Are Illegal Immigrants Really Keeping The U.S. Economy Afloat?

The left, the Biden administration, the Fed, major investment banks and the mainstream media are crowing about the positive impact that illegal immigration is supposedly having on the U.S. economy. The truth is, the unchecked flow of people across our borders is not a boon, but an economic disaster in the making.

Let’s just begin by saying Issues & Insights does not oppose immigration. Legal immigration. We are, however, strongly opposed to illegal immigration, which undermines the rule of law, creates social chaos and crime, and has surged under President Joe Biden.

Now comes remarks by Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Jerome Powell that the stream of people crossing our national border is an economic bonanza.

“Our economy has been short labor, and probably still is … and we do talk to a lot of business people, (and) it is still difficult to hire for many, many companies. So we’ve needed more people,” Powell said recently in remarks made at Stanford University.

His source for the idea that “we’ve needed more people”? The Congressional Budget Office, which estimated recently that an unexpected wave of illegal immigration will boost the economy by $7 trillion over the next decade, while adding $1 trillion to federal revenues, easing the burden on American taxpayers.

Wall Street investment houses such as Goldman Sachs and HSBC, likewise, see the economy growing from the influx. A recent Bloomberg headline puts it this way: “Immigration Is Fueling US Economic Growth While Politicians Rage.”

Is all that true? Is illegal immigration a massive win-win for the economy? Are all immigrants exactly alike?

No. And, while we’re at it, it isn’t only “politicians” who rage. Average Americans are also angry about the Biden administration’s refusal to stanch the illegal immigrant flow. Our own I&I/TIPP Poll found Americans overwhelmingly favor (59%) building a wall on our southern border, while a March Wall Street Journal survey noted that illegal immigration is now voters’ No. 1 issue.

No doubt, those here illegally are elbowing their way into the workforce. As we reported on April 9,  “In fact, over the past 12 months, native-born Americans lost 651,000 jobs, while foreign-born gained 1.3 million.”

Looks a bit like the displacement of domestic workers by foreign workers. So are we really better off with this flood than without it?

First, lets assume what is no doubt true: Those coming across the border are less-skilled, less-educated and more likely to use welfare and other public services than are those born here. These are all established facts.

The amount of “output” per person will thus be far less than the average output of native-born Americans. So we are in fact importing people who will reduce our per capita GDP, and possibly quite sharply.

So while the nation’s economy may well be bigger as a result of the 3.7 million people (and rising) that Biden has allowed in, we will in fact be less well off on a per-person basis. In short, we are importing poverty.

We’re also importing some other unsavory things, including possible terrorists, deadly diseases and even-deadlier fentanyl, and perhaps worst of all, criminals and cartel members. Does the CBO add these factors into its GDP calculations? How about the Fed?

None of those are taken into account when calculating GDP’s possible growth. Nor does the math take into account having millions of people coming from countries where there are few if any individual rights, no rule of law, and where corruption is an indelible part of governance. How many of them, having arrived illegally, will find a way to vote illegally, too?

GDP is an accounting convenience, not reality. And CBO projections have in the past been notoriously off the mark. Looking at the other side of the ledger shows exploding costs resulting from the illegal immigration surge, costs that aren’t accounted for directly in GDP.

The House Committee on Border Security, for instance, issued a report late last year estimating the total cost of illegal immigration at $451 billion a year in health care, law enforcement, education, housing, welfare and other expenses. And that’s just for the last two years of what is now, essentially, an open border.

Do the math. At this rate, that’s $4.5 trillion over the next decade, assuming no further illegal immigration. But, of course, there will be more illegal immigration, a lot more.

Data from the Federation for American Immigration Reform and from a Yale University-MIT study show an estimated 17 million to 29 million illegals now residing in the U.S. (The Center for Immigration Studies estimates 3.7 million migrants have entered the U.S. illegally just since Biden took office.)

But, in fact, no one knows for sure the exact number. The government’s own figure of 11 million here in total is plainly far below reality. And the rising costs of this will be born for years to come, as “sanctuary cities” such as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Denver and San Francisco are now finding out the hard way.

Keep this in mind the next time you hear a public official spouting off about the economic boom from illegal immigration. It’s a one-sided picture that doesn’t take into account the enormous costs the torrent of illegals is now imposing on U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who played by the rules.

https://issuesinsights.com/2024/04/11/are-illegal-immigrants-really-keeping-the-u-s-economy-afloat/