Posted on 05/23/2007 11:39:44 PM PDT by Jean S
A senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, Rector has been crunching numbers on the cost of illegal immigration for years. And now, as Congress fumbles toward some sort of deal, his work is giving us a new perspective on
the debate.
Rector set out to answer this question: Is the presence of illegal immigrants, mostly from Mexico, a boon for the U.S. economy, or a drag?
As it turns out, the best way to get the answer is not to look specifically at illegal immigrants but instead at the economics of the 17.7 million American households made up of people without a high school degree.
We know a lot about that group — how much they make, how much they spend, what benefits they receive from the government.
Why is it relevant to illegal immigration? Well, close to two-thirds of the illegal immigrant workforce in America falls into that category. The more you learn about workers without a degree, the more you learn about illegal immigrants.
First, Rector found that people without high school degrees, like most everybody else, pay a lot in taxes — an annual average of $9,689 per household. That number includes $2,509 in Social Security tax, as well as $1,486 in state and local sales taxes, $1,474 in federal income tax, $1,371 in property tax, and smaller amounts in all sorts of other levies. (Rector’s figures are from 2004.)
But those without high school degrees also receive a disproportionately large amount of government benefits — $32,138 per household per year, according to Rector.
The biggest part of that is $11,963 in what is called means-tested aid, that is, aid specifically for low-income households. That includes Medicaid, tax credits, food stamps, housing aid, and dozens of other federal programs.
Another $10,026 comes in direct benefits, that is, benefits available to all Americans who qualify for them. That includes Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance.
Other benefits counted by Rector include public education, police and fire protection, public transportation, and dozens of other services.
Put it all together, and Rector found that the average low-skill household receives $22,449 more in benefits than it pays in taxes.
Rector then multiplied that $22,449 by 17.7 million — the number of low-skill households in the U.S. — and found that the group cost U.S. taxpayers $397 billion in 2004.
Multiplied by 10, that number means that such households will cost taxpayers at least $4 trillion in the next decade — unless Congress makes the cost even higher.
“This number would go up significantly if changes in immigration policy lead to substantial increases in the number of low-skill immigrants entering the country and receiving services,” Rector concluded.
Advocates of a more liberal immigration policy don’t question that illegal immigrants cost the government more than they pay in taxes. But they argue that those illegal immigrants are responsible for a large amount of economic growth, which far
outweighs their cost to taxpayers.
That is hard to measure, and Rector argues that even when growth is factored in, illegal immigrants are still a substantial net liability.
The bottom line? Well, it doesn’t mean that we should not provide benefits for the poor, the elderly and others. The government has made a lot of promises to a lot of people, and it should keep its word.
But it does mean we should not adopt policies that will vastly increase the number of low-skill households in this country.
What sense would that make?
York is a White House correspondent for National Review. His column appears in The Hill each week. E-mail: byork@nationalreview.comThis email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .
Destroying our culture, filling our prisons, dividing us, not wanting to be part of the melting pot, claiming we stole this land, cutting in line ahead of those who are following the law, undercutting wages, overcrowding and wrecking our schools, causing more pollution, getting in our faces by marching in the streets with their Mexican flags, and making it impossible to drive on our freeways. Yep, I’d say they are a net negative.
And when half or more of their income is off the books...?
immigration PING
Did he include the unearned income credit? Many get 1000s of dollars back, regardless of what they paid in.
WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! TILL YOU RUN OUT OF INK IN YOUR PEN!
Bombard the Democrats as well, especially the ones that ran on an anti immigration plank and the ones in marginal districts who could be vulnerable. keep pounding on them.
Or for that matter, the fact that these clowns send a big part of their earnings home to Mexico and take money out of our economy.
This is such a no-brainer it’s ridiculous. These are not productive members of society. Nor do they intend to be such.
JMO but I think it’s all about votes.
Just take a typically illegal family with three kids in public school. Here in California the cost per kid per year is about $10,000. That’s $30,000 a year on the taxpayer. The illegal parents don’t even begin to pay that bill in taxes. The Americans that hire these people are doing it at the expense of everyone else. That should be a crime in itself. They reap the benefit of lower cost labor while everyone else pays for their health care, criminal justice system, education, etc...
Go after those who purposely hire them with a vengeance.
The top 10% Of Mexico and Central American nations is a white Spanish elite. They lord over populations of indigenous Indians and semi indigenous peoples. This lower class 90% is what the elites are bulldozing into the United States. The stupid gringos accept this. The Euro-Spanish elites are laughing themselves silly
At present rates and with this massive amnesty, half of Mexico will live here soon. Half of Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador
bookmark
Well put Doug.
Regards
Pardon me, but I thought the role of governmnet was to uphold the constitution, collect legal taxes, maintain a standing Army and Navy, make laws and regulate interstate commerce. Where does the idea of making promises, much less keeping these promises, come into the above equation?
That's not the point - the problem with organizations like Heritage & sites like FR is that members are enamored with facts and tend to be blinded by logic.
But that's not what this movement and debate is about. No, if we listen, we can hear exactly what our elected representatives are telling us: It's all about votes.
This is all about pure political power; who will control policy & the purse strings. Using facts & logic to debate these points merely reinforces their poor opinion of us since it conclusively proves to them that WE DON'T GET IT.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1838898/posts
Even with the free education, hispanics do not do well in school and they are out doing everyone else in teenage pregnancy. Now we will have generation upon generation of welfare recipients.
It seems to me that how much tax revenue are generated by an individual is not really included in this. Let's say Pedro the carpenter gets 1000 dollars for a job and pays 200.00 taxes. He then gives 800 dollars to Jose the plumber who pays 160 taxes who gives 640 dollars to..etc..etc.
Everyone who has an open mind on the issue of illegals comprehends that allowing them to stay here is costing American taxpayers BILLIONS annually...everyone except GWB, RINO’s, ‘Rats & companies who are profiting from employing illegals at taxpayers’ expense!
why don’t we attack the government benefits, instead of immigration?
FYI:
http://www.neoperspectives.com/Amnesty_From_Government.htm
ping
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.