/etc.)
I thought that the article made a lot of sense, why would immigrants come to America looking for jobs if the unemployment rate is so high? The numbers totally went against what politicians are saying, that illegal immigrants are stealing Americans' jobs. The fact that immigration actually helps the economy was also a little surprising.
I found the statistics rather surprising, it contradicts what politicians and media have been telling us. His rebuttal for illegal immigrants taking up a lot of money through welfare was somewhat flawed. He essentially said it could be worse, they could be getting subsidies and the sort from the government if they were Americans. If they were Americans, the money they saved from welfare would stay in the U.S. economy and not sent across the border. Just because it doesn't cost the government as much does not mean that its cheaper for the economy as a whole. He then says if they were all able to become legal they wouldn't have to send money back home. Just as there were people in Galveston refusing to leave their homes during hurricane Ike, there will be people not wanting to leave their country and so money will still have to be sent back.
Politically, I believe that illegal immigration is that we need to be rid of simply because it's illegal.
But economically, I would agree that illegal immigration is not as much of a harm to the country as most people would think. Blocking the flow of labor is like blocking the flow of trade, David Ricardo would be disappointed. Illegal immigrants still have to pay property taxes and buy goods from the US. They provide cheap labor and therefore shifts the supply curve more to the right, giving us cheaper goods in return.
However, the transfer of government spending to these illegal immigrants would cancel all those benefits out. But using government spending to send them out isn't going to do much good for the Federal Deficit as well.
One point I would like to disagree on is the comparison he makes with poor Americans and poor illegal immigrants. Practically all illegal immigrants are poor in some form or fashion, not all Americans are poor. If illegal immigrants are gone, there will be less poor people overall, correct?
All in all, the guy makes an amazing point. But, as of now, the pros and cons doesn't help nor harm the economy. I say leave things as they are and let the invisible hand do its thing. Start regulations when the time is right.
The statistics in the article surprised me tremendously. News and other media sources make it appear to be that illegal immigration is an exponential problem that increases more and more each year and yet the article says otherwise. After reading the post there is an evident bias present in American politics and media. Something that benefits our economy is being shunned as a malignant problem. As Americans, we already have a very small farming population and we require advancements to increase crop yield. However, if we got more farm labor, it could similarly increase food supply and make the American food supply more sustainable. Overall, if politicians are going to say immigration has a negative impact, they must weigh the positive effects of it against the negative and make a sound, logical argument.
And from all the fuss, I didn't know illegal immigration was actually decreasing.However, I still don't believe it is right to for an illegal immigrant to use their child to one day earn a legal citizenship.He also made an excellent point on free markets. When we need people to work jobs,let them have it. But, I do believe jobs should be given to legal American citizens first, of course. All in all, this guy makes great points on the issue of illegal immigration.
I thought that the article was very informative. i had no idea that illeagal immigration was on the decline, i actually thought that it was on the rise with all the media concerning the issue. I never thought of illeagal immigration in terms of labor and not the economic aspect.The article does make very valid points concerning taxes. However i do still have a problem as far as crime and public saftey
First of all, I see and understand all the points made on this article as something one must research for oneself because this article is another source of media and is based on gathered fact and opinion, meaning that it has a bias of its own.
Second, the article shows an increasing decline of illegal immigrants, meaning they're either leaving because it's getting too hard to live here, or there actually are no more jobs. So this means that we should actually be paying attention to the reasons WHY they are leaving as opposed to why they are coming.
Third, politicians and media live on bias, so there shouldn't even BE a further discussion of that.
Fourth, we're probably spending more money trying to keep them out and failing, than we are having them here and trying to support them. On another note, I disagree with Sarah, even if the immigrants weren't here, some of those people who need that money would never see it until they had to get an unemployment check for a couple of months, and even then they'd be in the same situation if they still couldn't find a job because that only last for a couple of months then they don't even give you that.
Finally, the author of the article makes a contradictory statement, which can be forgiven, but must be looked into, that we should make it easier to become a citizen, but that if the illegal aliens became a citizen they would actually add to the money drain even further than they are said to already. The only thing I can see making them a citizen would do is that they wouldn't be draining another family's money by using fake Social Security cards and such.
I found the immigration statistics to be surprising. I had no idea that immigration was going down. All these politicians make it seem like immigration is through the roof but in fact it is decreasing. It is not surprising that politicians would go to such lengths as lie about immigration and tell false things about it.
I think it is quite interesting how immigrant workers actually benefit the US economy. I always saw it as a bad thing and now after reading this my views have changed a bit. If having illegal immigrant workers really don't affect American wage rates and employment, having them in the US might not be such a bad thing aside from the fact it is illegal and not all of them come for the purposes of an opportunity that can help them and the US prosper.
The author's arguments are rather persuasive. Economically, it appears that immigrants can primarily only help the American economy. Considering the economic advantages that the United States could receive by accommodating immigrants, the uproar over illegal immigration seems to have more to do with political gain than with the actual economic benefits the United States could receive. After all, illegal immigration to the United States is decreasing, and nowadays many Americans would be unwilling to perform the often dangerous jobs completed by immigrants. Since even unskilled immigrants can help the American economy, it would probably also help the country if college-educated students could more easily receive citizenship. Although illegal immigration is a complicated issue, the author effectively conveyed the economic benefits of immigration.
the crisis for illegal immigration is growing rapidly and is becoming a problem from modern society. Illegal immigrants are taking job opportunities from people who can actually be accounted for those jobs. That is why we should eliminate it. If illegal immigrants take taken out of the society, then there would be less poor people in the world.
I found the statistics rather surprising, considering the fact that the statistics presented are completely counterintuitive as well as the opposite of the viewpoints of popular media sources. I feel that looking at immigration in general, regardless of it's legality, as an economic issue is far superior to reducing the issue to political squabbles between parties. By representing immigration as a working of the invisible hand and viewing free distribution of labor as a component of the free market, the complicated immigration problem can be reduced to a simple, logical conclusion - immigration is a free market.
The article made sense to me, especially on the part which it says that illegal immigrants are doing the jobs that Americans doesn't want to do, like the jobs with low wages. Even if they send all the illegal immigrants home, as it says in the article: "if labor is immoble, capital grow legs!" Personally, I don't really know illegal immigration is good for the economy or not(of course the 'illegal' part is not), but I think that free market will decied for us.
I was not suprised to see the immigration rates decreasing, but I was suprised to learn that so many of them are leaving that the total number of immigrants is actually dereasing as well. He had many valuable points and obviously has considered all of the factors of debate thoroughly. I agree that focusing on making it easier for immigrants to come here legally would benefit America way more than trying to kick people out of their homes and our of our country. I believe that most Americans simply are ignorant and create their opinions on immigration without enough information or thorough thinking-through of how immigration affects our economy.
One thing I have learned over the years is to never trust a politician’s word at face value. This fact still applies to the issue of illegal immigration. It is ironic that states are vying to stop illegal immigration, such as Arizona, since the numbers of illegal immigrants is actually decreasing. It should also be noted that the 14th Amendment was tested in United States vs. Wong Kim Ark, which stated that any baby born in the U.S. is a citizen and that Arizona and various other states are pushing to change it. From an economic perspective, immigration is common place, and is very viable. This world runs on the free market and this includes immigration or labor, which is a resource that can be traded around. So I say let immigration come, it is the people’s free will to come to the U.S. or not.
P.S. You are right, Wright, he did just cite Wikipedia. also he used the diffenition of osmosis, which only applies to water. If he wanted to do a correct anaolgy,he would use diffusion or something.
I found it hilarious that the amount of illegals entering the US has declined, yet it has been at the headline of all political battle. You could really argue either way for illegal immigration. On one side, it does helps balance out the resource of labor and up holds America as the land of hope. However, on the other hand, Illegals do drain out thousands of dollars set aside for American citizen. It is a very touchy subject, but I support the views in the article.
I'm not going to pretend like I know everything about politics. I do know that a common misconception(like stated by the author) is that immigrants receive goods or money from the government that wasn't intended for them. How would they possible receive these things like welfare or money of any type unless they apply for it as citizens? It's just not possible. I agree with the author when he says that less attention should be spend on shooing the immigrants away and should be put more toward helping them become legal, this way they pay the little they can to the government but also help create a larger work force! I think that if all illegal immigrants where made "leave" prices would only drive up anyways due to the cheap labor keeping competitors prices down in industries we use daily.
There were many points in this article that I was unaware of. One of them was that immigration helps the economy. It seems like all I hear is how awful it is and how the immigrants are a disadvantage. Another thing that I didn't know was that the immigration had been lowering in the last couple of years. Politicians today make it seem as if it is growing into an uncontrollable problem here in the United States, when in reality there are more people leaving than there are people coming.
What shocked me after reading the article was that the number of immigrants has decreased over the years. The statistics opposed the concept that immigrants are taking jobs from the American people, as politicians say today. I agree with many points of the article, especially the one stating that immigration provides cheap labor to make our products at a low price.
From an economic viewpoint, immigration is mainly the flow of labor across national borders. Data show that the number of immigrants has decreased, and more illegal immigrants are leaving than coming into the nation. I found it interesting that labor also follows the free market system, and I realized that if everything was left to natural order of the free market system, then no problems will arise. Preventing immigration actually hurts American jobs and decreases the amount of work being done in America. More labor resources mean a more efficient and larger economy. Free market will take care of everything.
I felt that this article was very well thought out and informative. The article did a good job of informing people of how the illegal immigrant problem is actually helping our economy.I also agree with the points about it strengthening our economy and the fact that the jobs would merely be outsourced if they were not done here.
The fact that immigration is decreasing is drastically different from what I' have been hearing from the Democrats and Republicans lately because they word it like the numbers are increasing almost like an army invading our country. I don't, however, find it surprising that the politicians are spinning it this way because that is what they have always done and will always do because it helps them.
Ok, that dude kinda contradicts himself multiple times, mainly when he is rebuking Commenter #2. #2 argues that illegals suck up federal dollars through federal programs made for American citizens who pay for it. Jason Welker states that they are unable to receive such benefits since they are illegal; he said how beautiful illegals are since they do work yet do not receive the benefits of welfare, medicare, etc. However, he also tells #2 that his argument is not "for more ILLEGAL immigration" but rather "for more LEGAL immigration." But wait...wouldn't this [insert noun]entitle those immigrants to the same benefits that he said illegals didn't have?
And also, when #2 pointed out that 60% of California prisoners are illegal, Welker brilliantly counterattacked with the question "If those spots were not occupied by 'illegals', are you suggesting there would be 60% fewer prisoners?" Well DUH. If those illegals were not in America, then I would think that 60% of the California prison system would be gone and room would open up for pending American criminals. Even though it will be filled up again, we wouldn't have to pay for the ~30,000 (Number received from the 60% he stated and the 180,000 prisoners in California that Wikipedia cites; yeah Evan, I cited Wikipedia) illegals in there AND the pending American convicts.
And also, if we were to open up the borders so that the families of the illegals who "80%" of the wages is transferred to, then wouldn't they also suck up medicare and welfare benefits (assuming they become naturalized as he states what would/should happen)? I mean, if the workers who send the money run through the great risks of illegally crossing the border, fabricating federal documents, and illegally transferring money across national lines, then its quite obvious that the families they send it to can't produce for themselves (concession: there are some families that still do work in their homelands and just cannot make a high enough income to support themselves). How would they be able to do anything for America then?
Overall, I'm not cynical against illegal immigration, just some of the points Welker stated. In fact, I'm actually for more lenient immigration, just not for the same economic reasons that Mr. Welker had.
I think that illegal immigration is an issue because even though as he says rising unemployment does discourage immigration to America, it only does so to an extent. The countries that these immigrants are coming from generally have much higher unemployment rates and far worse economies. The illegal immigrants also take jobs from citizen for doing cheap labor that could otherwise be done by a homeless citizen. I dont believe that the illegal immigrant help our economy because they also drain our public goods without paying taxes to cover the costs.
I was surprised to see that the illegal immigration is going done when the media is showing the how many the immigrants has traspassed the borders and how it helps the economy. Why are the immigrants coming to american when we all know that the economy of the us is dropping and the umemployment is increasing?
its kinda crazy that they talk about immigration as a problem when the charts show that it has considerably gone down. but honestly people that immigrate illegaly do it because AMERICA is so amazing. We are the land of opportunity and prosperity. SO why wouldnt they want to come here. Yes it is a problem because it isnt sustained well, but they just want to better themselves. Its could be dealt with better, but maybe AMERICA just needs to stop being so great. Actually no. We dont cause we are the best!And so is Mr. Pye!
I agree illegal immigration is a problem because our economy is bad enough. With our unemployment rate being pretty high, these immigrants are not making it easier for the U.S. Even though the rates are dropping, it is still way too many illegal immigrants here. I would say Texas and California has way too many, because I mean look at the chart. They both have over 1 million. Shame shame shame! And the idea of the "having a baby and later helping the parents become citizens" is past insane. I guess the point of what I'm saying is something should be done!
The article made a lot of sense to me, and the statistics are surprising. What I've been hearing for a while now, is that the number of immigrants increases every year. According to the statistics in the article, they are not. I think people are overreacting a lot on this subject, but I do agree that immigration has to be regulated in some way. The 'osmosis' of labor is good for countries, but when too many people are going into a country and causing trouble, it puts a bad name on all immigrants and then people don't see the good side.
I believe that immigration is a problem but because of the recession i found it interesting that illegal immigration has dropped. Its kind of funny that people are still complaining about it if there are less and less illegal immagrants
I was surprised to find out that illegal immigration rates were rapidly falling due to the reason it contradicts what most politicians are pushing these days. I believe the author presents valid arguments. However, illegal immigration is a far more complex issue then whats presented here, but i do believe he does a good job on shedding some light on the issue.
I found that the fact that immigration helps our economy to be very surprising. This article made a lot of sense because why would immigrants come to America if the unemployment rate was so high. I also found it humorous that illegal immigrants are leaving the United States instead of staying this is due to the unemployment. This article shows how like everything immigration has its perks and its bad side.
I found that the fact that immigration helps our economy to be very surprising. This article made a lot of sense because why would immigrants come to America if the unemployment rate was so high. I also found it humorous that illegal immigrants are leaving the United States instead of staying this is due to the unemployment. This article shows how like everything immigration has its perks and its bad side.
D.J. Hicks
7th period
The artile brings up an intresting point of view that otherwise I would not have realized. I found it ironic that even though the immigration "crisis" is at its high in the media currently the income rate is actually lower.The article did successed in changing my view because before I did not realize how low the actual rate is.
I found it surprising that immigration is on a downward trend while it has become a more and more common topic in politics over the past few years. I find that logical, since blue collar jobs are becoming much harder to find in the United States of America. Overall, it is a well written article.
The article was surprising to me because, contrary to what many politicians are saying today, illegal immigration has actually been decreasing in recent years. I also found it surprising that preventing illegal immigrants from coming into the United States does little to protect American jobs and that the free flow of labor across our borders actually helps the economy. These are facts that politicians today rarely take into consideration, proving that we should not always believe everything we hear from them.
Illegal immigration is definitely a problem in America not only because it takes the Americans’ jobs but also a drain on the US economy is imposed. The government spends millions of dollars on the welfare of the American citizens , but the unregistered immigrants enjoy the leisure of the government’s grants.
i beleive that illegal immigration is bad and it must be controlled. we as american lose jobs to immigrants that are illegal and this causes our economy to go down. but on the other hand immigrants run this country and we need more immigramnts to make this a diverse and better place. but i think the immigration laws of the united states must be wekaer and less strict so new immigrants do not have to go through this process of "jumping the gate".
I found it quite odd how the media and the government portrays immigration as a rising problem, yet the statistics from the article show immigration has been decreasing in the United States. Also, the fact that immigration helps the economy was rather surprising. The article shows that immigration has both positive and negative aspects. I feel that immigration is an issue that needs to be addressed and regulated.
First off, I find it a little sad that the author used sources that are not exactly the most credible -- ie the Washington Post and Wikipedia. That definitely is not the best way to establish one's credibility with one's audience, but that's beside the point.
I, like pretty much everyone who's commented, was surprised to find that immigration was steadily decreasing. From the way politicians speak of immigration, you would think that every man, woman, child, and their dog was hauling tail across the border with reckless abandon, with no discernible way of stopping them. This data once again proves that one should always get background information before believing anything a politician says; most everything they seem to be saying now is for political gain, rather than informing the public. The article was really quite fascinating.
The article reflects the good and bad side of immigration. But this article was of great surprise to me as the data and graphs presented shows that immgration rates are going down in recent years. This is ironic since the media and other agencies make it appear to be that illegal immigration is an exponential problem that increases more and more each year and yet the article says otherwise. However, illegal immigration could be an important issue as they are an unaccounted drain of the United States economy.
Illegal immigration is definitely a problem in the United States. They occupy jobs and opportunities of the citizens which result in higher unemployment rates. The money distributed for several assistance programs will also be given out to these illegal immigrants. That money is specifically intended to help the people of America not to feed the illegal ones.
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