There's a lot of debate (Ya and Nay) about Trumps 'border wall' I say at least the guy is trying to fix a problem that's been running wild and out of control ever since the Reagan amnesty deal known as the 'Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986' which granted amnesty to almost 3.2 million Illegal Immigrants.
The border wall issue, I think, is a waste of money..money better spend on hiring more border control agents, get them better training and get the Government to but out and let them ACTUALLY do their jobs. The money could also be used to build check points or check point complexes every couple hundred miles or so with small outposts between them.. 1300 miles of border = about 8 major checkpoint centers and 8 outposts between them.
Just my thought..to any extent illegal immigration is a problem so I thought I lay out some Pro's and Cons -
PRO - 1
"The economic impact of illegal immigration in the U.S. is costly and impacts the financial security of the county's legal residents. This impact plays out in a number of ways.
Illegal Immigration Reduces Wages… Those unregulated workers are often underpaid, which keeps wages lower in a particular occupation and/or region…
Illegal aliens can put a financial burden on local and federal law enforcement…
Immigrants on average tend to have larger families that those in the U.S. This difference can strain the resources of local school districts…
The arrival of illegal immigrants both in the U.S. and in other countries creates a problem that is often under the radar: a black market for goods and services. Black markets are not regulated or taxed by the federal or state government, which means that the goods and services traded there do not contribute to the tax base…
They also can drive up car insurance rates. That's because some states make it hard for undocumented workers to get driver's licenses. One study found that drivers in those states pay a higher amount for car insurance because they are surrounded by more uninsured motorists…
Illegal immigrants come from another country, so financial problems can arise when there are excess amounts of emigration. Such a trend can destabilize foreign countries and reduce the ability of U.S. firms to export goods to those nations."
PRO - 2
PRO - 5
The border wall issue, I think, is a waste of money..money better spend on hiring more border control agents, get them better training and get the Government to but out and let them ACTUALLY do their jobs. The money could also be used to build check points or check point complexes every couple hundred miles or so with small outposts between them.. 1300 miles of border = about 8 major checkpoint centers and 8 outposts between them.
Just my thought..to any extent illegal immigration is a problem so I thought I lay out some Pro's and Cons -
PRO - 1
Michael McDonald, PhD, Assistant Professor in Finance at Fairfield University, in a Nov. 16, 2015 article, "10 Ways Illegal Immigration Affects You Financially," stated:
"The economic impact of illegal immigration in the U.S. is costly and impacts the financial security of the county's legal residents. This impact plays out in a number of ways.
Illegal Immigration Reduces Wages… Those unregulated workers are often underpaid, which keeps wages lower in a particular occupation and/or region…
Illegal aliens can put a financial burden on local and federal law enforcement…
Immigrants on average tend to have larger families that those in the U.S. This difference can strain the resources of local school districts…
The arrival of illegal immigrants both in the U.S. and in other countries creates a problem that is often under the radar: a black market for goods and services. Black markets are not regulated or taxed by the federal or state government, which means that the goods and services traded there do not contribute to the tax base…
They also can drive up car insurance rates. That's because some states make it hard for undocumented workers to get driver's licenses. One study found that drivers in those states pay a higher amount for car insurance because they are surrounded by more uninsured motorists…
Illegal immigrants come from another country, so financial problems can arise when there are excess amounts of emigration. Such a trend can destabilize foreign countries and reduce the ability of U.S. firms to export goods to those nations."
PRO - 2
Robert Rector, MA, Senior Research Fellow in Domestic Policy at the Heritage Foundation, and Jason Richwine, PhD, Senior Policy Analyst for the Center for Data Analysis at the Heritage Foundation (at the time of the quote) in their May 6, 2013 Heritage Foundation Special Report #133 on Immigration titled "The Fiscal Cost of Unlawful Immigrants and Amnesty to the U.S. Taxpayer," available at heritage.org, stated:
"In 2010, the average unlawful immigrant household received around $24,721 in government benefits and services while paying some $10,334 in taxes. This generated an average annual fiscal deficit (benefits received minus taxes paid) of around $14,387 per household. This cost had to be borne by U.S. taxpayers... Under current law, all unlawful immigrant households together have an aggregate annual deficit of around $54.5 billion."
PRO - 3
The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) wrote in its Aug. 2004 article "The High Cost of Cheap Labor: Illegal Immigration and the Federal Budget" on cis.org/node/54:
"The net fiscal cost of immigration ranges from $11 billion to $22 billion per year, with most government expenditures on immigrants coming from state and local coffers, while most taxes paid by immigrants go to the federal treasury. The net deficit is caused by a low level of tax payments by immigrants, because they are disproportionately low-skilled and thus earn low wages, and a higher rate of consumption of government services, both because of their relative poverty and their higher fertility. This is especially true of illegal immigration. Even though illegal aliens make little use of welfare, from which they are generally barred, the costs of illegal immigration in terms of government expenditures for education, criminal justice, and emergency medical care are significant. California has estimated that the net cost to the state of providing government services to illegal immigrants approached $3 billion during a single fiscal year. The fact that states must bear the cost of federal failure turns illegal immigration, in effect, into one of the largest unfunded federal mandates."
PRO - 4
Jim Gilchrist, MBA, CPA, Founder and President of The Minuteman Project, said in an Aug. 26, 2005 speech titled "The Crushing Economic Burden of Illegal Immigration" and delivered at an immigration conference in Beverly Hills, California [transcript made available on Oct. 10, 2005 in FrontPageMagazine.com]:
"I've tried to figure out the costs since I have this tax background. What is the cost to each of us as taxpayers to support 30 million illegal aliens, many of whom are working in the underground economy and not contributing to the tax system? And yet they're using the system that bona fide taxpayers provide and pay for... I had to make my own estimate, since the government will not give me these numbers, nor does it care to calculate them... I've come up with my own numbers. And I will stand by these numbers. The annual gross cost to U.S. taxpayers to provide schooling, hospitalization, and whatever plethoric benefits are out there for the 30 million illegal aliens is approximately $400 billion per year funded by bona fide U.S. taxpayers. That's $400 billion per year and going up."
PRO - 5
Walter Coffey, author of historical fiction and non-fiction, wrote in his June 17, 2011 article "How Illegal Immigration Harms the Economy" in the Tea Party Tribune:
"People routinely look the other way while employers pay illegal aliens low wages to work grueling hours in unsafe conditions. Some argue that illegals do work that Americans won't do, but the fact is that illegals do work that American's can't do because Americans must adhere to minimum wage and labor laws. Illegals don't have to. This is the 21st century equivalent to slavery.
When cheap labor dominates the market, overall wages naturally go down. When wages go down, American workers are harmed. And when American workers are harmed, the poor are always the first hit. In a free market, helping illegal families invariably harms legal families.
Illegal aliens pay little or no taxes, and they send millions of dollars out of the U.S. to their home country. Illegals are also more likely to use taxpayer-funded social services than citizens. They are entitled to free health care, education and food stamps. Nearly $5 billion per year is spent on illegal aliens.
The Roman Empire based its economy on slave labor, which was one of the key reasons why it fell. This is also one of the main reasons why the South lost the Civil War; relying on slave labor, the South could not match northern industrial and military might. Slave labor weakens nations by reducing exports, hindering technological innovation and turning employers lazy since they are virtually guaranteed profit at low cost. History shows that a national economy based on slave labor, in which a non-taxpaying workforce is supported by a taxpaying workforce, cannot prosper. If left unchecked, the economic consequences of illegal immigration could prove disastrous to America's future."
When cheap labor dominates the market, overall wages naturally go down. When wages go down, American workers are harmed. And when American workers are harmed, the poor are always the first hit. In a free market, helping illegal families invariably harms legal families.
Illegal aliens pay little or no taxes, and they send millions of dollars out of the U.S. to their home country. Illegals are also more likely to use taxpayer-funded social services than citizens. They are entitled to free health care, education and food stamps. Nearly $5 billion per year is spent on illegal aliens.
The Roman Empire based its economy on slave labor, which was one of the key reasons why it fell. This is also one of the main reasons why the South lost the Civil War; relying on slave labor, the South could not match northern industrial and military might. Slave labor weakens nations by reducing exports, hindering technological innovation and turning employers lazy since they are virtually guaranteed profit at low cost. History shows that a national economy based on slave labor, in which a non-taxpaying workforce is supported by a taxpaying workforce, cannot prosper. If left unchecked, the economic consequences of illegal immigration could prove disastrous to America's future."
CON - 1
Lisa Christensen Gee, JD, Senior Policy Analyst, Matthew Gardner, Executive Director, and Meg Wiehe, MPA, State Tax Policy Director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) in a Feb. 2016 report, “Undocumented Immigrants’ State and Local Tax Contributions,” available at itep.org, stated:
"Undocumented immigrants contribute significantly to state and local taxes, collectively paying an estimated $11.64 billion a year. Contributions range from almost $2.2 million in Montana with an estimated undocumented population of 4,000 to more than $3.1 billion in California, home to more than 3 million Undocumented Immigrants.
Undocumented immigrants nationwide pay on average an estimated 8 percent of their incomes in state and local taxes (this is their effective state and local tax rate). To put this in perspective, the top 1 percent of taxpayers pay an average nationwide effective tax rate of just 5.4 percent.
Granting legal status to all undocumented immigrants in the United States as part of a comprehensive immigration reform and allowing them to work legally would increase their state and local tax contributions by an estimated $2.1 billion a year. Their nationwide effective state and local tax rate would increase to 8.6 percent.
The state and local tax contributions of the undocumented immigrants who could be directly impacted by President Obama's 2012 and 2014 executive actions would increase by an estimated $805 million a year once fully in place. The effective state and local tax rate for this population would increase from 8.1 to 8.6 percent. State and local revenue gains from the executive actions are smaller than gains from granting legal status to all undocumented immigrants because the actions (if upheld) would only affect around 46 percent of the undocumented population and the actions do not grant a full pathway to lawful permanent residence or citizenship."
Undocumented immigrants nationwide pay on average an estimated 8 percent of their incomes in state and local taxes (this is their effective state and local tax rate). To put this in perspective, the top 1 percent of taxpayers pay an average nationwide effective tax rate of just 5.4 percent.
Granting legal status to all undocumented immigrants in the United States as part of a comprehensive immigration reform and allowing them to work legally would increase their state and local tax contributions by an estimated $2.1 billion a year. Their nationwide effective state and local tax rate would increase to 8.6 percent.
The state and local tax contributions of the undocumented immigrants who could be directly impacted by President Obama's 2012 and 2014 executive actions would increase by an estimated $805 million a year once fully in place. The effective state and local tax rate for this population would increase from 8.1 to 8.6 percent. State and local revenue gains from the executive actions are smaller than gains from granting legal status to all undocumented immigrants because the actions (if upheld) would only affect around 46 percent of the undocumented population and the actions do not grant a full pathway to lawful permanent residence or citizenship."
CON - 2
Danny Vinik, staff writer at The New Republic, wrote in his July 8, 2014 article "How Much Would It Cost to Deport All Undocumented Immigrants?," available at newrepublic.com:
"Many undocumented immigrants pay taxes, use government services and collect benefits. Most importantly, undocumented immigrants contribute to the economy. Labor economists agree that there are net gains to having a larger labor supply. Some groups benefit more than others do - and some may even be hurt by the millions of undocumented immigrants. In 2012, researchers at the Cato Institute estimated that a mass deportations policy would reduce economic growth by around $250 billion per year. Those costs would not be evenly distributed: Those at the very bottom of the income distribution, particularly those without a high school diploma, may even earn higher wages in the absence of undocumented immigrants. But in total, undocumented immigrants benefit the economy."
CON - 3
Raul Hinojosa, PhD, Associate Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), wrote in his July 18, 2005 BusinessWeek interview "A Massive Economic Development Boom":
"First and foremost, [illegal immigration] it's a source of value added. The total goods and services that they consume through their paycheck, plus all that they produce for their employers, is close to about $800 billion. They're also producing at relatively lower costs because the undocumented population typically gets about 20% less in wages than if they were legalized. That leads to lower prices for us and higher profits to employers. In addition, they're obviously a huge consumer base. We've seen that 90% of the wages that the undocumented population gets are spent inside the U.S. Remittances are sent abroad, but that only represents about 10% of immigrants' income. The numbers are becoming quite huge. We estimate about $50 billion dollars in remittances this year. That means that total consumptive capacity remaining in the U.S. is $400 billion to $450 billion. If you took away the undocumented population, it would be the worst economic disaster in the history of the U.S."
CON - 4
Francine J. Lipman, MBA, LLM, Professor of Law, Business and Economics at Chapman University, wrote in a Spring 2006 Tax Lawyer essay titled "Taxing Undocumented Immigrants: Separate, Unequal and Without Representation":
"Americans believe that undocumented immigrants are exploiting the United States' economy. The widespread belief is that illegal aliens cost more in government services than they contribute to the economy. This belief is undeniably false... [E]very empirical study of illegals' economic impact demonstrates the opposite: undocumented workers actually contribute more to public coffers in taxes than they cost in social services. Moreover, undocumented immigrants contribute to the U.S. economy through their investments and consumption of goods and services; filling of millions of essential worker positions resulting in subsidiary job creation, increased productivity and lower costs of goods and services; and unrequited contributions to Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance programs. Eighty-five percent of eminent economists surveyed [according to the Dec. 1995 study by Julian L. Simon, "Immigration, the Demographic & Economic Facts," of the Cato Institute and the National Immigration Forum] have concluded that undocumented immigrants have had a positive (seventy-four percent) or neutral (eleven percent) impact on the U.S. economy."
CON - 5
The Washington Post wrote in its June 4, 2007 editorial article "Immigrants Equal Growth... Reform Isn't Just Humane. It's Self-Interest":
"Amid the blizzard of data concerning immigrants' effects on wages, welfare and municipal budgets, the essential point is this: The latest wave of immigrants -- legal and illegal, skilled and unskilled -- has stimulated enormous economic activity and wealth generation in this country, and it is implausible that the American economy would fare as well without them... Since most immigrants come when they are young and working... they tend not to collect Social Security or Medicare for many years -- even while paying into the systems with payroll taxes, in many cases with phony Social Security numbers (meaning they will contribute but not collect). In fact, illegal immigrants do not get federal welfare benefits of any kind. At the same time they often pay income tax (through paycheck withholdings) and sales tax, thereby helping directly or indirectly to underwrite transportation, health care, education and other services. And while immigrants surely have contributed to some extent to the ranks of the poor, that was also true of previous waves of immigrants; the point is, most of those immigrants didn't stay poor."
So there we have it 5 Pros and 5 Cons, I'm sure there are plenty more.
In my opinion.. seems like things worked out pretty well for this country back when we had Ellis Island and all immigrants came in through that port-of-call..we had huge industrial booms followed by the 'manufactured' great depression (that's another story).
My only concern is with disease..illegals aren't screened for disease so diseases that have been almost wiped out here in the US could make a come back via and illegal carrier, case in point - Leprosy cases in US border towns.
That to is another story.
~~ Stay Frosty
