illegal immigration

CEI Podcast for October 27, 2011: How Much Do Undocumented Immigrants Cost?

by Ryan Young on October 27, 2011

in International, Podcast

Have a listen here.

A widely cited study from the Federation for American Immigration Reform claims that undocumented immigrants cost taxpayers $113 billion per year. Policy Analyst Alex Nowrasteh, author of the new CEI Web Memo, “A FAIR Criticism: A Critique of the Federation for American Immigration Reform’s ‘The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on United States Taxpayers.’” finds that the study counts costs but ignores benefits, uses shoddy data, and is harmful to the ongoing immigration debate.

Barring Illegals from Driver’s Licenses: Dangerous and Dumb

by Michelle Minton on August 26, 2010

in Odds & Ends

Regardless of how one feels about immigration policy in the U.S., allowing immigrants to obtain a driver’s license is clearly beneficial for society as a whole. Insurance News recently highlighted a usually unseen business product that highlights why letting illegal aliens operate within the laws of the U.S. is better than closing our eyes and pretending that making it illegal for illegals to drive will stop them from taking to the roadways.

Three states in the nation still allow residents to obtain driver’s licensing without providing proof of citizenship, though there is a movement to change that. However, few states explicitly require insurance companies to ask for proof of citizenship in order to write policies. Presumably, one reason lawmakers have not yet attempted to require proof of citizenship is because they recognize the benefit of having a greater number of insured drivers on the roads. The reality of the situation is summed up nicely by John Rost, founder and president of Fiesta Auto Insurance Co:

“People would like to believe that an undocumented individual wouldn’t buy a car, or if they had a car and didn’t have a driver’s license, they wouldn’t drive to work,” Rost said. “That’s clearly not the case.”

Yet, most states prevent illegals from obtaining licenses. Does this stop them from driving? No. It only makes it more likely that they will not understand the traffic laws and will be more likely to cause an accident.

At least, when uneducated driver (not necessarily through any fault of their own), they might have insurance.

Fixing America’s Immigration Black Market

by Ryan Young on April 27, 2010 · 1 comment

in International, Legal, Personal Liberty, Regulation

One of the problems with current immigration laws is that they raise the price of immigrating legally. Basic economics tells us that when something costs more, people consume less of it.

That’s why so many of America’s immigrants are turning to dangerous but cheap immigration black markets to enter the country. This is a problem with an obvious solution. In today’s American Spectator, Alex Nowrasteh and I make the case that lowering the cost of legal immigration through liberalization will reduce the amount of illegal immigration, and shrink cruel black markets.

Basic economics wins again.

How to Fix Immigration’s Black Market

by Ryan Young on March 31, 2010

in Features, International, Legal, Personal Liberty, Regulation, Zeitgeist

Alex Nowrasteh and I have a piece in today’s Detroit News arguing that liberalization, not regulation, is the way to shrink immigration’s massive black market. Our main points:

-New rules that came into effect this month, such as raising the minimum wage for H-2A visa holders (that’s the visa for low-skilled agricultural workers) makes cheaper undocumented workers look more attractive for employers. They actually harm legal workers.

-Other new regulations, including background checks, workplace inspections, and mountains of paperwork, cost thousands of dollars per employee. These regulations also make black market workers look more attractive.

-The way to reduce illegal immigration is liberalization. For agricultural workers, that means making their H-2A visas inexpensive, easy to obtain, and keeping the bureaucracy to a minimum.

-When legal channels cost too much in time and money, people will turn to illegal channels every time. That’s how the world works. Getting rid of immigration’s black market begins with admitting that fact.

Illegal Immigration: Make it Legal

by Ryan Young on November 23, 2009 · 2 comments

in Culture, Economy, Features, International, Legal, Nanny State, Personal Liberty, Regulation, Zeitgeist

The Boston Globe’s Jeff Jacoby wrote a wonderful column yesterday that highlights the inconsistent stance of many conservatives when it comes to immigration:

If Republicans really believe, as Baker says, that “it doesn’t make any sense’’ to allow illegal immigrants to enjoy the same benefits as other state residents, why stop with in-state tuition? Why not bar them from driving on state highways? From camping in state parks? From using libraries?

Of course illegal immigration is a problem. But it can only be solved by overhauling our dysfunctional immigration laws, not by demonizing or scapegoating illegal immigrants. Those immigrants didn’t come here in order to be lawbreakers; they broke a law in order to come here. That’s a distinction with a crucial difference – one that sensible and principled conservatives should be able to understand.

A point of my own to add: many conservatives say they have no problem with immigration itself. Just illegal immigration. Often, this isn’t actually true. Here’s a thought experiment: suppose the definition of legality were changed overnight. Suppose the twelve million men, women, and children currently here illegally are now, suddenly, legal.

People who really are only against illegal immigration will now welcome these new citizens to America with open arms. After all, they’re legal now.

But many conservative immigration opponents don’t think that way, even though they use that reasonable-sounding legality argument. They oppose legalization. They tar it as “amnesty.”

That means some factor other than legality plays into their opinion. They shouldn’t be using it as an argument. Maybe they believe that the U.S. is overpopulated (it isn’t). Maybe they believe that immigrants consume more public services than they pay for in taxes (in the long run, they don’t). Whatever. Let the intellectual battle over immigration move to those fronts, then. The legality argument is just a smokescreen. It is the triumph of semantics over substance.

Immigration is either good or bad for America. This is true whether or not the laws in the books reflect that. That is the substance of the matter. I happen to think immigration is an almost unmitigated blessing. And I will defend that view with logic and data. Not an appeal to a dysfunctional legal code rooted in obsolete Progressive-era thought.

Deficit Rises $880 Billion to Record $1.3 Trillion, Due to Massive, Unprecedented Government Spending

by Hans Bader on August 8, 2009 · 9 comments

in Economy, Employment, Healthcare, Politics as Usual, Sanctimony, Stimulus to Nowhere, Trade

The federal budget deficit has already risen by $880 billion to an unprecedented $1.3 trillion. Most of the increase is attributable to recent increases in federal spending, including Obama’s $800 billion stimulus package, which the Congressional Budget Office says will actually shrink the economy in “the long run,” and which ended welfare reform, destroyed thousands of jobs in the export sector, and substituted welfare for productive investments.

Ironically, Obama had campaigned on a promise, since broken, to make a “net spending cut” in federal spending.

The increase in the deficit is driven largely by reckless federal spending, even though federal tax revenue fell at the fastest rate since 1932 thanks to the recession.

The Obama Administration wants to pile on even more federal spending, including a health-care “reform” proposal predicted to cost at least $1,000,000,000,000 ($1 trillion). In reality, Obamacare will likely cost far more than predicted, the way past health-care expansions always have.

One of Obama’s own advisers says the Obama Administration’s health-care plan will harm people with insurance while raising their taxes. CNN says Obamacare will take away 5 freedoms. It will also destroy many affordable health-care plans while breaking Obama’s campaign promises.

ObamaCare also contains affirmative action and subsidies for left-wing community organizers, and preferences for illegal aliens, who are exempt from its taxes and penalties, but may be able to access its benefits due to lack of meaningful eligibility verification safeguards.