Illegal Immigration

Today's rant is about the ongoing problems with our immigration policy and its impact on the labor market.

Again, I take this from the Star Tribune. This article explains the policy enforced by the Obama administration.

http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/118301014.html

Basically ICE is doing audits of payrolls at companies. The fallout is that employees are being fired or just flat out leaving. The focus is on low skilled labor. These audits are increasing in number, fines are increasing, and arrests are increasing. For once it appears SEIU is on the same side as the Chamber of Commerce; they oppose Obama.

I'm no economist, but markets that are mobile seem better geared to meet our economy's needs.  Labor is a market that is typically not mobile. However the illegal immigrants that come to the US go against the trend.

The fact that employers readily hire illegal immigrants to do these jobs points to the fact that there is an under-served market for labor. There is definitely a black market for labor, and just like marijuana the government spends lots of money enforcing something and not accomplishing much.

The list of negative issues with the current immigration policy is long. The US-Mexico border is pretty much a warzone. To name a few issues: human-trafficking, people being left for dead, rape/exploitation of women, poverty, costs of enforcement, morgues piling up with dead bodies, ICE agents being murdered, and environmental impact of trash along the border.

We could explore the reasons that Mexico is a poor country, but this issue applies to anyone coming to the US to work for a better life.

My position on this issue is not popular. I think we need an expanded guest worker program that welcomes immigrants. Particularly along the US-Mexico border, we can end the problems I listed above. There are plenty of problems legally, I have no doubt. However I think the upside is very good.

• Illegal immigrants coming here to work are no longer criminals.
• Guest workers pay income taxes.
• Less people die along the border.
• Human-trafficking becomes less of a problem.
• The safe houses with 20 people living in a 1000 square foot area, mistreating women, and having people living in fear end.
• Border patrol workload lessens and enforcement costs go down.

To be fair, I'll list the downsides.

• Guest workers are viewed and treated as second class citizens.
• Racial tensions against people of Hispanic/Latino Americans persist.
• Other people can offer their input.

With or without my suggestions, the first two bullets still exist.

Sadly enough, the guest worker program was what Pres. Bush wanted. What we have no is Pres. Obama's approach. The US has a guest worker program, but it is rarely used, and doesn't accomplish much. I think the pros outweigh the cons. We are going to continue to have a blackmarket for cheap labor, and our businesses and illegal immigrants will pay the price.

For more information on the "problems" with illegal immigration, a.k.a. people coming to the US to work, watch this Hulu video.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/91600/vanguard-death-train