Here is another writing from 2015 that remains an issue. Again, it is more of an issue today than it was in 2015. As I take these writings from 2015, I realize that we have yet to improve upon these social dilemmas in four years. We can only blame ourselves because we elect the people responsible to improve our lives. This is why we must vote each and every election, and do our homework on the people we are voting for. We must also use critical thinking and logic, which seems to be scarce.
---
The most frustrating issue we are facing, as I have alluded to in my previous posts, is immigration and refugees. Many are labeled as possible deviants, terrorists, and subsequently, a strain on our economy. So, let's get some facts straight.
Last year in 2014, about 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants lived in the U.S. That number is actually lower than previous years, so immigration to the U.S. is actually in decline.
Mexicans make up about half of the number of unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S., and their immigration trend is also in decline.
A little more than 5% of the labor force in America is made up of unauthorized immigrants.
About 7% of students ages 5-18 have an unauthorized immigrant parent.
(via Pew Research)
Now let us put this into perspective. The immigration debate focuses on Mexicans. Due to this ethnocentric banter, people are led to believe that getting rid of Mexicans will solve America's immigration problem. Border security is a drum that has been beaten over and over again, and they're referring to our border with Mexico. There are even hate groups dedicated to personally patrolling the Mexican border with their xenophobic rhetoric.
However, all of this hate projected towards undocumented Mexican immigrants is only about half of the total undocumented immigration issue. This boils down to basic racism.
Those who oppose a pathway to legal documentation or citizenship for undocumented immigrants fail to realize just how beneficial immigrants are to America. Immigrants are consumers. They purchase groceries, gas, clothing, and other amenities such as televisions, phones, furniture - you get the point. When they make these purchases, they are paying in local economies.
Let's use Nevada as an example. It has the largest share of undocumented immigrants in the U.S., about 8%, which equates to about 904,000 people. A 2014 Census Population Estimate has Nevada with an estimated 2.8 million occupants. Now, since only about half of undocumented immigrants are Mexican, let's assume there is a massive effort to deport Mexicans from Nevada. That would drop about 450,000 people from the population overnight. That is 450,000 people no longer consuming food, gas, or paying into local and state economies. That is a lot of lost revenue that would practically disappear overnight.
If there are 11.3 million undocumented immigrants and we somehow, magically, deport them over night, it would be equivalent to taking the entire state of Ohio and erasing it from the economy.
Let that sink in for a moment. An entire state is gone.
Now, imagine allowing those immigrants a way to become documented. They will then pay into the Federal and State tax systems, securing the social programs that are having hard times. We will disregard the disparities of our American budget for the sake of argument, here. Social Security is having a hard time supporting Baby Boomers because Americans are having fewer children, and is actually below the replacement fertility rate. This means there aren't enough workers paying into the system to keep the Social Security machine well oiled. If half of the population of undocumented immigrants are workers, and they make about $8 an hour, working 40 hours a week, each worker would pay $1,030 a year into Social Security alone, which then totals $5.8 billion paid by newly documented workers. Hello to a renewed Social Security system.
So, armed with factual data, you tell me: deportation, or a pathway to legal documentation and/or citizenship. I believe the answer is clear.
Last year in 2014, about 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants lived in the U.S. That number is actually lower than previous years, so immigration to the U.S. is actually in decline.
Mexicans make up about half of the number of unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S., and their immigration trend is also in decline.
A little more than 5% of the labor force in America is made up of unauthorized immigrants.
About 7% of students ages 5-18 have an unauthorized immigrant parent.
(via Pew Research)
Now let us put this into perspective. The immigration debate focuses on Mexicans. Due to this ethnocentric banter, people are led to believe that getting rid of Mexicans will solve America's immigration problem. Border security is a drum that has been beaten over and over again, and they're referring to our border with Mexico. There are even hate groups dedicated to personally patrolling the Mexican border with their xenophobic rhetoric.
However, all of this hate projected towards undocumented Mexican immigrants is only about half of the total undocumented immigration issue. This boils down to basic racism.
Those who oppose a pathway to legal documentation or citizenship for undocumented immigrants fail to realize just how beneficial immigrants are to America. Immigrants are consumers. They purchase groceries, gas, clothing, and other amenities such as televisions, phones, furniture - you get the point. When they make these purchases, they are paying in local economies.
Let's use Nevada as an example. It has the largest share of undocumented immigrants in the U.S., about 8%, which equates to about 904,000 people. A 2014 Census Population Estimate has Nevada with an estimated 2.8 million occupants. Now, since only about half of undocumented immigrants are Mexican, let's assume there is a massive effort to deport Mexicans from Nevada. That would drop about 450,000 people from the population overnight. That is 450,000 people no longer consuming food, gas, or paying into local and state economies. That is a lot of lost revenue that would practically disappear overnight.
If there are 11.3 million undocumented immigrants and we somehow, magically, deport them over night, it would be equivalent to taking the entire state of Ohio and erasing it from the economy.
Let that sink in for a moment. An entire state is gone.
Now, imagine allowing those immigrants a way to become documented. They will then pay into the Federal and State tax systems, securing the social programs that are having hard times. We will disregard the disparities of our American budget for the sake of argument, here. Social Security is having a hard time supporting Baby Boomers because Americans are having fewer children, and is actually below the replacement fertility rate. This means there aren't enough workers paying into the system to keep the Social Security machine well oiled. If half of the population of undocumented immigrants are workers, and they make about $8 an hour, working 40 hours a week, each worker would pay $1,030 a year into Social Security alone, which then totals $5.8 billion paid by newly documented workers. Hello to a renewed Social Security system.
So, armed with factual data, you tell me: deportation, or a pathway to legal documentation and/or citizenship. I believe the answer is clear.
No comments:
Post a Comment