Thay took ar jobs!

The title of this post is from an episode of South Park. That show, and the Daily Show, is the only part of cable television I miss. Anyway, I heard something on the news recently that sparked my inner dialogue. A recent Columbia shooting victim referred to as a “legal immigrant”. That is the first time I have ever heard that term, and I am not sure what relevance it has when describing a shooting victim (or anything else for that matter). Somehow, this comment sparked my thoughts on illegal immigration, which is the focus of this post.

Recently, the Maryland legislature failed to vote on a controversial bill that would have granted in-state tuition rates to some illegal immigrants. Many people are against this bill because the immigrants are here, well, illegally. This is the only serious objection to the bill. If they were here legally and people still objected, the nature of the objection would probably have roots in xenophobia or perhaps even racism. What really gets me going is when “illegals” are claimed to be a drain on our economy.

Do illegal immigrants take some jobs away from citizens? Yes. Lou Dobbs (back when I had cable anyway) used to love to focus on this. But are illegal immigrants a net burden to society and/or our economy? No. It isn’t popular to say this, but illegal immigrants provide extra fuel to our economic engine. They work darn hard, doing jobs that many Americans look down upon. Unless they are paid in cash, “illegals” have federal, state, and FICA taxes withheld from their wages, even though they will receive little or no benefit from these taxes. They basically want to lay low and avoid trouble so they don’t find themselves on the midnight train to Gitmo. Many small businesses, particularly in the landscaping, construction, animal murder (slaughterhouses) and restaurant businesses, love illegal immigrants because they work so hard and allow those businesses to provide their products and services cheaply, which benefits everyone through lower costs and more products and services that we greedily consume. Do these benefits outweigh the loss of American jobs? I don’t know, but I bet they do.

The benefits that “illegals” provide to our economy are likely the reason that measures to control our borders are so half hearted. As such, the black market is in full swing and “illegals” will always be working here. Instead of throwing our hands over our heads in surrender and refusing to do anything about “illegals” (which is the strategy in Annapolis), I believe the in-state tuition bill should have been passed. I also think that programs that allow for temporary workers should be expanded. It is time to get realistic in our approach to illegal immigration. Sure it’s illegal, but it’s inevitable. Poking our heads in the sand is a disservice to us and illegal immigrants.