Bullies, Economics & The Border

 “… as long as there have been desperate people who can’t make a living wage in their home country and a need for cheap labor in the United States, migrants have been willing to cross the border regardless of the cost. 
The factors that make people leave their homes and families to risk life and limb in the desert for the chance to scrub toilets for minimum wage are relatively obvious: global economic inequality, political instability, war, famine, government corruption, drug cartel violence, unregulated capitalism, consumer demands for cheap goods and services. It is an endless list of political economic issues that defy simple policy solutions. Would a new guest worker program solve America’s border problems? Could policing the workforce and penalizing those who employ the undocumented stop the migration flow? What about equalizing the trade relationships between the United States and our neighbors to the south so that people have fewer reasons to leave home? Perhaps more foreign investment in economic development in Latin America and less spending on the Border War? All of these suggestions have been put forth time and again with few results.
In the end, it comes down to the United States’ need for cheap labor that can easily be controlled with the threat of deportation and duplicitous stance that we don’t want undocumented laborers in our country. The American public has to first recognize and resolve this fundamental socioeconomic conundrum before any serious immigration policy reform can take place…” -Jason De León (2015,  p.283-284)

I thought it was just kids that bullied one another. It always seemed to me that the “cool kids” – the ones that were popular, that had influence – made fun of others. I remember friends like Brendan and Jacob being called “gay” and picked on by the cool kids. They weren’t/aren’t actually gay, they were just socially different than the cool kids. Meanwhile, the kids that were gay received all kinds of homophobic comments – maybe not to their face, but certainly behind their backs. Kids were mean. Unfortunately, I have begun to realize that the bullying didn’t end in grade school. Adults are just as bad if not worse.

U.S. side of border. Douglas, AZ

For whatever reason, our politicians, the media, and the U.S. population in general has decided to blame many of our national problems on undocumented immigrants. The bullies, like their grade school peers are insecure – politicians trying to explain perceived economic issues of our nation (to divert the heat they feel from their constituents); media looking for “hot stories” to grip the attention of the masses, bringing in money for their company and keeping themselves employed; the U.S. population looing for make sense of why the “American Dream” doesn’t look as they imagined. Meanwhile, the victims – like most of bullying – can’t, or won’t, defend themselves. Why would they even try if doing so would ensure deportation and limit their ability to provide for their families?

The politicians, media and fellow U.S. citizens are not completely wrong in saying that undocumented immigrants cost tax-payers money. They do. Undocumented immigrants use services paid by U.S. tax-payers: roads, parks, public schools, etc. Additionally, hospitals in the American Southwest have tens of millions worth in medical bills unpaid by undocumented immigrants who were treated in their facilities (Urrea, 2004, p. 179-180). However, undocumented immigrants also provide benefits to our economy that are immeasurable. Undocumented immigrants pay sales taxes, state taxes, FICA and Social Security. They pay banks and financial institutions fees when sending remittances home to Latin America. Their cheap labor keeps the cost of food and goods low. They are said to add $300 billion to the U.S.’s GDP (Urrea, 2004, 215-219).

At the end of the day, it is impossible to say how much immigrants cost us or benefit us economically. Regardless, I would argue that the amount they might cost tax-payers is relatively small. I believe that paying the tab for the medical care and public services received by undocumented immigrants is a small price to pay in order to provide refuge for those fleeing their nations; to accept hard workers and entrepreneurs into our nation; to enjoy the social and religious perspective of different people; to care for the foreigner and migrant (as many of our faiths command us to); and to maintain the promise that our nation will be a refuge, providing liberty and justice for all.

Reference List:

De León, J. (2015). The land of open graves: living and dying on the migrant trail. Oakland,

            CA: University of California Press.

Urrea, L. A. (2004). The devil’s highway: A true story. New York: Little, Brown and Company.