Illegal Immigration
We know this is an area that many people love to debate and have concerns over. However, “illegal immigration” is a fairly new term and the USA has not tracked this data for very long. These rates are also based on estimates that are based on the number of immigrants caught illegally crossing. This means that if more illegals are captured while crossing, the “illegal immigration” rate goes up. Knowing this, many presidents have actually lessened border security or even instructed records not to be kept. In other words, the more people you allow to sneak in, the lower “illegal immigration” rates you can claim. High illegal immigration arrests at the border are a sign of a stronger border. “Illegal immigration” rates are more a product of the political environment in those nations that immigrants are fleeing rather than the political environment here in the USA.
Because of all of these factors, it is not possible to track “illegal immigration” rates by president.
What we think people will find interesting:
- Unauthorized immigrants can only obtain work in the USA if the citizens of the US are willing to hire them. Thus, undocumented worker rates are determined by the will of U.S. citizens.
- Research reviewed by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office indicates that between 50 percent and 75 percent of unauthorized immigrants pay federal, state, and local taxes. Illegal immigrants are estimated to pay about $7 billion per year into Social Security. And almost every dollar they earn is spent in the USA further stimulating the economy. U.S. citizens funnel more money to foreign nations than do undocumented workers as we travel abroad and buy foreign goods.
- The Texas State Comptroller reported in 2006 that the 1.4 million unauthorized immigrants in Texas added almost $18 billion to the gross state product, and contributed $1.58 billion in state revenue.
- For 2010, the Social Security Administration estimated that unauthorized immigrants and their employers paid $13 billion in required social security payroll taxes. These are monies that go directly to U.S. Citizens as ONLY U.S. citizens can collect Social Security.
- Undocumented immigrants, including DACA holders, are ineligible to receive most federal public benefits, including means-tested benefits such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, sometimes referred to as food stamps), regular Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Undocumented immigrants are ineligible for health care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and are prohibited from purchasing unsubsidized health coverage on ACA exchanges.
- Most “statistics” collected about undocumented workers on topics like “Wage impact” and “Job losses” are highly speculative and there is no general consensus either way. The only thing we can know for sure is that enough U.S. businesses are willing to hire undocumented workers to make it worth the risk to travel here.
- A study in Texas based on data from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) which record the immigration statuses of those arrested and convicted of crimes in Texas, suggests that a 10 percent increase in the illegal immigrant’s share of the population is associated with a 1 percent decline in violent crime convictions. This makes logical sense as if a citizen commits a crime, they may get in very little trouble whereas an undocumented immigrant will face serious consequences.
Sidenote:
Again, the main reason undocumented workers come to the USA is that so many U.S. citizens are willing to offer them work. You could maybe try to assume that the people who run these types of businesses tend to vote Republican or Democrat and then pass their views along to the party they vote for, but this is by no means accurate.
The vast majority of businesses that employ undocumented workers are as follows:
Agriculture: Many farmworkers in the United States are undocumented immigrants, particularly in labor-intensive crops such as fruits and vegetables.
Construction: The construction industry has also employed a significant number of undocumented workers, particularly in manual labor jobs such as roofing, painting, and drywall installation.
Hospitality and food service: Restaurants, hotels, and other businesses in the hospitality and food service industry have also been known to hire undocumented workers, particularly in jobs such as dishwashing, food preparation, and cleaning.
Domestic work: Undocumented workers have also been employed as domestic workers, such as housekeepers, nannies, and caregivers.
THE DATA:
In an effort to give any data at all, here is what little actual data exists. One chart shows the criminal conviction rate for each category and the other shows the crime rate of each category as a representation of the total population.
This is not really a fair metric since we do not know what crimes were committed and an undocumented individual may be arrested for simply being in the USA. While that is technically a “crime”, it is not the same kind of crime we think most people worry about.
