Illegal Immigration

Okay, let's talk about it.

First, we should admit that illegal immigration, like most things, has both a positive and negative side. The negatives are publicly hyped, so I'll discuss them first. Then the positives. Then what we can try beyond all the "build a gigantor fence!" silliness to actually curb illegal immigration to some degree, understanding that you will not ever stop it completely.

The negatives of illegal immigration include increased security risks, criminal activity (and associated costs), additional costs to try and keep people out, and additional burden on the taxpayer for social/medical services for people here illegally. That's obvious to everyone. What's not as obvious is the harm it does to Americans, particularly those in the lowest economic class. To put it another way, the people hurt most by this are Americans without High School diplomas, because they are the ones who are in competition with the lower priced illegal workers for employment in the labor intensive markets. The money these American citizens can make is lessened because the illegals will work a lower pay scale. Which means either that the job goes to the illegal because the American cannot be paid less than the minimum wage, or, at the least, their pay is less than it otherwise would be were there no alternative labor market (illegals). It's creating more job competition at the lowest end of the labor market than should exist. That lowers the pay of everyone involved.

The positives of illegal immigration include lower costs on a wide variety of products, especially foodstuffs, and housing or construction trades. Since many of these people falsely file W2 statements using other people Social Security numbers, they get Social Security deducted from their paychecks, which is a 12 Billion dollar windfall for the government they'd have to make up elsewhere if it wasn't available. Further, the gov't never has to pay these funds back you see. In effect, it's a tax on the illegal immigrants with no need to either give them representation or deliver any services to them. This lowers the tax burden for the rest of the public (a tiny amount, but 12 Billion is 12 Billion).

I'm just telling you what the consequences (good and bad) are. Lower wages mean lower prices. This is better for the middle and upper class (who can actually afford it more) and worse for the underclass who can least afford to have their wages depressed even further. That's just the math.

Right now, both groups (upper/middle class and illegal aliens) or, if you like, the providers and consumers of artificially low labor market rates, are engaged in a sort of conspiracy against the government because they both have financial incentives to do so. No one hires someone who they have a real suspicion is here illegally out of the goodness of their hearts. They do it because they work longer hours for less money and don't gripe about it. The laborers are happy for the very high wages compared to their home country (which they send a significant portion back to, by the way) so of course there's no complaining on their part.

So change the stakes for everyone.

If you want to start to see illegal immigration drop, there are basically three components to the solution (In my view):

1) Fine people caught hiring illegals some significant amount so that it's not cost effective if caught. That more or less exists, but it needs to be enforced more, and it also needs to target the day labor market as well as big companies. Make the lawyer/dentist/soccer mom hiring the gardener pay too. Further, make them do 50 hours of community service per illegal alien involved.

2) Add a reward for finding/turning illegals in. This makes the neighbors more watchful and more willing to act on their suspicions. It makes the public in general more willing to do so. It also gives employers a true fiscal motive to do the proper checking. Basically, it motivates a large section of the public to act as lookouts for the government.

3) Promise illegals a work visa or green card and/or a percentage of the fine if they turn in the people who hire them. This is self-evident. And basically gives the illegal a real motivation to turn on the market itself with a much greater long term reward available to them. They have a reason to come forward and attack the other side of teh labor market.

So ask yourself: What do you think will happen to the illegal labor market if you suddenly create a financial incentive (which is WHY the illegals are here after all) for everyone in that market to go after each other?

Those doing the hiring will now be subject to blackmail by illegals (pay me or I turn you in). They'll at least have to pay a higher rate (for silence), which means the cost of the labor now approaches that of hiring a citizen. All of a sudden the incentive to hire has diminished and the risks have gone way up.

The illegals themselves will be subject to hunting by potential employers since there's now money in it for them for checking, and a fine and community service if they don't and get caught. Further, the illegals will have a problem since they are now working for people who have a way of not paying them by being all "surprised to find out Jose or John doesn't have a green card" once the roofing job is done, or accept even lower pay with a wink and a nod not to tell. All of a sudden the risk is much higher, and the reward lower for them as well.

When you talk about the fine/fee structure, it should be based on a known fixed cost tied to illegal immigration. For instance, the average cost of catching an illegal using the current system. By example, if it costs 1000 dollars per capture (in man hours, equipment etc) then the fine is 4 times that per illegal in your employ (4000.00) and 50 hrs of community service. Those hours of picking up garbage by the roadside could have been bought with the tax dollars you would have paid for a legitimate employee. So you will now do it yourself. You won't get a lot of soccer moms or dentists or HR people making that mistake twice. The fee, on the other hand, for turning one in is 1/2 that cost, or 500.00 per illegal found. That will more than cover the cost of any company doing their job and checking and will motivate people to turn in illegals or people they know are hiring illegals. It's a reward for doing the right thing and is therefore double motivation (both moral and financial). The numbers can be adjusted, but the punitive and reward factor should be reasonable and consistent and easily understandable for all concerned.

Basically, the goal is this. You want to artificially create market antagonism between the sellers and the buyers of this illegal labor pool. Do that, and the labor pool will start to shrink. More importantly, the cost of the labor pool will start to approach the cost of citizen labor, which means the true reason for hiring illegals is gone. Why hire them, if there's not much, or no, benefit and serious potential risks?

The consequence of this plan is an initial higher cost to pay the bounty fees, offset partially by the fines. Over time though, as the labor pool grows smaller and more expensive, these costs will diminish. The other consequence is that foodstuffs will be more expensive across the board, as will houses and day care and lawn services and other labor intensive products and related downstream products (if lettuce and chicken costs McD's more, the McChicken sandwich with lettuce also costs more...)

A big ass fence (unless there are minefields as well) isn't going to deter desperate people when there's a wide open job market waiting for them on the other side. Even with minefields (a completely untenable proposal) people will still make the journey. But if there's not much money in it and a lot of risk for little reward.. that WILL deter people. In the long term, more investment in foreign economies and assisting with gov't stability/prosperity in those countries is what will most affect illegal immigration into this country. We have very few illegal immigrants from countries like Sweden or Canada, for instance. This, in turn, helps our economy as it creates a larger market for our products and generates goodwill towards us. That's not to simply be discounted. a positive (or at least neutral) view on the US also translates to higher sales figures for our products. This then translates to more jobs and lower unemployment for everyone in the American economy, including the lowest paid. These workers, now making more money, can also now afford to buy more American product. More roofers buying more Ford trucks more often.

Regards,
-Bouncer-