Jump to content






Photo
- - - - -

Taxes are going up!


  • Please log in to reply
34 replies to this topic

#31 April

April

    Netizen

  • New Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 72 posts

Posted 09 December 2002 - 01:36 PM

Folks, this is NOT a newspaper article, it's a STUDY. So, it is NOT an opinion, but a detailed look at a problem, to find the FACTS.

Study Examines Costs and Benefits for the United States

Read the Report Online

Download the Report in Adobe .pdf Format

WASHINGTON (July 12, 2001) — The Mexican government has expressed its strong support for an illegal-alien amnesty, and the Bush Administration is expected to propose a new Mexican guestworker program during President Fox’s state visit in September. What would be the likely effects of such policies? One way to answer this question is to examine the characteristics of current Mexican immigrants. To this end, the Center for Immigration Studies has published Immigration from Mexico: Assessing the Impact on the United States by the Center’s Director of Research, Steven A. Camarota. The new report contains detailed information on the economic and demographic characteristics of Mexican immigrants at both the national and state level. Topics examined include: education, welfare use, poverty and economic mobility, insurance coverage, school-age population, impact on prices and native wages, and performance of the 2nd and 3rd generations.

Among the report’s findings:

• Large-scale immigration from Mexico is a very recent phenomenon. In 1970, the Mexican immigrant population was less than 800,000, compared to nearly 8 million in 2000.

• Almost two-thirds of adult Mexican immigrants have not completed high school, compared to fewer than one in ten natives. Mexican immigrants now account for 22 percent of all high school dropouts in the labor force.

• Though most natives are more skilled and thus do not face significant job competition from Mexican immigrants, this study (consistent with previous research) indicates that the more than 10 million natives who lack a high school degree do face significant job competition from Mexican immigrants.

• By increasing the supply of unskilled labor, Mexican immigration in the 1990s has reduced the wages of workers without a high school education by an estimated 5 percent. The workers affected are already the lowest-paid, comprising a large share of the working poor and those trying to move from welfare to work.

• This reduction in wages for the unskilled has likely reduced prices for consumers by only an estimated .08 to .2 percent in the 1990s. The impact is so small because unskilled labor accounts for only a tiny fraction of total economic output.

Author Steven Camarota said of the findings, "Mexican immigration is overwhelmingly unskilled, and it is hard to make an economic argument for unskilled immigration, because it tends to reduce wages for workers who are already the lowest paid and whose real wages actually declined in the 1990s. Moreover, this cheap labor comes with a high cost. Because the modern American economy offers very limited opportunities for workers with little education, continued unskilled immigration cannot help but to significantly increase the size of the poor and uninsured populations, as well as the number of people using welfare."

Other Findings:

• Because of their much lower education levels, Mexican immigrants earn significantly less than natives on average. This results in lower average tax payments and heavier use of means-tested programs. Based on estimates developed by the National Academy of Sciences for immigrants by age and education at arrival, the lifetime fiscal impact (taxes paid minus services used) for the average adult Mexican immigrant is a negative $55,200.

• Although they comprise 4.2 percent of the nation’s total population, Mexican immigrants and their U.S.-born children (under 18) account for 10.2 percent of all persons in poverty and 12.5 percent of those without health insurance. Even among Mexican immigrant families that have lived in United States for more than 20 years, almost all of whom are legal residents, more than half live in or near poverty and one-third are uninsured

• Even after welfare reform, an estimated 34 percent of households headed by legal Mexican immigrants and 25 percent headed by illegal Mexican immigrants used at least one major welfare program, in contrast to 15 percent of native households. Mexican immigrants who have lived in the United States for more than 20 years, almost all of whom are legal residents, still have double the welfare use rate of natives.

• Mexican immigration acts as a subsidy to businesses that employ unskilled workers, holding down labor costs while taxpayers pick up the costs of providing services to a much larger poor and low-income population.

• The lower educational attainment of Mexican immigrants appears to persist across the generations. The high school dropout rates of native-born Mexican-Americans (both second and third generation) are two and a half times that of other natives.

Policy Recommendations:

The United States needs to consider programs designed to improve the labor market skills of legal Mexican immigrants. It is also absolutely essential that more effort be made to improve educational opportunities for their children so that they will have the skills necessary to compete in the modern American economy. In the future, the United States should also consider policies designed to reduce unskilled legal immigration in general, including from Mexico. Greater resources should also be devoted to stopping illegal immigration, including enforcement of the ban on hiring illegal aliens.

Guestworker programs are unlikely to solve the problems found in the study. By increasing the supply of unskilled labor, a guestworker program would still adversely effect the wages of the lowest-paid American workers. What’s more, unskilled guestworkers would be overwhelmingly poor or near-poor and thus would pay little in taxes and be likely to receive welfare on behalf of their U.S.-born children, just as many illegal immigrants do today. As a result, a guestworker program would almost certainly create significant fiscal costs. Thus, legalizing illegal aliens -- through a guestworker program, an amnesty, or some combination of the two -- would not change the fundamental problems associated with high levels of unskilled immigration.


Found from Google search engine. And there is more if you care to go find them.

#32 April

April

    Netizen

  • New Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 72 posts

Posted 09 December 2002 - 03:15 PM

If that last post wasn't enough for you all, here's just one more to sober you up. Again, taken from the search engine "Google".
It's got the facts and numbers...........

Illegal Immigrants Are One-Fourth of Federal Prisoners

Over one-fourth of all inmates in federal prisons--26 percent to be exact--are illegal
aliens. Furthermore, a significant number of the estimated five to six million illegal
aliens in the U.S. commit serious crimes, according to Border Watch, the newsletter of
the American Immigration Control Foundation.
The cost to American taxpayers to house the large number of alien criminals in state
and federal prisons is estimated to be more than $1.3 billion annually. Besides the cost
of housing an army of alien criminals, America's taxpayers fork over some $45 billion
each year to cover the total costs of immigration, according to an article in the June 6,
1994 Wall Street Journal by Dan James. James writes:

"Immigrants residing in the U.S. cost U.S. taxpayers more than $45 billion annually,
according to 'The Costs of Immigration,' a just-released study by Donald L. Huddle,
professor emeritus of economics at Rice University in Houston. Mr. Huddle projects
that in the 1993-2002 period the 'net cost to the taxpayers of all taxpayers of all
immigrants [in the U.S.] will total over $450 billion'. . . "Indeed, Mr. Huddle's
calculation is conservative. . . for it is predicted on an annual influx of 810,000 legal
and 300,000 illegal immigrants, 1.1 million altogether; Tulane University demographer
Leon Bouvier projects an inflow of as many as 1.5 million legal and illegal immigrants
yearly in the 90's."
Prof. Huddle's study covered a total of 18.1 million immigrants present in the U.S. in
1992. . . both legal and illegal immigrants, as well as illegals granted amnesty under a
1986 law, refugees, and those granted asylum. The study examined costs at all levels
of government that year, above and beyond the taxes they paid. ". . . The culprit is not
Mexico, of course, but the Immigration Act of 1990, which increased legal
immigration by 40% and stimulated record illegal immigration. "If Congress is serious
about making spending cuts, it can begin by repealing the 1990 Immigration law and
declaring a moratorium on all immigration until, at least, we have put our finances in
order. That would save us $30 billion, including the cost of currently dependent and
future illegal immigrants, of the more than $45 billion all immigrants cost us annually."

Mr. Borjas, an economist at the University of California, San Diego, and Stephen
Trejo, another economist at that university's Santa Barbara campus, completed a
research paper in 1990 looking at immigrant population in the welfare system. Its
findings dispel the myth widely propagated that only economic benefits arise from
rising immigration. The two confirm the "widespread perception that unskilled
immigrants are particularly prone to enter the welfare system, and that entry of large
numbers of immigrants in the past decades has increased taxpayer expenditures on
income transfer programs"--that is, welfare and other government programs.
It is widely feared that the U.S. has become a "welfare magnet" since welfare
payments are often higher than typical income opportunities in many countries of
origin. The two also found that immigrant households receive a higher level of welfare
payments than do native households!
This "Third World Invasion" seems to be favored by virtually all Republicans and
Democrats as very little is being done about it. While corporate America continues to
eliminate domestic jobs by the millions by shipping industry overseas, it is
simultaneously replacing American workers at home with illegal and legal immigrants,
almost all of whom come from Black, Brown, and Yellow countries, an act which is
pillaging the once-robust American economy as well as its social structure.



#33 OctoberLily

OctoberLily

    Superstar

  • Premium Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 623 posts
  • Location:Broadstone - Folsom, CA
  • Interests:My interests vary. However, they focus mainly on my husband and children. Getting my boys through college and creating a good life for themselves. I enjoy anything creative, artistic and thought provoking. Music ranges from Andrea Boccelli to some hiphop groups. I enjoy dancing, singing and life in general. Former U.S. Marine - pretty conservative in my opinions but always open to listening to what others have to say.

Posted 12 December 2002 - 08:27 AM

Tony,

You have a point in NOT blaming the illegal immigrants for all the woes of California. You're right that they are being treated unfairly and abused by "some" farmers for their cheap labor and poor living conditions.

Imagine how much better their living conditions and salaries would be IF they were legal immigrants doing the work of farming?

They could unionize, obtain medical assistance, their children can get the benefit of a college education, they could learn English, they could obtain assistance when they retire, they could live without fear that any day they would be torn away from their families and returned to their homeland.

The fact is, they were too lazy or impatient to go through the immigration laws LEGALLY. Instead, they chose to sneak into this country unnoticed and they were successful. What are we citizens supposed to do now? Reward them for their illegal discretions by giving them a driver's license?

You know, I, like many Americans in this country, am an immigrant. My father moved to the U.S. ALONE and worked for the military for many years until he was able to bring his family with him LEGALLY. My mother, brother and I had to live without a father for 5 years until he was able to sponsor us to move with him to the U.S. We made many many sacrifices to be without him but my parents knew that it was a better move to come to the U.S.

We took all the steps, the sacrifices, and moved to this country legally. I believe in the end, we benefited more by doing so because my parents, my brother and I were now officially U.S. citizens.

You're right that (LEGAL) immigrants provide a huge benefit to this country. Many immigrants were inventors, scholars, etc. My family is a very patriotic family. We come from a line of military people from the Army, Air Force, U.S. Marines and Navy.

How many ILLEGAL immigrants do you see serving this country in our military? None.

I believe that your argument that blaming everything on illegal immigrants to have some merit, but you have to see that coming to this country illegally shows a huge disrespect for the laws of our country. What other laws do you think some illegal immigrants will disrespect if they can't honor one of the most important law we have?





"The only thing we can take with us from this life is the good that we have done to others."

"Our strength will be found in our charity." [Betty J. Eadie]

"Being a mom is the most rewarding job I have ever had!"

"SEMPER FIDELIS! USMC"

#34 cybertrano

cybertrano

    Hopeless Addict

  • Premium Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 6,495 posts
  • Gender:Male

Posted 12 December 2002 - 10:25 AM

QUOTE (OctoberLily @ Dec 12 2002, 08:27 AM)
Tony,

You have a point in NOT blaming the illegal immigrants for all the woes of California. You're right that they are being treated unfairly and abused by "some" farmers for their cheap labor and poor living conditions.

..........

OctoberLily:

You couldn't have said it any better. biggrin.gif

My family and I faced even tougher situation when we came to this great country and yes we came legally......

We are facing a predicament as far as the illegal immigrant issue is concern. They are a source of cheap labor that some rich farmers. They are hard working people, and yet at the same time they are a burden to the cities they are living in. Legally I think they should be deported but I know it can't be done because the liberals and the Latino political force will whine big time.

#35 OctoberLily

OctoberLily

    Superstar

  • Premium Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 623 posts
  • Location:Broadstone - Folsom, CA
  • Interests:My interests vary. However, they focus mainly on my husband and children. Getting my boys through college and creating a good life for themselves. I enjoy anything creative, artistic and thought provoking. Music ranges from Andrea Boccelli to some hiphop groups. I enjoy dancing, singing and life in general. Former U.S. Marine - pretty conservative in my opinions but always open to listening to what others have to say.

Posted 17 December 2002 - 10:26 AM

I agree Cybertrano. . .

I know a family that came from Mexico - legally. They worked as farm laborers, were poor but taught their children the value of an education. They bore a son who is studying to become a lawyer. They are very hardworking people and I have great admiration for them.

My frustration with illegal immigrants is two-fold. You're right, they are a great burden to our economic structure. The worst is that they create a huge burden on themselves and their children by opening themselves up for abuse in an effort to survive illegally here in the U.S. If you drive down So. California coast line, you will see many farms. You will also see run down shacks with no running water or lights. These shacks are home to many illegal immigrants that are being treated like slaves. They basically work for food and shelter and not much more. They have no medical assistance. Many of their children go uneducated. The cycle continues for generations of these farm laborers and these farmers have generations of people enslaved to them.

So. California farmers are not the only ones who benefit from these people. There are many farms in this U.S. who benefit from hard working employees and their children. They don't have to pay employee tax, medicare, social security, etc. They don't have to provide medical insurance benefit, sick pay, vacation pay. They don't have to pay worker's compensation insurance, etc. If a illegal immigrant farm worker gets his/her hands chopped off, the farmer doesn't have to pay BUT the U.S. State Compensation Insurance Fund pays - i.e., taxpayers like you and me.

It's a horrible life cycle for illegal immigrants to face and it's a terrible burden to tax payers to pay for out their pockets.

"The only thing we can take with us from this life is the good that we have done to others."

"Our strength will be found in our charity." [Betty J. Eadie]

"Being a mom is the most rewarding job I have ever had!"

"SEMPER FIDELIS! USMC"




0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users