"I have yet to see a strong argument for why it would be a bad thing?"
you haven't been paying attention
when it's costing California alone, TEN BILLION A YEAR to allow illegals to stay here and another FIVE BILLION for AZ,NM,TX for starters and I won't even get into the number of hospitals that have had to close because they can no longer afford to give FREE MEDICAL CARE TO ILLEGALS...
"scholar?"... I suggest you change your screen name. LOL
Notice I didn't advocate illegal immigration; I argued that an influx of low-wage workers would not, in and of itself, be a bad thing.