Immigrants will not break the economy
Monday, February 16, 2009
The economic downturn has left citizens left and right pointing the finger of blame. Some blame the government, some the unions, others the rich or the poor. One favorite scapegoat for angry Americans is illegal immigrants.The majority of Americans are the offspring of immigrants who, at one point or another, came to this country searching for a brighter future, religious freedom, and a growing economy where they can work their way into a better class, something that was not possible in their own countries. People came to this country any way they knew how. This is still true today. America is a paradigm of freedom and the ability to be anything you want. In America, you can work hard to change your social class, earn enough for your children to have a good education, and, like Barack Obama, even become president. From this perspective, it is easy to see why millions of people still flock to this country, and they should continue to do so.
Who are we to tell people they cannot come to our country to work for a better life? If anything, we should empathize with these people, not blame them for doing what is best for their families. As we all know from long lines at the Social Security Office and DMV, government offices are tediously slow. For migrant workers, navigating the storm of paperwork, tests, and ridiculously long waiting periods would be impossible. We need immigration reform for dealing with these workers, not a concrete wall.
I found a lot of reports on the web that either inflated or deflated the cost of immigrants, depending on the opinion of the writer. The Center for Immigration Studies, objectively stated that although it is true immigrants pay billions in taxes each year, they cost much more because they often lack health insurance and have more children in the education system. They estimated the total cost of one illegal immigrant household was about $2000, or $10.4 billion for them all.
Depending on your perspective, $10.4 billion dollars may or may not be a lot of money. Sure, it could pay for new roads and infrastructure, college grants, and scientific research, or anything else you can think of. I’m a lot more concerned about the $700 billion bailout Congress approved recently, or the trillions being spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Or how about the estimated $12 billion that is being spent annually on the so-called “war on drugs”?
Allowing immigrants to stay in America would allow them to continue to pursue their dream, the American dream. Providing education for their children, just as we do our own, will produce capable teachers, doctors, administrators, and lawyers. By giving to others we give back to our own country. We can continue to weave colors into the fabric of America, learn from their cultures, and continue down the path of greatness America has been set upon. Let’s not build a wall, but tear them down instead. Let’s tear down the walls of bigotry, racism, and fear that drive us to keep others out and open our arms instead to what they have to offer.
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