Posted on 05/19/2004 8:54:10 AM PDT by gubamyster
Arizona ninth in abount sent to Latin relatives
By Ignacio Ibarra
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
The money that immigrant workers send back home in dribbles of about $200 a month, grows into a $30 billion torrent of cash so big it surpasses all other forms of foreign capital exchange in Mexico and Latin America, a new study shows.
At $9.1 billion, immigrant workers in California, with 5.3 million Latin American adults, send the most money back home, according to the Inter American Development Bank, which released a state-by-state breakdown Monday.
Rounding up the top five were: New York at $3.6 billion; Texas at $3.2 billion; Florida at $2.4 billion; and Illinois at $1.5 billion.
Arizona, with just more than 533,000 Latin American adults living in the state, ranked ninth in the study. It showed that about 42 percent of immigrant workers here sent $606 million back home.
The money is primarily spent on helping families survive in harsh economic times. But a small portion, up to 15 percent, is saved and invested. That's helping to build "economic democracy" in nations where, until recently, only the wealthy had access to bank accounts, said Donald Terry, manager of the Multilateral Investment Fund, a part of the Inter American Development Bank.
"We now have what is essentially an integrated labor market in which money flows south and people flow north," Terry said of the study findings. "Whether it's bad or it's good, it's reality.
"People are going to move to where the jobs are."
The benefit of better-paying jobs for the immigrant community in the United States is obvious, but the economic value of the combined $450 billion in earnings provides an invaluable spark to the nation's economic engine, he said.
While the growing volume of remittances from the U.S. to Latin America provides some relief to those left behind, it also is a symptom of the failure of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the economic globalization that is forcing people off their land and across the U.S. border, said John Fife. Fife is pastor of the Tucson's Southside Presbyterian Church and co-founder of the nationwide Sanctuary Movement of the 1980s.
"It is clear that without that remittance from migrant workers there would be tremendous social and political upheaval in Mexico and Central America," he said.
About 60 percent of the nearly 10 million Latin American immigrants in the U.S. send money to relatives back home, the study said.
For the immigrants in the U.S., the money represents about 10 percent of their annual income. The money sent home, however, represents more than 80 percent of the recipients' total household income, according to the study that was based on 3,800 phone interviews conducted in 37 states with large Hispanic populations.
The study is the first to quantify the remittance from individual states.
The study found that some of the most recent immigrants to the U.S. from Latin American countries are settling in states not traditionally seen as immigrant destinations - like Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. More than 1 million immigrants living in those states sent more than $2.2 billion back to Latin America in 2003.
The recent immigrants in those Southern states averaged more than $2,600 in remittances per year while older, more established immigrants sent about $1,132 a year back home.
Terry said one of the reasons for the lesser amount going back home from more established immigrants is that families usually are reunited in the United States.
Last year, the flow of remittances from Mexicans living in the U.S. to relatives in Mexico totaled more than $13 billion, said Florencio Zaragoza, president of Fundacion Mexico, a Tucson-based organization that promotes the interests of Mexican citizens living in the U.S.
° Contact Ignacio Ibarra at 806-7746 or at nacho1@mindspring.com.
ping
Now, imgaine that $30 billion staying in the local economies instead.
We need more.....
We need more.....
30 billion, Isn't that the magic number of the Gray-out-Davis deficit?
Hey Bush is doing his part, since announcing his amnasty program illegal boarder crossing are up 30%. Way to go Jeorge!
My thought about this is that without tremendous social and political upheaval, nothing will change. They'll keep making a run for our border.
I think this article possibly holds the key to turning this situation around.
You know, I have been thinking about all this. My wife is from Mexico (legally, of course) and has different views about all this. Remember back in '86, when Reagan gave amnesty to the illegals here, they petitioned their families to come over to live in the US legally, which was granted to them. All of a sudden, the money which they were sending to Mexico dried up and Mexico had their currency collapse a short time thereafter.
Now, looking at the present time, Bush has been pushing for Mexico to privatize their oil fields. Mexico has resisted strongly. Bush has proposed amnesty. I can't help if this is a larger strategy of telling Mexico's government "Hey look, open your oil for private investors, or we will take away your largest source of income by giving all the people here illegaly legal status."
While I am strongly against amnesty and illegal immigration, I disagree vehemently what it is doing to our culture and cities, I must also realize that there must be a stronger driving force here. The majority of Americans are against illegal immigration, which is being ignored by the politians. I just decided to think outside the box and maybe am wrong on my assumptions here.
The states should be able to tax such remittances at a nice 15-20 percent, with the proceeds going to the state hospitals and clinics that provide free medical care (and other welfare benefits) to these parasites. And perhaps some should go to the overwhelmed school systems in places such as Arizona and Texas. Why should we keep on subsidizing their employers' cheap labor?
"It is clear that without that remittance from migrant workers there would be tremendous social and political upheaval in Mexico and Central America," he said.
It is also clear that the powers that be prefer that the tremendous social upheaval happen in the U.S.
TAX THESE CASH TRANSFERS.
Kinda like uncle sam holding a gun to his own head & saying 'privatize Pemex or the old grey-haired guy gets it.'
Mass Immigration Cost American Taxpayers $69 Billion Net and 2 Million Jobs in 1997
Study by Dr. Donald Huddle Reports Legal Immigration of over 1 Million Per Year Accounts for over 62% of Costs
State Costs to Taxpayers are Also Soaring (1996 Net Costs % up from 1992):
California: $28 billion up 35%
New York: $14 billion up 29%
Texas: $7 billion up 37%
Florida: $6 billion up 77%
The first study of the net cost of immigration to American taxpayers in 1997 conducted by Dr. Donald Huddle, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Rice University, found that:
The nearly 26 million legal and illegal immigrants settling in the United States since 1970 cost taxpayers a net $69 billion in 1997 alone, in excess of taxes those immigrants paid. This represents a cost of $260 in additional taxes paid by each U.S. resident or $1,030 in additional taxes paid by each family of four. This cost is a substantial increase over the net immigration costs of $65 billion ins 1996, $51 billion ins 1994, $44 billion in 1993, and $43 billion in 1992.
Over 62% of the net national cost of immigration in 1996, $40.6 billion, was attributable to legal and legalized (amnesty) immigrants. Illegal immigration generates about 38%, $24 billion of the total net cost. Legal immigration levels are over one million per year, and rising.
During 1996, approximately 2.3 million predominantly low-skill American workers were displaced from their jobs due to the continued heavy influx of immigrant workers since 1970. Taxpayers paid more than $15.2 billion in public assistance for those displaced workers in 1996, including Medicaid, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), unemployment compensation, and food stamps.
A net deficit of $8.5 billion dollars to the Social Security system in 1996 is attributable to the economic impact of the foreign-born population. Continued mass immigration threatens the solvency of the Social Security system.
Net cumulative costs for the 1998-2007 decade are projected to reach $932 billion, an average of $93.2 billion per year, even with recent changes in welfare and immigration policies and a prosperous economy, if current mass immigration trends are allowed to continue.
Breakdown for 1997 Costs of Legal Immigration
Public Schools (Primary, Secondary, Higher, etc) $22.5 billion
Bilingual Education, ESOL, ESL Education $ 3.3 billion
Medicaid $12.8 billion
AFDC (for legal and illegal immigrant's offspring) $ 2.4 billion
Social Security $24.8 billion
Supplemental Security Income $ 2.9 billion
Housing Assistance $ 2.6 billion
Criminal Justice $ 2.6 billion
Jobs Lost by Americans $10.8 billion
Other Programs $51.4 billion
1997 Total Costs for LEGAL Immigration: $136 billion
Add 1997 total costs for illegal immigration of $41 billion and subtract an estimated $108 billion in taxes paid by all immigrants (legal and illegal) in 1997 to obtain the overall net figure of $69 billion charged to you, and other American taxpayers.
Other key facts regarding immigration are:
1.) If current immigration trends continue, the current U.S. population of
274 million will nearly double to over 500,000,000 by 2050. (The U.S. was 135 million at the end of WWII.)
2.) Harvard Professor George Borjas demonstrated that mass immigration costs American workers $133 billion per year in wage depression and job loss.
3.) The prestigious National Research Council found at the state and local levels (which bear most of the burden for K-12 education) the net fiscal burden of the average immigrant-headed household (i.e., after subtracting state and local taxes the household paid) was:
$1,484 per immigrant-headed household in New Jersey (in the 1989-1990 fiscal year); and $3,463 in California (in 1994-1995)(p. 276-277)
Why should we continue to allow our own working poor, homeless, and unemployed to continue to suffer from the job loss, wage depression, and other burdens imposed by mass immigration?
http://www.carryingcapacity.org/huddlenr.html
I think giving amnesty would just totally destroy the Mexican economy. I understand the current financial issues, but am really curious if Pemex is privatized, what is going to be done with the illegal population here. There would have to be some sort of agreement of keeping illegals here since Mexico receives so much money from them.
Carrying Capacity Network Action Alert
Bush Administration wants Amnesty and Social Security Benefits for Illegal Aliens!
March 2004
– Support CCN's Efforts On the Hill–
As CCN first predicted in our December, 2003 E-mail Alert, the Bush Administration has released a plan which would eventually legalize millions of illegal aliens through an ostensible guestworker program. President Bush also proposed making U.S. jobs available to anyone, anywhere, if an employer could not find a worker in the United States willing to accept the job on the terms offered. Further, he wants to pay social security benefits to illegal aliens. The repercussions of this plan would be devastating for American workers, taxpayers, schools, the environment, as well as our quality of life.
Amnesty Threat Looms
The Bush Administration proposal is characterized as a 'guest-worker program', but it is really an amnesty. The plan stipulates that illegal aliens would be granted a three year guest-worker visa, which could be renewed every three years for an unspecified period. Entire families of illegal aliens could be granted legal status in the process. And these admittees would be added to the million plus immigrants already admitted annually!
The Bush Administration's Immigration 'Overhaul' Proposal would:
Increase Legal Immigration. An uncapped increase in the number of green cards issued.
Increase Illegal Immigration. The proposal will encourage more illegal immigration by rewarding law-breakers and providing an incentive for even more to come to our country illegally.
Grant Amnesty. Establishes legal status for illegal workers and puts them on the path to permanent residency and citizenship.
Cause Much Greater Population Growth. Dramatic increases in mass immigration through legalizing workers, chain migration, and increased legal flows, will exacerbate the problems our nation faces from overpopulation.
Remove visa limits. Employers could seek an unlimited amount of 'willing' employees throughout the world.
Cause Wage Depression & Unemployment. According to Harvard Prof. George Borjas, mass immigration costs American workers $152 billion per year in wage depression and job loss. Bush's proposal will greatly increase this cost by allowing employers to set lower wages and seek foreign labor when Americans find that wage too low.
Cause More Chain Migration. With work visas, illegal aliens would legally be allowed to bring entire families with them.
Provide Social Security for Illegals. Under the agreement, a portion of U.S. taxpayer funded social security benefits would be given to illegal aliens.
Think of it! If each of the 10 million legalized illegal aliens on the guestworker program brought 5 family members into the country, the U.S. population could increase by some 50 million people quickly.
Additionally, the Bush proposal omits any enforcement procedure for deportation. Without the enforcement arm, the saying, "there is nothing more permanent than a temporary guestworker," would become a stark reality.
"Our current limits of legal immigration are too low. My administration will work with Congress to increase the annual number of green cards that can lead to citizenship."
– President Bush, January 2004.
Mexico's President Fox is predictably excited that millions of illegal aliens could "come home" to Mexico to see their families and return to their jobs in the U.S. without impediment.
Historically, amnesties in our country have had significantly negative results. Given its size, the results of President Bush's 'guest worker' proposal would far exceed the negative consequences experienced from past amnesties.
Ominous Threat to U.S. Workers
Under the Bush "guest-worker program", employers would be allowed to seek an unlimited number of ‘willing employees' across borders, or from overseas, to work for substandard pay. No other interpretation is plausible for President Bush's words. For sure, American workers would suffer from the enactment of this plan. Harvard professor, George Borjas, found that mass immigration alone costs American workers $152 billion annually from wage depression and job loss. Under the plan, U.S. employers would be required to prove that no citizen will "take the job". There are no guidelines explaining what proof is required or acceptable.
By depressing standards and wages, U.S. based employers could create wages so low only foreign workers would take the low-paying jobs. Result: The unemployment rate steadily increases while job availability significantly decreases.
Social Security Benefits for Illegal Aliens from Our Tax Dollars
President Bush and Mexican President, Vicente Fox , are working toward finalizing a "totalization" agreement. This would allow a person who worked in the U.S. (legally or illegally) to return to Mexico to live, and count the years that they worked in the U.S. toward determination of U.S. Social Security benefit eligibility and benefit amount.
In order to qualify for Social Security benefits, Mexicans and others would only be required to prove they worked in the U.S. for 18 months or more legally or illegally. Under such a plan, persons who worked a minimum of 10 years in the U.S. would automatically qualify for full benefits, even if they worked the entire 10 years illegally. In addition, those who also worked in Mexico for a specific period of time could collect benefits in Mexico, in addition to benefits from the U.S.
If the plan is approved, the results for our Social Security system would be devastating. It is estimated that at least $720 million U.S. dollars in social security checks would be sent to Mexico annually. A totalization agreement would further weaken our severely compromised and financially strained Social Security system.
Do the Math
The U.S. population is growing by 1.2% per year, which means that our population doubles every 60 years. If the Bush proposal is approved, the United States population could double every 30 or 40 years! The bottom line is that the U.S. population could reach half a billion people in a mere 35 years! This would mean accelerating problems across the board – further degradation of public lands, decrease in the quality of life of U.S. citizens, the need for more schools, roads, prisons, water, and food. There would be an overwhelming increase in sprawl and traffic congestion, taxes and unemployment.
Defeating the Bush "guest-worker" proposal with an aggressive push to end mass immigration through a Moratorium is essential. Even if we do not get a moratorium bill passed this session, pushing for it will generate pressure to stop the amnesty and Social Security for illegals, We cannot afford another amnesty!
The Mass Immigration Reduction Act of 2003, H.R. 946, is essential in the push to significantly reduce mass immigration. This Moratorium Bill calls for the reduction of legal immigration from over one million annual admissions to 300,000. Urge your lawmakers to co-sponsor an amendment to cap the numbers at 100,000 annually for the next 5 years (the highest number which would allow the U.S. population to ever stabilize).
Immigration Overhaul or Overflow?
The Bush "guest-worker" proposal only encourages millions more to enter our country illegally hoping for yet another amnesty. With an endless supply of visas, renewable every 3 years for an indefinite period of time, increased legal immigration, and the possibility of entire families of "guest-worker" gaining legal status, we are looking toward a bleak future unless we stop this amnesty.
A Roper ASW Poll revealed that 83% of Americans believe that illegal alien property should be seized, and that the illegals should be deported. Let's tell our Representative and Senators what we think! CCN staff is intensively working to stop the proposal, and we need your help.
http://www.carryingcapacity.org/04aa1.html
Tax the transfers? No, I don't think so.
The banks handling these transfers already take a chunk for their own profits...I don't think they're going to give that up to the Feds. /sarcasm
On the serious side, though, that's not a bad idea as long as the taxes aren't filtered through the Federal Treasury first.
Imagine, is that one of the points on your list?
Every dollar collected should go to the Illegal Immigrant Cost Containment Fund of the state from which the money was sent.
Privatization would be a boon to the Mexican economy - the money currently going into the pockets of a corrupt few would be pumped into the Mexican economy = fewer illegals here.
Now you're cooking! Hmm, say about 50%?
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