I'm on the fence about illegal immigrants. For one, they are illegally entering the country. On the other hand, it is due to that fact that our country provides opportunity and growth for those who wish to partake. Many move here in order to better not only their lives, but their families' lives as well. And let's face it, they can come in handy.
Why am I against it?
-Illegal immigrants take our jobs.
-Their children are capable of receiving full ride scholarships if they were born in the U.S.
-They don't pay taxes
-Americans' taxes help support them by providing their children with opportunities that American children may not have, such as special help in school or assisting with living costs.
Now, here's why I'm all for letting them cross the border:
-They typically work jobs that the majority of American's don't want, and for less money.
-They can assist with helping to boost our economy.
-They are just trying to get by, like everyone else.
-They escaped their home country due to intolerable acts or circumstances, such as poverty, disease, war, etc.
I feel that illegal immigrants can pose as a threat to us Americans, but only if we allow them to. I feel that the immigration system needs to be revamped, and we should rethink our screening process and forms of approach. If our government goes about it the right way, I believe that everyone could end up gaining rather than losing.
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
This place used to be mexico. There never used to be wall seperating any country, state, or land period from one another. We all need to learn how to Farm the end.
I think that the economic growth they provide for this country is overshadowed by the detriment they have that they take from the system. Their children go to our schools for free, they sometimes steal American's identies to get jobs, they deplete social programs, a lot of times, (NOT ALWAYS)they dont pay into the system they take out of. I dont think thats fair and they are criminals. Illegals should be kicked out of our country.
http://www.progressiveu.org/195517-why-i-hate-illegal-immigration
Illegal immigrants are not here on a free ride, every time they shop they pay sales taxes, those who own homes pay property taxes, most of them use fake documentation so they do pay Federal Income Tax, Medicare Tax and Social Security Tax. The IRS provided them with an ITIN so they can pay their taxes LEGALLY. Undocumented children get educated here and due to the TX HB 1403 they get their college education in any field and they're waiting to be given the chance for legalization. I say some of them should get legalized, make them work for it.
They do pay sales taxes and to the extent they own homes, they pay property taxes. If the commit identity theft or identify fraud (both felonies) then they are subject to tax withholding from their paychecks.
But most of them are working in very low wage jobs and low wage earners pay very little tax and have little or no tax withholding. In fact, a married couple with two children is eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) with earnings up to slightly above $30,000 per year. The EITC gives low wage earners a tax refund greater than the taxes withheld from their paychecks. They get back MORE than they payed in. The EITC is welfare disguised as a tax refund.
It is more accurate to say that illegals file tax returns than to say that they pay taxes.
And they consume far more from the treasury than they contribute. Each one of their children in public school costs the taxpayers about $8000 to $12,000 per year. Almost no illegal pays even close to that much in taxes and many illegals have many children in school. Three children costs the taxpayers $24,000 to $30,000 per year and that is more than most illegal earn annually let alone pay in taxes.
Yeah you're right, illegals do not pay enough in tax money to pay off what they take (but then again...are American food stampers, unemployment leechers, and Katrina evacuees, etc. ever forced to pay back? Just wondering).
Anyways, it's pretty unfair to use the argument "illegals don't pay enough taxes" when they aren't even given the chance to do so. It's sad to see a bunch of undocumented students educated in U.S. colleges who can't take a job in their field, plus there are thousand others who are willing to serve in the military to receive legal status. And what's funny is that after paying for their education the government and taxpayers aren't willing to use them...but they gladly complain about it!
You failed to take into account the benefit of their labor into our economy. I have yet to see ANY American preferring to work in the fields picking up fruits and vegetables instead of going to college for free. I have seen many testimonies of business owners who complain that Americans don't work as hard, and demand much higher pay.
What will happen if these workers leave and anti-illegals get their way is that our produce, construction, and all the other services illegals work at will be much higher (or their availability will be limited). We'll have a new long list of pricey items to complain about.
""illegals don't pay enough taxes" when they aren't even given the chance to do so"
They are illegal. They should not be here. They should not be working and it is completely fair to not give them a chance. It is ridiculous that taxpayers are being forced to build schools to accomodate their children and even more ridiculous that they are being taxed to subsidize their college education. The only people who benefit from the presence of illegals are the illegals themselves and the employers who exploit them. Everybody else pays.
Their contribution to our economy is minimal. If there are 12 million of them then they are about 4% of our population of 300 million. They are working the jobs at the very bottom of our economy and which add the least value to it. It is fair to say that their earnings and their spending power is far below average and only accounts for about 2% to 3% of our economy.
Our economy grows at about 3% per year so we if we threw them out tomorrow we would be talking about a mild one year recession where our economy did not grow but did not shrink.
And what a strange recession it would be with zero unemployment and employers offering higher wages and better benefits to fill the jobs resulting from the displaced illegals. I think most Americans would be happy to have that kind of recession. A tight labor market is the best friend of the working man.
And as far as higher prices go, it is largely a myth. The labor cost component of a $1 head of lettuce is about 5 cents. The cost of farm labor could double and the price of lettuce would only climb to $1.05. And as progressives we should be happy to see farm workers, our fellow citizens, finally, after all these years, being payed a decent wage. Ceasor Chavez would be proud.
And if you understood basic economics you would know that prices and costs move independently of each other. The grocery store sells their lettuce at the profit maximizing price and it has little to do with the cost of farm labor. If the price of labor falls they do not necessarily pass on the savings (they would rather pocket the extra fat profit) and likewise if the price of labor rises they can't necessarily pass on the extra cost because the price is set by supply and demand for lettuce and not the supply and demand of labor.
May I ask in what city do you live? Because it seems you're not getting the whole picture.
I live in Houston, TX -- that "4%" you talk about easily constitutes more than 50% of the labor here. When you walk by construction sites, restaurants, office cleaners, they're almost all hispanic. Interestingly, the people who are in street corners asking for money happen to be white or black.
"prices and costs move independently of each other." No they do not. When the cost of producing an item goes up, the price goes up (what makes you think a business owner will take a loss on his profits when he can pass it on to the consumer? Hello!).
If you search the internet you will find many stories about crops rotting due to lack of labor in areas where immigration enforcement has been active...and American workers are still NOT coming to the rescue (surprise, surprise). I'm sure you're familiar with demand and supply relationship...what happens if there is a short supply of a product? The price goes up.
Now, how much did you say you want to get paid to pick up crops in the blazing sun? Oh you didn't say. Do you REALLY BELIEVE the difference will cost the consumer only $0.05 extra? Honestly, stop kidding yourself.
Illegal immigrant's only pose a threat to America because of it's population growth. The illegal criminals are being deported back to their home countries, so immigrants should have the chance to live a good life and start fresh as they please. Their determination to be productive will help them, their families in thei rhome countries, and the U.S..