Letters from the Crypt

I think letters to the editor are the most interesting part of the newspaper. I don’t normally attack folks to write letters to the editor, but there was one this week that is so ridiculous that it begs for comment:

Science trumps sentiment in immigration debate

Regarding immigration and the Jan. 10 letter "We should welcome those who come to work hard," I feel compelled to add that although the sentiments in this letter are nice, they are just that: anecdotal sentiments of which much of the immigration debate consists.

The facts are simple. The United States is four times as wealthy as Mexico. This is what powers the smiles and eagerness of the 12 million immigrants.

I am always surprised that in these immigration debates there is very little mention of the effect on wages. This is a reality, not a subject for debate. Professor George Borjas of Harvard University in 2006 authored a study that said "Our analysis suggests that a 10 percent immigrant-induced increase in the supply of a particular skill group reduced the black wage by 4.0 percent, lowered the employment rate of black men by 3.5 percentage points, and increased the incarceration rate of blacks by almost a full percentage point."

These are numbers, not sentiments.

First of all, the underlying premise of this letter is that supporters of immigration reform are basing their arguments in “sentiment”. The implication here is that cold, hard scientific reasoning leads to the conclusion that immigrants are bad for the economy. Anytime we are dealing with a “should” questions, like “should immigration be reformed”, we are not talking about scientific precision. We can use scientific evidence to base our decisions, but there is no right or wrong answer to a “should” question. It is really a moral judgment. So right away, by implying scientific precision that does not exist, the letter has fallen flat on its face.

Secondly, the letter writer cites some economic statistics, the implication of which is that hiring immigrants puts downward pressure on wages. This true, buy why is that a bad thing? This is the same fallacious argument used to attack Wal-Mart’s low prices. Lower wages means that goods and services can be provided cheaper.

Finally, the part I was most taken with is the nature of the statistics cited. Each statistic noted the race of a “victim” of immigration. Wages did not decline 4%- wages of race X declined 4%. Employment did not decline 3.5%- employment of race X declined 4%. Ignoring the racial component, at least there is an economic cause and effect relationship between the supply of labor and wage rates and employment rates. But the final statistic really dropped my jaw- employment of immigrants raises the incarceration rate of citizens by 1%! And not only the incarceration rate a generic citizen- the incarceration rate of a particular race!

I would love to know the chain of events that cause employment of immigrants to increase crime by citizens; but perhaps not as much as I would also like to know the chain of events that lead someone to write such a simple minded letter.