My theory about why the debate on fixing problems in the US immigration policies is because it is all about foreigners. Americans don’t understand anything foreign, they don’t want to understand anything foreign, and they are afraid of anything foreign they don’t understand. It might be easier to understand if all immigrants possessed an advanced degree in the English language.
There are two basic arguments against addressing the real immigration issues: Non English Speaking Foreigners steal jobs from Americans; and Non English Speaking Foreigners suck up welfare, thus breaking the budget. Both are arguments based in fear of what is foreign, rather than facts.
The Bell Policy Center just issued a report on the costs and benefits of undocumented workers in Colorado. It estimates that Colorado spends $167 million on these workers-- $108 million in educating them (or their kids), $27-million in emergency room health care, and $33 million putting them into prison. (Note the figures don’t add to $108 million because of rounding up individual categories of expenses.) These workers pay Colorado $168 million in taxes. The net result is that they pay $1 million more in taxes than they use up in benefits. I’d call that a break-even, not a loss position for the state.
Note that there is no amount attributed to “welfare” in this analysis. That’s because, under state laws, undocumented immigrants can’t access welfare. They are not eligible for food stamps. They are not eligible for housing assistance. They can’t get financial aid to send their kids to a Colorado underfunded and overly expensive university. They can’t get help with health insurance costs. No Medicaid for undocumented immigrants. Colorado has some of the toughest laws in the nation, when it comes to keeping foreigners away from the public trough.
So the truth is that Colorado gets a bunch of labor that is willing to work hard at jobs that most Americans don’t want. How would you like spending your days plucking blossoms from peach trees so that the peach blossom lucky enough to grow up and be a peach ends up being big and juicy instead of small and juicy? They work at jobs we don’t want, AND they pay their own way. Now if only we could teach them to speak English without any trace of an accent. They might not look so much like a foreign menace. BOO!
Homework
Bell Policy Analysis
There are two basic arguments against addressing the real immigration issues: Non English Speaking Foreigners steal jobs from Americans; and Non English Speaking Foreigners suck up welfare, thus breaking the budget. Both are arguments based in fear of what is foreign, rather than facts.
The Bell Policy Center just issued a report on the costs and benefits of undocumented workers in Colorado. It estimates that Colorado spends $167 million on these workers-- $108 million in educating them (or their kids), $27-million in emergency room health care, and $33 million putting them into prison. (Note the figures don’t add to $108 million because of rounding up individual categories of expenses.) These workers pay Colorado $168 million in taxes. The net result is that they pay $1 million more in taxes than they use up in benefits. I’d call that a break-even, not a loss position for the state.
Note that there is no amount attributed to “welfare” in this analysis. That’s because, under state laws, undocumented immigrants can’t access welfare. They are not eligible for food stamps. They are not eligible for housing assistance. They can’t get financial aid to send their kids to a Colorado underfunded and overly expensive university. They can’t get help with health insurance costs. No Medicaid for undocumented immigrants. Colorado has some of the toughest laws in the nation, when it comes to keeping foreigners away from the public trough.
So the truth is that Colorado gets a bunch of labor that is willing to work hard at jobs that most Americans don’t want. How would you like spending your days plucking blossoms from peach trees so that the peach blossom lucky enough to grow up and be a peach ends up being big and juicy instead of small and juicy? They work at jobs we don’t want, AND they pay their own way. Now if only we could teach them to speak English without any trace of an accent. They might not look so much like a foreign menace. BOO!
Homework
Bell Policy Analysis
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