The Economy Benefits from Illegal Immigrants
By: Gerri L. Elder
In the absence of any comprehensive immigration reform on a federal level, individual states have taken immigration matters to task and have begun to pass legislation to crack down on illegal immigrants and those who employ them.
When new laws are passed and existing laws against employing illegal immigrants are enforced, it is not only the immigrants' lives that are impacted. The business owners and farming communities who depend on these workers also suffer. It has been said time and time again that illegal immigrants often perform jobs that American citizens don't want - but it's more than that.
Small Business Owners Hit Hard
Small businesses across the country are being crippled by immigration raids and the threat of criminal prosecution. A recent article on Businessweek pointed out that the owners of small businesses are no longer being given a slap on the wrist for employing illegal immigrants, but are now faced with hefty civil fines and criminal prosecution for breaking the law. These small business owners can not operate and do business as usual without the illegal immigrants that they employ. So the choices for these business owners are either closing down or finding employees with legal immigration status.
Either choice is bad for the U.S. economy. Not only do Americans not want the jobs, there are not enough Americans to replenish the workforce as the baby boomers retire. By imposing strict sanctions on small business owners who employ illegal immigrants, state and local governments are reinforcing the economic slowdown and insuring a lengthy recession of the U.S. economy.
Limited Resources, Limited Options
Small businesses in the United States do not have the resources that larger companies do, and therefore do not have lawyers on staff to review documents and make sure all workers are legal. With the threat of criminal prosecution, many owners of restaurants, construction companies and farmers must either take the risk of not knowing that they are being shown false documentation or hire lawyers to review the documents before hiring workers. They also must be sure not to discriminate against any potential employees, so they are really between a rock and a hard place at hiring time.
Benefits of Illegal Workers
Anti-immigration activists seem to overlook some of the obvious ways that American people benefit from illegal immigrants who work in the United States. Some of the most obvious ways in which illegal immigrants help the U.S. economy are:
- Illegal immigrants living in the U.S. are also consumers in the U.S. and therefore boost the economy.
- Many illegal immigrants who work in the U.S. do not file tax returns because they fear deportation and therefore do not collect tax refund payments that they are entitled to receive.
- Social Security payments are not made to illegal immigrants. Therefore the money that is paid into the Social Security system by illegal immigrants supports payments to American baby boomers who are now reaching retirement age. Illegal immigrants may be a large factor in keeping the Social Security system afloat.
Benefits of Not Having Illegal Workers?
So aside from providing services and physical labor that benefit American people, illegal immigrants also stimulate the economy, overpay taxes without collecting refunds and help pay grandma's Social Security check. Still some people would rather deport all illegal immigrants or force them out of the country because they will be unable to find work. Perhaps in some ways the county would benefit from this; however, we may very well find that the ill effects may far outweigh any benefits there may be from not having illegal workers in the United States.