Saturday, December 08, 2007
While looking around forums online...
...I found the question: "Do you think illegal immigrants should be forced to return home?" There were an array of answers to the question, but so many people said yes because illegal immigrants must have come here with bad intentions of stealing Americans' jobs. They abuse social security and don't pay taxes.
I had an opinion...
I think we assume many of these undocumented people came to the U.S. illegally, but I don't think it's safe to assume that. Because I work with international students, and I know a lot of people who came to the U.S. legally, but eventually fell out of status with immigration because of expired visas, I-20s, DS-2019s, etc.
Also, we should not assume that undocumented workers do not pay taxes. Some of them do and some of them don't. Just like some Americans evade their taxes. It's not a simple black and white answer, and taxes are actually a small part of the issue. I think most of us underestimate the contribution of these workers make to the American economy. If all our undocumented workers didn't go to work tomorrow, you probably wouldn't get your coffee served at Dunkin' Donuts or your gas pumped at your local station, or your pizza delivered or your house cleaned while you are at work.
Whether you like to admit it or not, America's economy depends of all of these workers, which is why we don't pass bills which send everyone back immediately. In fact, all the people screaming "send them back" probably haven't thoroughly considered the consequences of doing so. America prospered so quickly because we have always had cheap (or free) labor, so next time you sip your hot coffee or bite into a slice of cheap pizza consider who brought it to your table.
I had an opinion...
I think we assume many of these undocumented people came to the U.S. illegally, but I don't think it's safe to assume that. Because I work with international students, and I know a lot of people who came to the U.S. legally, but eventually fell out of status with immigration because of expired visas, I-20s, DS-2019s, etc.
Also, we should not assume that undocumented workers do not pay taxes. Some of them do and some of them don't. Just like some Americans evade their taxes. It's not a simple black and white answer, and taxes are actually a small part of the issue. I think most of us underestimate the contribution of these workers make to the American economy. If all our undocumented workers didn't go to work tomorrow, you probably wouldn't get your coffee served at Dunkin' Donuts or your gas pumped at your local station, or your pizza delivered or your house cleaned while you are at work.
Whether you like to admit it or not, America's economy depends of all of these workers, which is why we don't pass bills which send everyone back immediately. In fact, all the people screaming "send them back" probably haven't thoroughly considered the consequences of doing so. America prospered so quickly because we have always had cheap (or free) labor, so next time you sip your hot coffee or bite into a slice of cheap pizza consider who brought it to your table.
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The assumption that they aren't paying taxes comes from the fact that if they did pay their taxes, they would easily be identified as illegal residents and be deported. I'm not sure how accurate that assumption is, but I would be curious. I'm too lazy to look myself though.
I'm also not convinced by your argument that they play an important role in our economy. Sure, if they all stopped working immediately there would be all sorts of problems, but that's not the issue--"should they be here in the first place?" is a better question. We couldn't logistically get them all out of the country so quickly to begin with. However, if we were to round all of our illegal residents up over the course of a few years, would there be a huge hit to the economy? Unlikely.
At the same time, many people's frustration with illegal immigrants is that they take jobs from citizens. I think this is a bunch of crap, since these immigrants are clearly consuming goods on our economy as well.
Lastly, the expired documentation issue really isn't a valid excuse in my mind. If you travel to a country, you need to do so legally. If it's no longer legal for you to be there, you need to go home. What do we do with people who can't afford to go home? Send them to community service until they've earned their ticket home. (That's one suggestion, among many reasonable ones.)
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I'm also not convinced by your argument that they play an important role in our economy. Sure, if they all stopped working immediately there would be all sorts of problems, but that's not the issue--"should they be here in the first place?" is a better question. We couldn't logistically get them all out of the country so quickly to begin with. However, if we were to round all of our illegal residents up over the course of a few years, would there be a huge hit to the economy? Unlikely.
At the same time, many people's frustration with illegal immigrants is that they take jobs from citizens. I think this is a bunch of crap, since these immigrants are clearly consuming goods on our economy as well.
Lastly, the expired documentation issue really isn't a valid excuse in my mind. If you travel to a country, you need to do so legally. If it's no longer legal for you to be there, you need to go home. What do we do with people who can't afford to go home? Send them to community service until they've earned their ticket home. (That's one suggestion, among many reasonable ones.)
# posted by 
: 4:22 PM
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