Immigration in America: Benefits, Costs, and Economic Realities

Introduction

As Suarez-Orozco, Rhodes, and Milburn (2009) point out, immigrants need "supportive relationships" in order to succeed in the foreign country they move to (p. 151). However, when that foreign country is determined to address immigration issues—not only illegal immigration but also legal immigration—it can become a difficult problem for both sides of the political aisle. For a nation like the United States, that is especially true. After all, America was founded by immigrants. The early Spanish and French missionaries came in the 16th century seeking converts to Christianity. The Puritans and English followed. The Germans, Italians, Irish, and Polish all came to America in the wake of industrialization. Over time, America hosted so many different populations and groups of people that it was referred to as the "melting pot" in 1909 (Higgins, 2015).

However, America's approach to immigration has changed considerably over the years—especially in the wake of 9/11. A surge of nationalism brought Donald Trump to the White House, as he pledged to be tough on immigration, build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, and make America great again by making it safer. Still, that promise has not been without its costs. Indeed, no matter how one looks at it—whether from the angle of the cost of allowing immigration to continue or from the angle of the cost to stop or curb it—the price is considerable. At the same time, there are also benefits to immigration, such as the fact that it brings new people into the economy, new workers who help it grow, and new civic participants to replace disillusioned generations who exit the political process en masse (Vallejo, 2012). This paper explores the costs and benefits of both legal and illegal immigration to the United States.

Benefits of Immigration

As Vallejo (2012) shows, Mexican immigrants are one example of foreigners who seek a pathway to citizenship and who are typically more "civically active" (p. 22) than their white American counterparts, demonstrating their care and concern for the communities they have entered. Immigrants to America tend to be economically driven and, in order to make their mark and be accepted into American society, they work hard and strive to succeed. This is true for legal immigrants as well as for illegal immigrants in many cases (Vallejo, 2012), though politically speaking, Republicans and Democrats differ as to the extent this is true for illegal immigrants. President Trump characterized illegal immigrants as murderers, thugs, and rapists, while Democrats have depicted them as Dreamers who have come to the U.S. to build a better life (Everett, 2018).

Legal immigrants can also bring new and innovative ideas to America. This was the case following World War II, when a host of German immigrants came to the United States. They were scientists, artists, and industrialists, and they brought with them new ideas and products that helped the American economy expand and grow. Germans had been despised by many Americans before the war, but afterward they were viewed with great esteem as German immigrants helped give the American economy a boost across several industries.

This was somewhat similar to what happened with the Bracero Program during the war, when Mexican immigrants were allowed into America to work the fields and sustain the economy while American soldiers were fighting overseas: "By using guest workers, the Bracero Program enabled the U.S. government to solve the problem of labor shortages while maintaining control over immigration" (Zhao, 2016). This arrangement benefited both Mexicans and Americans economically—but it came with a cost. When the program ended, the Mexicans were expected to leave once their contracts expired. They had gotten a taste of American life, however, and many wanted to stay—and did. That dynamic began a relationship in which small business owners sought to exploit the cheap labor offered by illegal immigrants: "Anglo growers used race as a line of division within class blocs to ensure themselves a steady and cheap supply of Mexican immigrant labor" (Mmize & Swords, 2011, p. 30). This points to another benefit that some seek from illegal immigration: cheap labor for those willing to exploit the undocumented status of workers.

Employers who seek to benefit from low wages tend to favor hiring immigrants—usually undocumented ones—because they know such workers will accept under-the-table pay in order to avoid documentation trails. This arrangement also means taxes are not withheld, which represents a cost to the overall economy. So for some small business owners, particularly those in construction, illegal immigration offers a way to increase profit margins. The federal government, however, is shortchanged—and that is the central cost that must be considered when discussing immigration.

Costs of Immigration

The costs of legal and illegal immigration are much harder to quantify, as there are various perspectives from which to approach the issue: "For example, when respondents were asked specifically about jobs created and lost because of immigration, one poll found that 51 percent of those surveyed said they believe that immigrants take jobs away from native-born workers. However, 86 percent believe that immigrants are hard workers, and 61 percent think immigrants create jobs and set up new businesses" (West, 2010, p. 9). The discrepancy in viewpoint is not difficult to understand given the many different types of immigrants—legal and illegal—so the impressions people have of them vary considerably. The economic models used to measure the impact of immigrants on the U.S. also vary, mainly because "immigrants represent one-tenth of the overall American population, so the tremendous variety of ages, life situations, and economic circumstances makes modeling their impact challenging" (West, 2010, p. 9).

There is, nonetheless, a general rule applied when using economic models to measure the cost of immigration. This rule states that "typically, younger immigrants with school-age children or older immigrants who draw on health care and pensions cost the most, while young people with no children and middle-aged households with children past education age but with members who do not yet require considerable health or pension services cost the least" (West, 2010, p. 9). In other words, immigrants who obtain health care coverage because they are poor or who receive welfare from the American government represent a cost, while working-age immigrants who earn their way represent a benefit. That, at least, is how politicians tend to frame it. Republicans will point out the costs that immigrants place on the American economy, while Democrats will point to the benefits and the fact that many immigrant families contribute more to American society—culturally and economically—than they take from it. This political divide casts the issue in deeply polarizing terms.

Conclusion

Immigration in America is a divisive issue because of the underlying cultural perspectives that serve as the foundation of both polarizing political parties' platforms. Democrats and Republicans prefer to highlight numbers and figures that tell either a positive or a negative story about immigration. Is it possible that both sides' data are accurate? Yes—because the way the system is structured, costs can be higher at the state and local levels while benefits are felt more broadly at the federal level and within local economies that rely on immigrant labor. What the competing figures ultimately reveal is that in terms of education, housing, health care, and GDP, there is no single way to look at immigration in America.

It is a complex issue that cannot be easily analyzed or resolved. In most cases, immigration carries both costs and benefits, and economically speaking these are so intertwined that it is impossible to declare the net effect definitively positive or negative. It may be positive in some ways, as Lipman (2006) argues, but negative in others, as FAIR (2013) has noted. Interpreting the figures, statistics, and data will always produce a narrative that Republicans and Democrats can use to their political advantage—but that story will remain largely distorted as long as political bias serves as the primary lens for viewing economic reality. The economic evidence indicates that there is far more going on with immigration than either side is willing to acknowledge, and as such there can be no simple solution to the issue—no political quick fix in which a border wall solves all problems, nor one in which a program for Dreamers erases all costs at the state and local levels of government.

References

Camarota, S. (2013). The fiscal and economic impact of immigration on the United States. Retrieved from https://cis.org/Testimony/Fiscal-and-Economic-Impact-Immigration-United-States

Congressional Budget Office. (2007). The impact of unauthorized immigrants on the budgets of state and local governments. Retrieved from https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/110th-congress-2007-2008/reports/12-6-immigration.pdf

Everett, B. (2018). Coming soon: Another showdown over Dreamers in Congress. Retrieved from https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/21/daca-dreamers-congress-republicans-trump-417427

FAIR. (2013). The costs of illegal immigration on United States taxpayers—2013 edition. Retrieved from https://fairus.org/issue/publications-resources/fiscal-burden-illegal-Immigration-2013

Gee, L., Gardner, M., & Wiehe, M. (2016). Undocumented immigrants' state & local tax contributions. Retrieved from https://itep.org/wp-content/uploads/immigration2016.pdf

Higgins, J. (2015). The rise and fall of the American "melting pot." Wilson Quarterly. Retrieved from

Lipman, F. (2006). The taxation of undocumented immigrants: Separate, unequal, and without representation. Scholarly Works, Paper 804. http://scholars.law.unlv.edu/facpub/804

Mmize, R., & Swords, A. (2011). Consuming Mexican labor: From the Bracero Program to NAFTA. University of Toronto Press.

Suarez-Orozco, C., Rhodes, J., & Milburn, M. (2009). Unraveling the immigrant paradox: Academic engagement and disengagement among recently arrived immigrant youth. Youth & Society, 41(2), 151–185.

Vallejo, J. (2012). Barrios to burbs. Stanford University Press.

West, D. (2010). Rethinking U.S. immigration policy. Brookings Institute Press.

Zhao, X. (2016). Immigration to the United States after 1945. Retrieved from http://americanhistory.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-72