Statistics on the dangers and costs of illegal immigrants

Many reasons are given for spending hundreds of millions of dollars to deport illegal aliens. Crime is one of those reasons.

As of 2022, there were approximately 11.0 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. There undoubtedly are more, now.

President Trump has informed us that these people are rapists, robbers, drug dealers and murderers. Here are the statistics:

Hmmm. Twenty-nine homicides? Sixteen hundred drug possessions? Those are not exactly the huge numbers we’ve been told, especially for 11 million people.

OK, so maybe they aren’t the raging criminals we are made to believe. But they are a drain on the economy because they don’t pay taxes. 

No, actually, they pay a considerable amount of taxes. Undocumented immigrants paid nearly $100 billion in federal, state, and local taxes. Most of that amount, $59.4 billion, was paid to the federal government while the remaining $37.3 billion was paid to state and local governments.

Well, but they still get benefits.

No, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for Social Security retirement benefits or health insurance through Medicare, for example, even though they contribute billions of dollars to the federal payroll taxes that fund these benefits. 

So they aren’t criminals; they pay taxes and don’t receive the benefits their taxes supposedly pay for. But they take jobs away from citizens, right?

This paper presents evidence on the effect of legal status on workers’ labor market outcomes in the US and explores the impact of undocumented immigration in the labor market.

Firms receive applications from documented and undocumented workers and hire the worker they can extract the largest surplus from.

As undocumented workers have a lower reservation wage due to their ineligibility for unemployment benefits, lower wage bargaining power and risk of being detected and removed, their wages are lower and job finding rates higher, which is consistent with the empirical evidence.

In short, they don’t laze around. They work and even must accept the worst jobs at the lowest wages — jobs not wanted by American citizens. America needs people who will do those jobs. 

Immigrants are consumers. They spend money. And this creates more jobs.

An increase in the share of undocumented immigrants leads to the creation of additional jobs.

When calibrated to US data, the job creation effect dominates and undocumented immigration benefits documented workers.

An increase in the removal rate mutes job creation and thus lowers the job finding rate of all workers.

This detrimental effect is even larger if the removal rate increases more for employed workers (e.g. through worksite raids) because this leads to a risk premium in their wages.

Immigration raids have negative effects on businesses. Undocumented immigrants fear applying for most jobs because of the risk of deportation. This risk makes filling job openings difficult for many businesses.

Using the introduction of statewide omnibus immigration laws as a measure of increased removal risk, I find evidence for muted job creation and a risk premium in immigrants’ wages.

In summary, illegal immigrants:

1. 1. Are less likely to be criminals than are U.S. citizens: Less likely to be murderers, less likely to be drug pushers, less likely to be burglars or robbers.
   2. Pay the same taxes as citizens, but don’t receive the benefits their taxes supposedly buy.

   3. Are low-pay workers –on average, undocumented workers earn about 42% less than U.S.-born workers and legal immigrants with similar skills — so deporting them increases business costs, which causes inflation. 

   4. Are forced to accept the least desirable jobs, with the least desirable working conditions, akin to indentured servants. Are more likely to work in less regulated industries that offer lower wages, such as agriculture, construction, and certain service sectors. These jobs often come with fewer benefits and protections compared to jobs available to U.S. citizens.. 
   5. Finally, according to a report from the American Immigration Council, deporting 11 million undocumented immigrants could cost between $88 billion to $315 billion annually  
      

SUMMARY

Given the facts, why would we want to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants, especially knowing the terrible emotional and financial toll it will have not only on the deported but on our economy and on U.S. citizens?

The answer is that our leaders don’t care about the damage to our people. They only care about votes, power, and their own money. 

They understand their followers’ fears and motivations. They count on obedient voters who do not understand the facts or the lie that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of the nation” (whatever that is supposed to mean).  

These obedient followers — working U.S. citizens — will be hurt most.

So, a combination of ignorance, fear, lies, and bigotry has led many American citizens to opt for laws that will boomerang on them.

They confuse strength with the sadism of a man who preys on women, used fake “heel spurs” to avoid military service, and denigrated the servicemen and women who died protecting America.

Economic suicide will be the first result of their ignorance, fear, and bigotry.

With immigrants gone, at great expense to middle- and lower-income Americans, the nation will be marked by inflation and unemployment, low pay, and harsh working conditions.

This, ironically, is what some Americans will foist on others.

Dare I say the backfire will be poetic justice, though we all will pay for the folly. 

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

Monetary Sovereignty

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