@ugly_ducky Said 62 % of all "undocumented immigrants" in the U.S. are working for cash and not paying taxes, predominantly illegal aliens are working without a green card
The cost of immigration to the American taxpayer in 1997 (last known calculation by Professor Donald Huddle, Rice University) was a NET (after subtracting taxes immigrants pay), $70 Billion per year. [What are the 2006 costs?]
The lifetime fiscal impact (taxes paid minus services used) for the average illegal alien is $55,000 cost to the American taxpayer in a 5-year span. You personally pay $11,000 every year to illegal aliens.
https://www.savage-productions.com/illegal_alien_contributions.html
After reading that I say good riddance to her.
It's not really that clear cut, unfortunately. Sure, taken in isolation I have no doubt that those numbers are correct. And if all illegal immigrants could be removed from the country without any other effect that would be great.
But at the end of the day, no matter what your views on immigration (legal or otherwise) are, you have to admit that we live in the real world. In the real world, all actions have consequences. A large portion of illegals are working for low wages without paying taxes, a large portion of the legal immigrants are working for low wages, and paying taxes. The common theme? Low wages. Wages that the typical American citizen would not work for. Wages that a labor union would go up against in a heart beat.
Remove the immigrants, and suddenly you have a huge labor gap. Sure, some of it would be filled, no doubt. But I doubt you'll find 11 million Americans willing to mow grass and do day labor for the wage that an illegal would accept. The result - an increasing amount of people would be unable to afford their current lifestyle. Who wants to pay social security and taxes for a maid, when you can pay her under the table and you
both win? Same for gardeners, and day laborers.
Increased wages for staff = decreased disposable income. Decreased disposable income = decreased consumer spending. Decreased consumer spending = depressed economy. Depressed economy = recession. Recession = up s*** creak with no f***in' paddle.
Take it a step further - let's get rid of all the immigrants, including the legal ones that are serving you at your local McDonalds, gas station, etc... Again, there would be a labor gap (not to mention a skills gap - not all of us immigrants came over empty handed, you know?) - Americans would need to fill this gap.
Americans would demand higher wages than an immigrant who is just grateful to be living and working in a country where they aren't fearful for their lives. Higher wages = lower margin. Lower margin = your investments don't perform so well. Poorly performing investments = poorly performing pension plans. Poorly performing pension plans = greater state reliance. Greater state reliance = budget deficit. Budget deficit = spending cuts. Spending cuts = lower education standards (cos we know the airforce aren't gonna be losing any bombers people). It goes on and on.
Once you go down a path, it's tough to turn back. America was populated by immigrants. It was built by immigrants that they in turn brought into the country. Our infrastructure is now based on the labor of immigrants, both legal and illegal, that we allow into our country. You can't just pull that rug out from under the country and blindly expect that there won't be consequences. Cause and effect - no one is immune from it.