Slam dunk!

I'm rewriting a paper on illegal immigration for my persuasive writing class. I tried to argue that getting rid of barriers to immigration will improve the economy. My first try lacked an important logical step: why immigration benefits the economy. I thought I had a good argument, but when I reread upon my teacher returning it, I wondered what I had been thinking. Here's the original paragraph:

This argument only works if legal immigration is beneficial to the economy. George Borjas, an economist at Harvard found that among Hispanics, a group made up largely of immigrants, wages are dropping from earlier years, due to educational differences. With falling wages, more immigrants are poor and poor people are a greater burden on society. They pay fewer taxes and use more services, such as food stamps and welfare. Douglas Massey, a sociology professor at Princeton, suggests that the picture is not this simple, though. Due to public opposition to immigration, many immigrants avoid using the benefits provided by the state. He states that “children [of immigrants] in U.S. schools fell from 35 percent to 19 percent, and food stamp usage dropped from 15 percent to 5 percent." In a study by Chojnicki, Docquier, and Ragot, French economists using U.S. data, found that immigration has a net benefit over the long term for all people within the U.S. economy. While they are poor, these people come to work. They have a higher labor force participation rate than native-born residents. As shown by Newburger and Gryn, 65% of native born population over 16 works, while 67% of the foreign born population works. From this conglomeration of numbers, it is clear that legal immigration benefits the United States.

Awful, isn't it? I needed some new and actual logical logic to prove my claim.

It just so happened that as I read the New York Times this morning, I came across this headline "Work Force Fueled by Highly Skilled Immigrants." It was about immigration, so it drew my interest. The content? Immigrants are as likely to work in highly paid jobs as poorly paid jobs. I checked out the report the article is based on and it is perfect for my paper!

The reason I'm posting this is two-fold. First of all, I'm stoked! How likely is it that the day you are going to revise a paper, there is a news article fits your argument perfectly? Second, the economics is interesting (and, I feel, obvious, though there are plenty who disagree with me).

America is a good place to live. We're rich, we're free, taxes are pretty low (for now), and we have plenty of room to grow. Lots of people want to move here. When I was a missionary in Australia, most of the people I spoke to were immigrants. Most of them had tried to get into America before ending up in Australia.

We have our problems, of course, but nothing compared to the corruption, wars, famines, and poverty that hold so many other countries in their grip. So, people want to come here. Millions do come. They do so legally, paying the fees, filling out the paper work, and jumping through all the other necessary hoops. And then there are the millions who come illegally. They cross the border with Mexico, sail into harbors hidden in cargo containers, and overstay visas. The problem is that these illegal immigrants are more likely to work in low-paying jobs, less likely to get an education, more likely to be paid under the table at below minimum wage, less likely to pay taxes, etc.These are all costs to our economy - we are creating an underclass of people who are poor and have no way to improve their condition.

What can we do? let more immigrants in. Make it easier and cheaper to enter the country. Get rid of arbitrary quotas on visas. If we allow more people to enter the country legally, fewer will enter illegally. With this shift of immigrants to legal status, the economy will benefit in numerous ways. More will work in high skilled jobs. They will pay more taxes and create growth. Less skilled workers will work at minimum wage, meaning legal residents need not fear businesses hiring illegal immigrants for lower than minimum wage. Poor immigrants will have greater access to health care. They will also have greater opportunity to move out of poverty due to greater access to education.

By making it easier for immigrants to enter the country, our economy will grow. If people are afraid of immigrants stealing jobs when times are tough, as growth ebbs, so does immigration. But, when times are good, immigrants can make them even better by being productive, spending money, developing new ideas. And, on a more humanitarian note, it improves their lives, as well. In all honesty, this is more important to me than the better economy. If immigration were more costly than beneficial, I would be ok with that. I could give up my iPod and laptop if it meant more people could escape the poverty and violence that has gripped their native lands.

So, I have to thank the New York Times for that article - a slam dunk in my immigration argument.