Monday, June 4, 2007; A14
THE SENATE'S rancorous debate over immigration reform has for the moment muffled an equally contentious dispute about immigrants' economic impact. The quarrel is in some respects a theological one, enlisting think tanks, scholars, researchers and statisticians whose irreconcilable and sometimes ideologically loaded conclusions fuel the broader political battle. 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.
A recent study using data collected through 2004 found that Hispanics in North Carolina (many of them immigrants, both legal and illegal) contributed $756 million in state taxes while costing about $817 million in public education, corrections and health care. That nets out to a modest $61 million drain on state coffers. But the study, by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, also found that that deficit was dwarfed by the fact that Hispanics contributed more than $9 billion, or some 3 percent, to the state's economy in 2004, an amount projected to double by 2009.
The North Carolina study further found that adults of prime working age (18-44) comprised a much larger portion of Hispanic households than non-Hispanic ones; that the state's 9,000-plus Hispanic-owned businesses were poised for rapid expansion; and the state's exports to Latin America, which account for 70,000 jobs, are booming, thanks partly to the swift growth of the Hispanic population. Little wonder that the study was conducted for the North Carolina Bankers Association; immigrants are good for business. Similar studies in Arkansas, Texas and elsewhere have arrived at like-minded conclusions.
The flip side is that immigrants are said to add to the poverty rolls, strain public services and, in some high-immigrant states such as California, increase the tax burden on non-immigrant households. But even here the evidence is mixed. Since most immigrants come when they are young and working (55 percent of Hispanics in the North Carolina study were 18 to 44), 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.
Most members of Congress realize that deporting 12 million illegal immigrants is a non-starter. But the real reason to find a humane solution that will enable those immigrants to stay legally and work toward citizenship, and to construct some workable system by which future newcomers can come and work, is that they make important contributions to the vibrancy of America's economy and social fabric. That's been true of immigrants throughout the nation's history and remains so today.
Post a Comment
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.