Posted on 04/30/2006 6:21:01 AM PDT by sinkspur
In Texas, we shouldn't need a Hispanic boycott to demonstrate the significance of immigrants. They've been driving growth in the state economy for more than 30 years.
But maybe we could use a reminder about their increasing clout, and the assets and challenges they bring to the mix.
That might boost appreciation and provoke new initiatives to improve the future.
Immigrants' success at assimilating here -- in particular, their ability to close the gap in education and income -- will go a long way in determining Texas' prosperity.
For those who believe that immigration is more threatening than promising, consider that it accounted for more than half the job growth in the country from 1996 to 2002.
It may not be surprising that foreign-born workers accounted for 86 percent of the growth among mechanics and construction workers. But they also represented 27 percent of the group that includes doctors, scientists and teachers, and 31 percent of new health and science technicians, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The numbers would be higher, if not for rules that restrict the number of highly skilled foreigners who want to work here. In fiscal 2006, the annual cap for so-called H-1B visas was reached two months before the fiscal year even started.
Immigrants have been a crucial complement to the economy, with their numbers climbing when times were strong and waning in the downturns. Which means there's something a lot worse than having immigrants flow into Texas and the United States: having them not come here.
On Monday, Hispanics and other immigrants are planning rallies and a consumer boycott in major cities across the country. Their primary goal is to influence the immigration debate in Washington, which has become increasingly polarized.
Some lawmakers are focused on reducing undocumented workers and even punishing them. They propose to build fences between the U.S. and Mexico and beef up border patrols.
There have been some high-profile raids on employers in the past few weeks and talk about deporting an estimated 11 million illegals. That notion is both destructive and impractical.
Others talk about creating amnesty and guest-worker programs, proposals aimed at helping immigrants improve their lot here and keeping the flow of foreign-born residents coming.
"The only way to move forward is to move forward together," says Pia Orrenius, a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and a former member of the President's Council of Economic Advisers.
"Somehow, we have to legalize people who are already here," she says. "But we also need to have a system in place to keep employers honest and make sure there's a level playing field."
Here's what I'm wondering: Why do anything at all?
The state's population has grown at roughly twice the rate of the nation since 1970, largely because of the influx of foreign-born residents and a higher birth rate among Hispanics.
Because immigrants are younger, they also offer a counterweight to the aging baby boomer generation. Texas ranks as the second-youngest state, thanks to immigrants, and this demographic trend boosts labor markets, consumer sales and the housing industry.
But the federal government has intensified its campaign against illegal immigrants, primarily in the name of national security. It has become much more difficult for undocumented workers to get driver's licenses and do their banking.
Rumors of raids on big employers have sent a chill through the immigrant community, and workers fear mass deportations.
"Illegal immigration was working before, because we weren't enforcing the laws, and people lived almost as if they were legal," Orrenius says. "Now we've changed the rules of the game, so we need a more comprehensive solution."
Which leads to the current debate in Washington. A guest-worker program would make life easier for many immigrants, Orrenius says, but the rules can't be too complex or they'll be sidestepped again.
Some current restrictions are confounding. We allow a steady flow of low-skilled, often illegal, immigrants into the country, and they do many jobs that natives shun. But they generally take in more in public benefits than they pay out in taxes -- usually in the form of schooling for their children and medical care.
(Low-skilled natives also use more than they pay for, because skills, not nationality, most closely correlate with income.)
The workers who put more into the pool than they take out -- those with high skills and high income -- are restricted by federal policies.
From 2001 to 2003, we temporarily allowed 195,000 H-1B visas a year. Often used by engineers and scientists, almost all H-1Bs have bachelor's degrees, and half hold advanced degrees.
The annual cap is back at 65,000 visas, and it's not nearly high enough. In 2004, the cap was reached five months into the fiscal year, says the latest Economic Report of the President. In 2005, the cap was reached on the first day. In 2006, the visas were gone two months before the year began.
Orrenius says the current debate over immigration is similar to past conflicts. In the 1850s and early 1900s, there were backlashes against immigrants from Germany, China, Ireland, Italy and Poland.
Today, it's Mexico and Central America that account for 37 percent of immigrants, followed by Asia (25 percent) and Europe (14 percent).
People often complain that immigrants can't speak and write English, and Orrenius says that's reminiscent of the literacy laws that were proposed for newcomers almost a century ago.
She doesn't see much difficulty in our economy absorbing immigrants. They total about 36 million people, with fewer than 30 percent undocumented. Our total population is almost 300 million.
The bigger challenge is helping immigrants develop skills more quickly, so they can earn more and have better prospects. That puts the onus on education, because high school dropout rates remain twice as high for Hispanics, even in subsequent generations.
Texas has been confronting this problem for years, dealing with chronic underfunding in many poorer school districts.
Maybe immigration reform could help.
Many immigrants, especially illegals, pay payroll taxes and never collect from Social Security. The government keeps track of those numbers, and the pool was valued at $463 billion in 2002.
Imagine what some of that money could do on the local level.
The very first line of this tripe is premised on the favorite lie of the OBL; lumping illegal aliens together with legal immigrants.
http://www.diggersrealm.com/mt/archives/000942.html
Texas Taxpayers Illegal Aliens Cost Texas Taxpayers $4.7 Billion a Year!!!
As long as they are shutting down our economy and marching on Monday, let the National Guard march them right into boxcars for a quick ride back to the border. Then give them each an M16 and a case of ammo and tell them to go south and solve the "Mexico problem."
The more than $4.7 billion in costs incurred by Texas taxpayers annually result from outlays in the following areas:
Education. Based on estimates of the illegal immigrant population in Texas and documented costs of K-12 schooling, Texans spend more than $4 billion annually on education for illegal immigrant children and for their U.S.-born siblings. About 11.9 percent of the K-12 public school students in Texas are children of illegal aliens.
Works for me!!
Liberals use a truth or a lie as just another tool to pick up, one is no better or worse than the other. Whatever works for them.
It's the same rationalizations the europeans made. The results are national suicide.
"Imagine what that money could do on a local level.."
Then give them each an M16 and a case of ammo and tell them to go south and solve the "Mexico problem."
They can't even clean up the trash in the street. Why would they clean up their own government?
Given that, is providing education not better than NOT providing it?
Get the illegal invaders out of MY country NOW!
NO!
Well, the education is court-mandated. So, Texas school districts have little choice.
hmmm, I wonder why this LIB didnt take these costs into account? hmmm...
And that needs to be changed as well, time to lobby.
Forget the glories of globalization. It's Mexico's oil. With the world situation and despite terrorists crossing the border, this is why Bush kowtows to Fox. If the Middle East blows sky high with Iran and with Chavez making threats in Venezuela, plus Russia's stranglehold on oil/gas...we need a reliable source. (Thank you, dems, for lack of oil from Anwar. It will take ten years to get it flowing.) We fix Mexico and pay for the privilege of doing it. That's what Fox and his pals want.They've also decriminalized possession of small amounts of cocaine and marijuana. Why? $$$$$ Fox is playing hardball and looking to the future. Mexicans in the US will have dual citizenship, so if arrested, they're automatically innocent. The last thing Mexico wants is the stoppage of drug trade.
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