An old friend, Joseph Britt of Kennesaw, GA, recently emailed to ask about anti-immigration as an issue for Virginia Democrats. Joe had just read a George W. Grayson article in the William & Mary Alumni Magazine, “Myths About Illegal Immigration.”
Grayson does not cite any Virginia examples, but among the “myths” he attempts to explode are that illegal immigrants perform jobs Americans don’t want and that they contribute more in taxes and social security than they take from government programs.
(comments below)
I personally know a good number of immigrants, both legal and illegal. One fellow, a Brazilian, has done everything by the book. He gets rewarded by having to pay an immigration attorney thousands of dollars while getting yanked around by the Immigration Service… not to mention, he’s paying the government thousands in taxes. He gets very frustrated because many of his contemporaries work for cash under the table. They aren’t paying lawyers, and they pay nothing into the system. Of course, the Americans who employ illegal immigrants are happy to pay in cash because it means cheaper labor for them.
Who benefits? The illegal immigrants themselves, of course. The employers who hire them instead of raising wages to attract native-born Americans and legal immigrants. And families who hire cheap domestic labor, whether to clean the house, wash the laundry or maintain the lawn. Who loses? Poor, native-born Americans who otherwise would be paid higher wages for their manual labor. Legal immigrants like my Brazilian friend, who sometimes feels like a sap for playing by the rules. And the rest of us who won’t hire anyone to work for us unless they’re paying their taxes, even if it means we pay more.
Yeah, I’ve got a problem with turning around and giving illegal immigrants all the rights and privileges of the native born and the legal immigrants who’ve played by the rules. Yes, I do.
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