Posted on 08/25/2005 8:43:03 AM PDT by Happy2BMe
The cost of mass deportation
Knight Ridder Newspapers
(KRT) - The desire to rid the United States of illegal immigrants is understandably common. But while there most certainly are causes for concern, sound reasoning is too often left out of the conversation.
Take for instance, thoughts about what to do with illegal immigrants already living inside North America.
"Round them up and deport them."
"If people can't come legally, then they shouldn't be here."
And my personal favorite: "What part of illegal don't you understand."
The fact that mass deportation continues to ring feasible to so many people is astounding. Do people really think that enough immigration agents exist to go door to door throughout America ferreting out the 10 million-plus illegal population?
Knock. Knock.
"Who's there?"
"Immigration."
"Oh, I'm illegally in the country."
"Then, you better come with us, sir."
In this nirvana scenario the offending immigrant will toddle off to an awaiting bus and immediately be taken back to his or her native land.
A legal immigrant would magically appear to do the job the illegal person was performing. That is necessary because in this improbable scene there is never a disruption to the economy - or any admittance that some of these people are being soaked up by the labor market for a positive impact.
The fact that leadership within the Department of Homeland Security insists mass deportation is impossible never seems to dissuade people.
So now comes a study that actually shows what such a movement would cost. Center for American Progress admits its efforts were designed to give needed insight to people who are beholden to this solution. Casting practicalities aside, the center crunched some numbers and estimated deporting everyone would cost $206 billion within five years.
That is the lowball estimate. The report found the cost could be as high as $230 billion, possibly more.
To put the figures into more comprehensible terms - the $41 billion annual cost would eat up all of the 2006 budget of the Department of Homeland Security ($34.2 billion), and then some. The annual cost would be more than double what is spent on border and transportation security. It would be more than half of what is being spent on annually on war in Iraq.
Arguments could be made that yes, the American government could drop all efforts to say build highways, finish the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, educate children in public schools - and divert these funds to this new endeavor.
The assertion is often made that Congress merely lacks the guts to follow through with such a plan. Congress is lacking in its willingness to tackle true immigration reform.
But legislators are unable to fulfill this wish for practical reasons as well. First of all, deciding who is illegal and who is legal is a slippery, ever changing issue. Contrary to the beliefs of many people - it is not a black/white, you either are or are not situation.
Many, many people are part way to being legal. They are in the process of adjusting their status. Some people get temporarily put into the illegal category when paperwork is misplaced or simply lost by our government (way more common than what most people could imagine).
No system exists to check minute by minute where along this continuum of legal/illegal people sit.
This is not to say that the government shouldn't continue to crack down on people who are illegally in the country; especially those who commit violent crimes.
The report also pointed out this shocking statistic: "The number of undocumented entering the country annually is now so large that it exceeds the number of legal migrants."
But change will only happen when more people become informed and realistic about immigration.
Needed is support for practical reforms like overhauling our visa system, figuring out if we really do need a good chunk of these illegal workers and then changing things so those people can legally enter the country.
Anything else is just dreaming.
Pretty simple, actually.
Fine the employers heavily when they hire those people and the majority of the problem will take care of itself.
This is unnecessary. Simply make it difficult enough for them to remain here and they will deport themselves.
Oh, we don't have to deport that many people. We just make it a lot tougher to cross the border, deny tax-paid benefits to illegals, and gradually increase crackdowns on employers who hire illegals. That gives time for the economy to adjust and for those who are here illegally to decide it's in their best interests to leave.
Stop their benefits, stop the employment, they'll soon leave on their own.
To that end, the Task Force proposes the creation by 2010 of a North American community to enhance security, prosperity, and opportunity. We propose a community based on the principle affirmed in the March 2005 Joint Statement of the three leaders that ‘‘our security and prosperity are mutually dependent and complementary.’’ Its boundaries will be defined by a common external tariff and an outer security perimeter within which the movement of people, products, and capital will be legal, orderly, and safe. Its goal will be to guarantee a free, secure, just, and prosperous North America.
See http://www.cfr.org/content/publications/attachments/NorthAmerica_TF_final.pdf
No Amnesty. Deport them. Catapult style.
"What exactly does our government plan to do about this little problem?"
reward them with free health care and give in state tuition to university schools while punishing out of state citizens
Frankly, we would save money.
To quote the President: "Bring it on!"
This is a very limited view, of course. Cost to implement might be well offset by higher wages of people who actually pay taxes. I agree that it is pretty unworkable but to say that the feds cannot afford to do their job right is specious.
Don't feed the bears in the park and they'll return to the woods where their search for food is more successful.
A better question would be when will the enablers of illegal immigration, like the writer of this piece, stop employing this non-sequitor?
The hardest part of getting rid of the problem lies in overcoming the political power of a small but greedy & unethical segment of our economy. The rest would be easy & would save rather than cost money.
"A legal immigrant would magically appear to do the job the illegal person was performing."
Fact is, that until recent years, the great majority of these jobs were filled by US Citizen kids....just entering the workforce and assimilating their work ethic. Illegal aliens working illegally for less than legal wages (or the going rate) has profoundly affected the availability of young American citizens to obtain these jobs and the resulting work ethic.
An illegal alien workforce is bad gor American citizens in so many ways, not even considering the unearned benefits issue.
There's some truth to this article, but what I would do is as follows:
Have ICE meet with known large employers of illegal aliens and find out just how many willing American workers there are in the employer's community. Tell the employer you want to see him start hiring a lot more Americans and fewer Mexicans. If the employer refuses, have ICE post a notice on the workplace saying that ICE will come in a couple of weeks to check the immigration status of the workers. The illegals will move on to other jobs.
It's true that we can't deport every chicken plucker at Tyson's along with every garment and agricultural worker. But you can make steady progress.
It is a simple solution - Take away all benefits (and I mean everything federal, state, local and otherwise) and penalize employers who hire with hefty fines, eliminate the right of children born to illegals in the US to claim US citizenship.
It is really that simple - no wall, no mass deportation no haggling. Bush knows what the answer is but instead we are given more spending in the way of Border patrol agents which is a bandaid approach to the real problem.
It is a simple solution - Take away all benefits (and I mean everything federal, state, local and otherwise) and penalize employers who hire with hefty fines, eliminate the right of children born to illegals in the US to claim US citizenship.
It is really that simple - no wall, no mass deportation no haggling. Bush knows what the answer is but instead we are given more spending in the way of Border patrol agents which is a bandaid approach to the real problem.
"What exactly does our government plan to do about this little problem?"
It is sadly apparent that it is not going to do anything, so it's going to come down to the Citizens of this country doing it, ala the Minuteman Project.
Posting the names addresses and phone numbers of those businesses who hire Illegals might be a first good step. Refusing to buy their services or products, and or picketing in front of their businesses.
There are many things we can do to force the ball down the hill.
"Fine the employers heavily when they hire those people and the majority of the problem will take care of itself."
That and start pulling contractors licenses.
A good way to reduce unemployment. Start a government program like Roosevelt did with the CCC. They could round up the Illegals and herd them back across the border.
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