The Immigration debate

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The Immigration debate
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Arguments to take harsher steps against illegal
immigration centre around the following

• Cost to the tax payer
• Job competition
• Conflict between different cultures
• A growing number of Americans are
• questioning the idea that the benefits
• of immigration outweigh the costs

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Job competition

• During 1980s and early 1990s jobs disappeared
  especially in manufacturing these workers came
  into competition with newly arrived workers who
  salary and condition levels
• This was also true for the middle classes who
  also saw competition for skilled and professional
  jobs, angry white males blamed the immigration
  policy
• The need to find scapegoats also existed in poor
  black communities e.g. LA riots Korean businesses
  were targeted

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Job competition

• Many H-1B immigrants (the term comes from the
  H-1B visa programme) were offered big salaries
  and benefits to come to the booming dot.coms in
  Silicon Valley in the 1990s
• Now recession is hit, there is pressure and
  hostility against these new arrivals

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Job competition

• Better off immigrants such as IT Asians have
  resisted going home after a spate of job closures
  in Silicon Valley
• They have applied for lower paid jobs, however
  these jobs were not available to them on their
  visas

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Cost to the tax payer

• When recession hits and companies have to down
  size there is often resentment against minorities
  who take welfare
• Although illegal immigrants are not eligible to
  collect unemployment benefit they do consume
  health care and education

• There is evidence that political refugees are
  more dependent on welfare than Native Americans
• Although this is not the case with non-refugee
  immigrants

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Cost to the tax payer

• There is also evidence that more recent
  immigrants have been slower to attain the same
  economic level as white Americans
• Previously Chinese, Koreans and Cubans held
  professional qualifications
• However this has fallen to 7 for Cubans whilst
  one third of immigrants fail to complete high
  school and ¾ of illegal immigrants

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Culture shock

• Many poor whites felt that their neighbourhoods
  were under threat as well as their livelihoods
• Hispanics do not seem to be assimilating into the
  US population and culture

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Culture shock

• Spanish is already the most popular language in
  California, chains of supermarkets have opened to
  cater for the tastes of Hispanics
• The American burger could be replaced by the
  nacho as producers and advertisers are attracted
  to their growing combined spending power
• This has led to organisations such as US English
  which wants an English only amendment to the
  constitution

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overall

• Less of an issue in the North and West states,
  more of an issue in Texas, Florida, California
  and New York
• Asians regarded differently from Mexicans or
  Africans, Hispanics often stereotyped as lazy
• Many immigrants are uneducated and unskilled
  therefore drain on the economy e.g. political
  refugees drain on welfare
• Before Sept. 11th debate centred mostly on
  economic and social issues since then it has
  become one about security

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Arguments For immigration

• Fresh immigrants bring a new drive and enterprise
  to the country
• It can be argued that any country without new
  people arriving becomes complacent and runs out
  of ideas and talent

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Arguments For immigration

• Legal immigration will cut down on crime and
  exploitation
• coyotes will charge poor Mexicans around 100
  to go on a list for border crossing and then
  another 2000 for a dash across the Rio Grande

• America was founded by immigrants, it is
  therefore hypocritical to deny others the
  opportunities previous generations have had

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Arguments For immigration

• America has the room and work shortages
• The service sector of Texas and California could
  not survive without Hispanic labour
• America is short of teachers
• Some states have land at their disposal, and is
  able to accommodate hard working new arrivals
• According to the NY Urban institute immigrants
  have higher average incomes than native born
  Americans
• Also poorer immigrants are less likely to rely on
  welfare than native born Americans

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case study

• African born immigrants are the most motivated
  and highly educated of all immigrant groups
• They are generally better off than native born
  African Americans e.g. in 1990 they made 30,000
  a year compared to 21,548 for Native born

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case study

• Black immigrant families are more likely to set
  up their own business than Native born African
  Americans who find it more difficult to borrow
  money
• More likely to be brought up in a stable 2 parent
  family
• There is evidence that American employers
  distinguish between immigrant blacks and native
  born blacks when hiring, the latter is seen as
  having positive characteristics
• This has created tension between the groups

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overall

• Many local politicians and businessmen in the SW
  and Texas do not wish the federal authorities to
  interfere with their supply of cheap labour
• Asian Americans are high achievers and contribute
  to the economy and society
• Alan Greenspan, chairman of federal reserve board
  argued that the single most effective measure
  congress could take to ensure Americas economic
  expansion would be to uncap its present
  immigration controls

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overall

• Argument that immigration appears to be good for
  the USA
• However the benefits of immigration are not
  shared equally among states
• States such as Florida, California, NY, Texas,
  Illinois and New Jersey have a high concentration
  of immigrants and pay higher costs than the rest
  of the USA