Undocumented workers HELP the US economy?

Question

Saw this on another question page.

"As for your little research the undocumented workers actually helps our economy more than it hurts. Never mind, keep being ignorant it suites you."

What do you guys think about that statement?

I NEVER SAID I AGREED WITH THE STATEMENT.. I WAS ASKING YOU GUYS FOR YOUR OWN OPINION. I'M AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. PERIOD.

Answer 1

Unlawful Entry is a CRIME. Zero tolerance for immigration-law violators! No amnesty, no "stealth-amnesty." No "change of status," marriage fraud, "exceptional leave to remain," no "Temporary Protected Status." If you break the law, depart or be deported. Illegal aliens kill more US citizens each year than the war in Iraq has killed in four years. Apologists for illegal immigration like to paint it as a victimless crime. But in fact, illegal immigration causes substantial harm to American citizens and legal immigrants, particularly those in the most vulnerable sectors of our population--the poor, minorities, and children. Additionally, job competition by waves of illegal immigrants willing to work at substandard wages and working conditions depresses the wages of American workers, hitting hardest at minority workers and those without high school degrees. Illegal immigration also contributes to the dramatic population growth overwhelming communities across America--crowding school classrooms, consuming already limited affordable housing, and straining precious natural resources like water, energy, and forestland. Taxpayers are being forced to pay for the free health care, education, and other welfare programs being given to illegal aliens; Those tax dollars could be given back to U.S. taxpayers or used to keep our borders secure; They may be here illegally, but they sure know how to "work the system" to collect "free" medical care, "free" education, "free" food, Section 8 housing vouchers and other housing assistance, and hundreds of other social services. It costs citizens additional hundreds of billions of tax dollars at every level: local, state, and federal. It gobbles up billions of our charitable contributions. And much of that money ends up siphoned out of our economy and into offshore accounts. Illegal aliens, over half of whom work "under the table" with neither job nor income reported (nor taxed), are not counted as employed or unemployed. But some of those day-labor and off-the-books "job-lets" would be "real" jobs - available to American citizen job-seekers - if employment regulations were enforced. Illegal aliens can get away with tax evasion, et al., which citizens cannot. In short, we have too many workforce entrants and too few jobs created. The ratio works out to roughly 7-10 workforce entrants per job created. If all illegal aliens depart or are deported, all legal immigration halted, and all temporary employment visas abolished, we still have a problem with more US-born workforce entrants than new jobs created. Illegal immigration damages our country and our citizens every day at every level. And not even the attacks of 2/26 and 9/11 have awakened many Americans to the vast dangers illegal immigration poses to our selves, our families, our communities, our society, our values, our principles, our civilization. Zero Tolerance for Immigration-Law Violators! We must remember the lessons of 2/26, 9/11, and the costs we bear every single day. God Bless the U S A !

Answer 2

It's false. California's government loses $10 billion a year from undocumented workers because their taxes do not offset theri education, health care and incarceration.

The idea that they do the low paying jobs is also false. Before the last housing boom, a dry waller could make $23 a hour. During the housing boom drywallers were paid $13 a hour. The undocumented workers went from agriculture to the home construction business. Some farmers brought in farmers from Thailand, because the undomumented workers were paid better elsewhere.

Cheap wages also don't cut the price, they just increase the profits. This is especially true for agriculture. A farmer that has oranges, sends the oranges to a packing house. Then the commodity exchange offers contracts to buy those oranges. Those contracts are created, bought and sold by speculators. So the farmer is just one of thousands of farmers selling oranges. The money is then divided up by the various packing houses and given to the farmers after the deal. It's the speculators that control the price, not the farmer or the undocumented worker. This goes for all agriculture products and yes, the farmers could end up selling their produce for less than it costs to make it. Just look what the speculators did to oil prices. Saudia Arabia pumps a barrel of oil at $1 a barrel and the U.S. pumps it at around $18 a barrel but both barrel get put on the same commodity exchange.

In the housing sector, an undocumented worker may lower the cost to build a house, but when the original owner sells, the original price of the house has no influence on the new price of the house.

The rich can afford to pay more for their nannys, butlers and maids.

Answer 3

Insulting, ignorant and a total lie!

First of all they are illegal alien criminals, not "undocumented workers." Undocumented sounds like they aren't breaking any laws (total lie) and that all they did was misplace a piece of paper.

Second, they cost the American taxpayer over $50 BILLION each year. They are destroying our health care system and our schools. They don't pay taxes.

Anyone that says that if we don't have the creep labor from the illegals our produce will cost LOTS more. This is another lie. The labor portion of produce is minimal. The "$5 head of lettuce" is a myth and a scare tactic of the pro-illegals.

We don't need the illegals. That $50 billion should be going to US citizens, not the citizens of many other countries.

Answer 4

I haven't done much hardcore research about the topic but I believe undocumented workers both help and hurt the US economy. Assuming that most of the jobs undocumented workers do are the unskilled kind (i.e. landscaping, housekeeping, agricultural labor, construction labor), undocumented workers help keep the cost of some products low that many Americans enjoy. This the hard part of any analysis as to the value undocumented workers bring.
And now for the hurt part, undocumented workers help keep the average wage rate lower than what it would be. Some American workers (mostly unskilled) wage rate is held lower. Also, most (if not all) undocumented workers don't pay taxes, but use public services (most notably medical) which contributes to higher costs of health care.

Answer 5

Well, O'Reilly (we know he is conservative and hates illegal aliens) recently had a guy on that said that the average undocumented worker puts about 10 grand into the economy, but gets 30 grand from the government, resulting in 20 grand in debt. If that is true (it probably isn't as bad as he says, but I think they do cause more debt), then that is dead wrong. In that case, then they are taking jobs away from legal immigrants and Americans and taking taxpayers' money

Answer 6

Sure. . . They help the economy. The MEXICAN economy!

They are the largest contributor of foreign money into the Mexican economy! So they are shipping all of the money that the employers are illegally paying them to their families back in Mexico! Boy! That sure is a shot in the arm of the American economy!

Overall, they HURT our economy. In California, they are responsible for the high cost of hospital visits, insurance premiums and the closings of over 60 hospitals since 1990. Why? Unpaid hospital bills, of course! They typically give phoney names and info, and then are discharged never to be seen or heard from again. And who do you think ends up covering those unpaid bills? Yep - the honest citizens that pay their bills.

I don't care what people think on them helping our economy. That is like saying murderers reduce the number of citizens that need money from our society, so we should allow them to roam free and not punish them. Illegal immigration is ILLEGAL - they should pay for breaking the law! We shouldn't be rewarding them!

Answer 7

I would be interested in how that conclusion came about. Do you suppose it's the misguided theory that undocumented workers spend money on food, clothes, housing, cars, and necessities, and buoys the economy? (To which I would reply, with all the millions going out of the U.S. I have my doubts.)

Answer 8

OK Bombastic, School is now open! Listen carefully. Undocumented is another word for ILLEGAL!
Illegal = Bad , Not Right , Unlawful...etc
Now lets put the right word were it belongs,You still with me ?
Illegal workers help our US economy?
Answer = No


Illegal, or unlawful, is used to describe something that is prohibited or not authorized by law.

Answer 9

I think it's a silly statement. Like you, I'm against illegal immigration, so these kinds of statements drive me crazy. Well, not as crazy as the intellectual self-righteousness of the people making them, but that's probably a different issue. :)

Answer 10

They buy food in our grocery stores. They buy gas. They buy clothes. They buy "stuff." Of course they help our economy, but they also hurt it by not paying their fair share of taxes.

Of course, as I tell anyone who wants to deport illegals, I don't see very many Americans lining up to pick tomatoes, work in a slaughter house, change hotel beds, trim bushes, scrub toilets, and be a line cook in a crappy restaurant. Until then, they're fine here by me. Get them documented and into the system and they'll help the US economy more.