…for The Sacramento Bee…
As state and local governments grapple with budget deficits brought on by the economic recession, some are blaming immigrants – particularly undocumented immigrants. According to this flawed reasoning, if the tax contributions of immigrants in general, or undocumented immigrants in particular, don’t cover the costs of the public services they utilize in a single year, then immigrants must be a financial “burden” on the majority of taxpayers. However, by this measure, nearly all native-born children, retirees and unemployed workers also qualify as economic “burdens.” A realistic accounting of the economic “value” of a person must include the contributions made over a lifetime as a worker, consumer and taxpayer….
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…for the Immigration Policy Center…
According to the anti-immigration group NumbersUSA, immigration to the United States is all about arithmetic: immigration increases the U.S. population, and more people presumably means more pollution, more urban sprawl, more competition for jobs, and higher taxes for Americans who must shoulder the costs of “over-population.” At first glance, this argument is attractive in its simplicity: less immigration, fewer people, a better environment, more jobs, lower taxes. However, as with so many simple arguments about complex topics, it is fundamentally flawed and misses the point. “Over-population” is not the primary cause of the environmental or economic woes facing the United States, so arbitrary restrictions on immigration will not create a cleaner environment or a healthier economy…
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