Illegal immigrants affect the local economies in many ways. An evaluation of the effects reveals that the areas where the illegal immigrants are perceived to have a negative effect on the economies are not true. In fact, the perception of negative effects has been shown to be untrue by research over time. For this reason, it is possible to rationalize all negative effects and show that the illegal immigrants actually affect the local systems in a positive way.
Payment of taxes
Taxes are the source of revenue for the local and the federal government (Davidson, 2012). In the capitalist system of governance, the revenues generated by the government are dependent on the ability of the citizens to pay taxes. However, payment of taxes requires registration to the taxation authorities ands performance of employment in recognizes fields protected by working unions and all the rights accorded to the citizens (Illegal Immigration Solutions, 2006). The illegal immigrants are unable to secure the protection of the law and have to take employment opportunities away from legal scrutiny to avoid deportation.
Therefore, one of the biggest sources of opposition to the presence of the illegal immigrants is their inability to pay taxes and reduce the incomes for the governments. In addition, the illegal immigrants increase the government expenditure because of the relevance of tracking them down and the state bears the costs of deportation for all illegal immigrants discovered in the US.
However, the view is not accurate because according to Planas, illegal immigrants file tax reports (Planas, 2015). In addition, they are willing to contribute to the welfare systems despite their unwillingness to access the benefits of the welfare system. Therefore, the negative effects of paying income taxes are limited to the low levels jobs. Even then, the illegal immigrant have to pay value added taxes on all purchases. Therefore, even where they do not pay direct taxes, the illegal immigrants still contribute to the local and regional tax revenues by paying various taxes.
Local employment opportunities
One of the biggest sources of criticism for the illegal immigrants is their willingness to accept low pays, sometimes below the acceptable rates. Planas suggests that the perception of the illegal immigrants lowering the employment opportunities is a myth because illegal immigrant typically seek jobs that require no specialize skills (Planas, 2015). Most Native Americans seek high paying jobs and the presence of illegal immigrants does not affect them because he immigrants seek low-end jobs. Therefore, there are no conflicts of interests because the illegal immigrants seek jobs that are not appealing to the local American population (Davidson, 2012).
However, the view is flawed because evaluating the situation from a local point, it follows that all local jobs have to be performed regardless of the costs of labor. The desperation for the illegal immigrant compels them to take the jobs for low pay because of the perception of no other choice (Davidson, 2012). At the same time, it is important to note that the absence of the illegal immigrants would push the costs of labor up. Despite the refutation, in recent years, there has been a trend of outsourcing employment opportunities to countries with cheaper costs of labor. China has been an ideal choice for most manufactures (Illegal Immigration Solutions, 2006). The implication is that regardless of the local labor rates, employment opportunities are outsources where they are too expensive for the employers. In addition, where there are illegal immigrants, there is a tendency for the rest of the workers to concentrate on what they do best. They use the cheap labor for the unspecialized tasks. Therefore, the illegal immigrants diversify the economy and increase the expenditure locally. According to Davidson, the illegal immigrants increase the local levels of economic prosperity. In a study that compared the economies of areas with a high influx of illegal immigrants against states with limited concentrations of illegal immigrants, it was established that the economies of the state with the high concentration of illegal immigrants perform better (Davidson, 2012).
The welfare system
In the US, the welfare system takes care of the homeless and the poor. In many places, the welfare system provides free food and medication to the sick. The illegal immigrants are unable to access good employment opportunities and are often unemployed because they are unable to secure permanent employment. Logically, it would follows that they overburden the welfare system and contribute to the growing national debt and reduced availability of the welfare services to the needy Americans (Davidson, 2012).
Welfare services require identification for qualification. The inability of the illegal immigrants to produce identification means they do not qualify for the welfare services. Therefore, they cannot be faulted for the growing national dept or the influx in welfare expenditure because they do not use these services (Davidson, 2012).
In the US, the attempt to reduce the influx of illegal immigrants uses a large portion of local and federal revenues. The federal government uses billions of dollars to screen the borders and reduce the volume of new arrivals in the country (Illegal Immigration Solutions, 2006). At the same time, the justice system uses a lot of resources, time and money, to deport the illegal immigrants and reduce the perceived effects of the illegal immigrants in the country. Therefore, even where the illegal immigrants are not responsible for depletion of local employment opportunities or facilities meant for the American population, they use government resources and thus burden the Americans who pay taxes. However, the effects are not faulted on the illegal immigrants because the local authorities choose to use the resources in that way. The implication is that the illegal immigrants have a positive economic impact on the local economies.
- Davidson, A. (2012, February 12). Do Illegal Immigrants Actually Hurt the U.S. Economy? Retrieved November 11, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/magazine/do-illegal-immigrants-actually-hurt-the-us-economy.html?_r=0
- Illegal Immigration Solutions. (2006, March 30). Is Illegal Immigration an Economic Burden to America Retrieved November 11, 2015, from http://immigration.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000788
- Planas, R. (2015, February 17). 5 Theories About The Economic Effects Of Illegal Immigration You Shouldn’t Trust. Retrieved November 11, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/17/illegal-immigration-econonomics_n_6700148.html
