Marianist Social Justice Collaborative - Immigration Hot Button Issues

Assertion:

Undocumented immigrants are a net drain on the U.S. economy because they pay no taxes.
Undocumented immigrants are a net drain on the U.S. economy because they use valuable resources and take public welfare.
Undocumented immigrants take jobs ways from U.S. workers and drive down wages.
My great-grandparents (or grandparents) came legally -- why can't these new immigrants?
Undocumented immigrants should just get in line and play by the rules like everyone else.
Undocumented immigrants are criminals and commit crimes in the United States.
We need to deport all undocumented persons and seal the borders in order to prevent terrorist attacks.
These people are illegal and deserve no consideration in our society. They have broken the law. What part of "illegal" do you not understand?
Given the undocumented legal status of immigrants, offering amnesty rewards lawlessness. It violates the rule of law upon which this country was built.
The Catholic Church believes in open borders and only wants to increase the number of Catholics in the United States.
Immigrants do not integrate into American society and they do not learn English. They are taking away our culture.

HOT BUTTON ISSUE #1

Assertion: Undocumented immigrants are a net drain on the U.S. economy because
they pay no taxes.

Response: In fact, undocumented immigrants pay billions of dollars in sales,
property, and income taxes each year. Legal and undocumented immigrants pay
sales taxes and property taxes (rent or homeownership.) Between one-half and
three-quarters of undocumented immigrants pay federal and state income taxes,
Social Security and Medicare taxes.
According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), undocumented workers pay
as much as $7 billion Social Security and Medicare taxes each year. This money
is placed in a special account used by SSA for returns without accurate social
security numbers. It has been estimated that, since 1984, undocumented
immigrants have contributed as much as $520 billion into this account. Perhaps
the most telling evidence that undocumented workers pay taxes is they they were
legally barred from receiving tax rebates under the 2008 tax stimulus package
passed by Congress.

HOT BUTTON ISSUE #2

ASSERTION: Undocumented immigrants are a net drain on the U.S. economy because
they use valuable resources and take public welfare.

RESPONSE: This is not true, for several reasons: First, undocumented
immigrants are not eligible for any type of public assistance programs. They
are only eligible for emergency medical care and for schooling for children.
According to the Urban Institute, less than 1 percent of households headed by
undocumented immigrants receive cash assistance (because of their U.S.-born
children), while 5 percent of households headed by U.S. born citizens do.
Further, studies demonstrate immigrants (both legal and undocumented) pay more
in total taxes than the benefits they receive. The National Research Council
estimated in 1997 that an immigrant pays each year $1800 more in taxes than he
or she costs in benefits.... As a general rule, undocumented immigrants do have
a negative impact 1) upon arrival in the United States; and 2) on state and
local budgets, since their initial costs are born by these government levels.
After two or three years in the workforce they become net contributors to the
economy.

HOT BUTTON ISSUE #3

Assertion: Undocumented immigrants take jobs ways from U.S. workers and drive
down wages.

Response: Studies show that both undocumented and legal immigrants complement
the native-born workforce, do not compete with it. Immigrant workers labor in
important industries, such as farm work (almost 50 percent) food preparation,
building maintenance, and grounds cleaning (33 percent), and construction (22
percent), jobs Americans generally do not want. According the Pew Hispanic
Center, foreign-born workers accounted for 49 percent of the labor force growth
between 1995 and 2005. At the same time, Americans are more educated (only 12
percent without a high school diploma) and the fertility rate in the United
States is projected to fall below replacement level (to 1.9 children per woman)
by 2012. The Department of Labor has stated that there will be a shortage of
workers in major industries (agriculture, construction, service) by early 2010.
The White House Council on Economic Advisors concluded in 2007 that roughly 90
percent of foreign-born workers experienced wage gains from immigration,
totaling between 30 and 80 billion dollars per year. A 2006 study by University
of California-Davis economist Giovanni Peri found that native-born workers with
a high school diploma experienced wage gain from immigration of up to 3-4
percent between 1990 and 2004. Studies, such as a 2004 study by economist David
Card of University California-Berkeley and the National Research Council in
1997, show that the wages of native-born persons without a high school diploma
either remained constant or declined one percent because of competition from
immigrants.

HOT BUTTON ISSUE #4

Assertion: My great-grandparents (or grandparents) came legally -- why can't
these new immigrants?

Response: They may have come legally at the time, but there might not have been
laws governing immigration at the time. During the 19th century there was
virtually no regulation of immigrants in this country. If someone could get
here, he/she would be let in. Unless one fell into any exclusion category, for
example, the "Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882," or were considered insane, he or
she would be allowed to enter and remain. Furthermore, before the 20th century,
there was no agency or bureaucracy to enforce immigration laws. In 1924 the law
set up a consular system that required prospective immigrants to obtain a visa
from a U.S. consulate abroad before coming to the USA. Once exclusions and
restrictions were placed on immigration to the US, illegal immigration began.
Laws designed to keep out less desirable groups, such as Eastern and Southern
Europeans increased the number of undocumented immigrants. A 1929 law, the
Registry Act, allowed law-abiding aliens who might be in the US under some
merely "technical irregularity" to register as permenant residents for a fee of
$20.00 if they could prove they had lived in the United States since 1921 and
were of good moral character. Between 1925 and 1965, 200,000 undocumented
Europeans legalized their status under the law.

HOT BUTTON ISSUE #5

Assertion: Undocumented immigrants should just get in line and play by the
rules like everyone else.

Response: Yes they should, and they would if there was any hope of them
immigrating legally. However, our immigration system is so flawed that they do
not have a realistic chance of entering the US legally, at least not in a timely
manner. There are not enough legal avenues, or visas, available to accommodate
those who want to come, nor those who we need. For example, there are only 5,000
visas for low-skilled and unskilled foreign-born workers to enter and work and
live in the United States each year. There are a handful of seasonal visa
programs (H-2) agriculatural workers, (H-2B) service workers, (H1B) high tech,
but their numbers are limited and the visas are temporary. In contrast, there
are approximately 500,000 immigrants who enter illegally or overstay their visas
each year, and 90 percent of them work within six months of their arrival. In
the future, our economy will need low-skilled workers, since we are barely at
replacement level in our birth rates. Moreover, American citizens are more
highly educated than in the past. In 1960, 50 percent of the American workforce
did not have a diploma; today only 12 percent lack a high school diploma. As
for entering to reunite with families, the waiting times are interminable.
Legal permanent residents must wait up to six years for immediate family members
to join them. It takes over twenty years for more extended family members
(siblings, married sons and daughters) to receive a visa. This is because of
the numerical quota in the system and a high demand. Persons can enter as
refugees or asylum-seekers, but that is very limited. Last year, the United
States resettled only 18,000 refugees and allowed a lesser number to enter as
asylum-seekers. Finally, only about 55,000 immigrants are allowed in under the
Diversity Lottery system that admits foreign nationals who may otherwise be
underrepresented.

HOT BUTTON ISSUE #6

Assertion: Undocumented immigrants are criminals and commit crimes in the
United States.

Response: In fact, immigrant populations have a lesser incidence of crime than
US-born populations. Although the number of undocumented persons in the nation
has doubled since 1995, the violent crime rate, according to the Department of
Justice, has fallen by 34 percent. This was the trend in border cities and
other cities with large immigrant populations: San Diego, El Paso, New York,
Chicago, and Miami. The incarceration rate for men from Mexico, El Salvador,
and Guatamala - nations that account for the majority of the undocumented - is
much lower than U.S. native-born men. Undocumented immigrants come to the United
States to work and support their families. They do not want to break laws and be
deported; it is not in their interest. Conservative talk-radio and
anti-immigrant organizations will highlight the exceptions to the rule, but it
is a small exception.

HOT BUTTON ISSUE #7

Assertion: We need to deport all undocumented persons and seal the borders in
order to prevent terrorist attacks.

Response: Seventeen of the nineteen 9/11 terrorists came into the U.S. legally
on student visas. The other two had over-stayed their visas. Terrorist attacks
are usually planned and carried out by operatives who have been in a country for
some time. By legalizing the undocumented population and creating more visas
for workers to enter legally, we know who is in the country and who is coming,
thus making us safer as a nation.

HOT BUTTON ISSUE #8

Assertion: These people are illegal and deserve no consideration in our
society. They have broken the law. What part of "illegal" do you not
understand?

Response: Yes, they have broken the law, but we must consider a number of
factors before assessing a penalty. First, we must consider that the law that
they are breaking is a flawed law, and consider whether it needs to be changed.
All the evidence shows that our economy needs low-skilled workers now and into
the future, but our legal immigration system does not contain enough visas to
accommodate a legal flow of workers. We therefore are relying on workers who
are here illegally to perform jobs Americans will not perform. We are able to
benefit from their work but at the same time offer them low wages without
benefits and, when convenient, scapegoat them for our social ills. Second, we
must consider the intent and effect of the lawbreaking before exacting a
penalty, factors often considered in courts of law. The intent of the
lawbreaking is to work and support their families. The effect of the
lawbreaking is that their work benefits our economy. Therefore, we must adjust
the penalty to the malice of the offense and to meet the best interests of the
United States. If we benefit from their work, we should exact a penalty that
also allows them to continue their work.

HOT BUTTON ISSUE #9

Assertion: Given the undocumented legal status of immigrants, offering amnesty
rewards lawlessness. It violates the rule of law upon which this country was
built.

Response: We are not proposing an "amnesty," but a legislative program that
requires immigrants to offer proof that their taxes are current, and requires
them to work before getting "in line" to obtain legalized status. This is not a
"give away," or forgiveness of an offense. It upholds the law, since
undocumented immigrants will be paying for their offense and thus are
accountable to the law. It would not encourage more lawbreaking, since, under a
comprehensive reform bill, the number of visas for low-skilled workers will be
increased, allowing future flows of workers to come to the United States
legally.

HOT BUTTON ISSUE #10

Assertion: The Catholic Church believes in open borders and only wants to
increase the number of Catholics in the United States.

Response: The Church has taught consistently that a sovereign nation has the
right to control and defend its borders. However, in order to serve the common
good, a sovereign nation should attempt to accommodate immigration to the
greatest extent possible. The U.S. Catholic bishops believe that the best
enforcement mechanisms are: 1) economic development of under-developed nations,
so that migrants can remain home and support their families; and 2)
comprehensive immigration reform that would replace illegality with legality,
bring persons out of the shadows, and take pressure off our southern border by
allowing workers to migrate legally and in a controlled manner. As a universal
organization with global reach, the Catholic Church understands the powerful
forces that compel migrants to risk their lives to come to the United States.
No walls will prevent migrants from attempting to migrate and support their
families. There are 68 million Catholics in the United States. There is no
threat that the church in the United States will go out of business. The church
speaks out because the immigrants are already here, not because we are
encouraging them to come.

IMMIGRATION HOT BUTTON ISSUE #11

Assertion: Immigrants do not integrate into American society and they do not
learn English. They are taking away our culture.

Response: Studies show that first generation immigrants (adults who arrive
undocumented) have difficulty learning English at first, but learn enough
English to communicate at a basic Level withion the first two years of arrival.
Second generation immigrants speak very good English. Immigrants understand
that to succeed in the United States you have to speak English. Immigrants have
been arriving in the United States for two centuries and have not taken away our
culture but have defined it. The United States is strengthened by the diversity
of nationalities that make up the citizenry, as we are able to experience the
best of different cultures. It is not different today.

These HOT BUTTON ISSUE STATEMENTS have been prepared
by the Office of Migration and Refugee Policy, Migration
and Refugee Services, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.