Value of Illegal Immigrants on Texas\' Education System and Economy

Texas Politics: Illegal Immigration, Economy, And Education

One of the contentious issues facing the economy of Texas is that of increasing cases of illegal immigration. Opponents of the undocumented immigration argue that, the immigrants act as a source of financial and social burden crippling the economy of the U.S. Statistics have shown that the immigrant population comprises about one third of the U.S. population: 12% (38 million), and 5.4% comprising of the U.S. workforce. Of the immigrant population, 76% comprise of the Latino, with a high percentage from the Mexico (59%) (LeMay and Michael 98). These rates have stimulated heated debates across the U.S. On the effects of the high percentage of immigrants on the U.S. economy and education with some arguing that, it has negative impacts while others argue that it has positive impacts to the economy and education system of Texas.

Financial analysts have argued that illegal immigrants pose high impacts on three key areas in the economy, which include health, education, and human services. These impacts extend to the Texas criminal system. Education forms act as the backbone of the Texas economy. It contributes to approximately 84% of the Texas economy. The cost of education rises in Texas is because all the immigrant children are eligible for education. This is contrary to other sectors like health where immigrants have restricted access (LeMay, Michael 102). Political analysts recognize that, undocumented immigrants contribute to the Texas economy. The taxpayers, consumers and workers, account for approximately 8% of the total Texas labor force, and at least a third of them in industries such as agriculture, textile, meat processing, and grounds keeping. The immigrants pay property and sales taxes contrary to the popular belief. Their contribution to Texas economy creates millions of jobs to the Texas population. A study conducted by the Texas State Comptroller found that, immigrants in Texas contributed to approximately $18 billion to the Texas economy (So-derlind, Sylvia, and James 225).

Although most analysts argue that the immigrants bring positive effects to the Texas economy, it is highly recognizable that it has negative impacts on the Texas economy. The high population of undocumented immigrants floods the Texas economy with a high population of low skilled labor force. This occurs because more than 60% of the adult immigrants lack or have a low level of education implying to the low skilled labor force. The high population of undocumented immigrants lowers the wages of the low skilled Americans in Texas. The immigrants cannot demand higher salaries: this creates competition in the Texas population because the labor they provide is relatively cheap. Lowering Texas wage reduces the incentives to investing in technologies that save the labor of the economy. This reduces the overall productivity and competitiveness of the Texas labor and industrial sectors (LeMay, Michael 2). As such Maxwell, Ernest, and Adolfo (189) recommends that the Texas immigration system should develop effective systems aiming at reducing the immigration rates to ensure economic prosperity in Texas in the coming future.

Undocumented immigrants who educated contribute immensely to the Texas economy. Educated immigrants and their descendants contribute to a significant net gain for the Texas State. Educated immigrant represents approximately $198,000 fiscal gain to the Texas economy translating their contribution to supporting the Texas education system. Texas' strength lies in its diversity (especially the cultural diversity) and fresh ideas provided by the illegal immigrants. Thus, the illegal immigrants introduce the desired culture into the Texas education system that influencing its dimension and performance of the Texas education system. In addition, having undocumented children in schools provides opportunities for the creation of jobs not only to the teachers, but also to other services related to education, such as maintenance staff, administrators, and teaching staff among other sectors. This increases the federal funding for the Texas schools, hence, an increase in the local and state revenue. The high enrollment of the illegal immigrants in Texas' schools will result in increased economic activity. This arises from the increased consumption of educational materials such as books and back to school shopping hence, Texas economic growth (Maxwell, Ernest, and Adolfo 158).

Although most analysts argue in favor of positive impacts of the illegal immigrants, education analysts have pointed some negative effects on the Texas educational system. High enrollment of the illegal immigrants in the Texas schools results in overcrowding. This diminishes the quality of education that influences the overall performance of the students in these schools. Many illegal immigrants end up acquiring a low level of education as compared to the legal immigrants in Texas. This affects the quality of the labor force, education and the overall well-being in the society. The uneducated immigrants are risky to the population, irrespective of ethnicity or heritage. In most cases, they will not value the aspect of educating their children. This translates its effects on the nature of low wages in the Texas education and social systems (Gonzales, Manuel 123).

The high student population of the illegal immigrants increases the Texas school population. Inadequacy in the resources allocated to these schools will be experienced. As a result, this leads to an imbalance between the need and the supply of the educational resources, hence, poor quality of the Texas education system. In addition, scholars argue that, the increasing population of the illegal immigrant population impacts on the rate of technology integration into the Texas educational system. Increased student population has severe impacts on technology integration such as online offerings hence, poor educational performance.

The costs of providing education to the illegal immigrants are mind-blowing. For example, the costs spent on providing the necessary resources to the K-12 schools in Texas are approximately $7 billion. This acts as a source of great burden that cripples the overall performance of the Texas economy. The high population of the illegal immigrants in Texas schools has forced the Texas education system to sacrifice the quality of its education to accommodate the needs of the immigrant students. This results in poor quality of education due to the inadequacy of the resources available for the Texas schools (LeMay, Michael 234).