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John Daley ReportingYesterday's rally for immigration reform raised a number of questions about the short and long term effects of illegal aliens being allowed into the country. But what are real concerns and what are over-hyped misconceptions?
There are a lot of stereotypes and misconceptions swirling around this issue. One thing's certain; there are no easy answers. We checked our KSL message board and found plenty of people raising some pointed questions.
The debate over illegal immigration, it's emotional, it's complicated, and it's fueled by powerful but hard to prove arguments.
Consider this comment from Troy W., "In their fairy tale world, the money that pays these illegals' welfare, their schooling, their healthcare, etc, just magically appears from nowhere."
We talked to a pair of U. of U. economics professors who recently did an extensive study on the economic impact of the Mexico-Utah relationship. They found there are indeed significant short-term costs for schools or health care, but these are outweighed by taxes and spending earned long-term, especially if you consider their children.
Tom Maloney, Economics Professor, Uni. of Utah: "In the long-term, the net contributions of immigrants outweighs the costs. That's pretty clear."
What about the idea that illegal immigrants work jobs American citizens won't? As Vladimir suggests, "I'd like to see you in the fields, earning $5.50 a hour."
Researchers at the U say a lot depends on the industry. Low-skilled workers clearly face more competition and some industries, like agriculture or tourism, would suffer greatly without cheap, undocumented laborers.
Ken Jameson: "In point of fact, they really provide the kind of labor for those vibrant industries within the state."
Fernanda Zomora, Attended Rally: "we're so many, without us, USA will go down."
What about the notion that without illegal immigrants, the economy grinds to a halt? That's not true either, but...
Tom Maloney, Economics Professor: "Clearly these folks are a large part of the labor force. Something that tends to get left out of the discussion is that they are a large part on the consumption side as well."
Here's another point raised from our message board, that generations who came here earlier did it legally, as Vicki S. posted on our website. We checked on that too and found for most of the 1800s, the US basically had open borders. In the 1920s quotas were established, and in recent decades the laws have tightened to make it harder to legally immigrate to the U.S.
