#2: Immigrants are framed as a burden to our economy through aspects such as employment, taxes, and health care.
One common misconception is that immigrants have a negative effect on our employment rates. Many of Americans don’t have the “real” facts. They indeed affect employment but not to the extreme that most Americans believe or hear on the news. News stations, talk shows, and radio shows across the country continue to debate the topic and then feed us with their bias opinion and all we hear is they are bad and are ruining jobs, and taking away from opportunities to live the “American dream” when in reality they do the jobs that most people will not do.
”Immigrants have practically no negative effect in the labor market on any person except other immigrants.
The effect on wages is modest by any appraisal, and the effect on unemployment apparently is zero…Increased immigration has a modest adverse effect on the wages of the immigrants themselves and on the wages of earlier waves of immigrants, but it has only a modest effect on the wages of the young black and Hispanic Americans who are likely to be the next closest substitutes (LaLonde and Topel). Neither the employment nor the wages of less educated black and white natives worsened noticeably in cities where immigrant shares of the population rose in the 1970s. On the positive side, there is some evidence that, in cities with more immigrants, employment grew more rapidly or declined more slowly in low-wage industries where immigrants tended to find jobs and that less skilled natives moved into better jobs (Altonji and Card). The broad implication is that immigrants have been absorbed into the American labor market with little adverse effect on natives. (Abowd and Freeman 1992, 22)" (http://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/pr-imnative.html)
”The study found that immigrants arriving from Mexico fell by 249,000 from March 2008 to March 2009, down nearly 60 percent from the previous year. As a result, the annual inflow of immigrants is now 175,000, having steadily decreased from a peak of 653,000 in 2005, before the bursting of the housing bubble dried up construction and other low-wage jobs.” (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32079947/ns/us_news-life)
Other issues included in the debate are the effects that immigrants have on taxes and healthcare costs.
“One thing is clear: Undocumented immigrants are driving up the number of people without health insurance. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 59% of the nation's illegal immigrants are uninsured, compared with 25% of legal immigrants and 14% of U.S. citizens. Illegal immigrants represent about 15% of the nation's 47 million uninsured people — and about 30% of the increase since 1980.” (http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-01-21-immigrant-healthcare_N.htm)
Undocumented workers are offered health benefits through Medicaid. The controversial aspect is that taxpayers don’t want to pay money for these immigrants to receive health care unless they are citizens.
“At the state and local level, illegal immigrants already cost more in public services such as education and health care than they pay in taxes, the Congressional Budget Office reported recently. Illegal immigrants make up less than 5% of the cost in most states, but closer to 10% in some California counties. In 2000, counties along the Mexican border lost more than $800 million in health care services for which they were not paid; about 25% of that went to care for illegal immigrants, according to a report by the United States/Mexico Border Counties Coalition.” (http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-01-21-immigrant-healthcare_N.htm)
As for the debate on taxes, the media present us with more “truthiness” when covering that issue. Undocumented workers have part of the effect on taxes, but that role is over-exaggerated by the news media today. They are sure to only focus on certain stories that spotlight immigrants as the reason for tax increases and health care problems.
"Illegal immigrants are estimated to pay in about $7 billion per year into Social Security… A paper in the peer reviewed Tax Lawyer journal from the American Bar Association asserts that illegal immigrants contribute more in taxes than they cost in social services.[105] The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reviewed 29 reports published over 15 years to evaluate the impact of unauthorized immigrants on the budgets of state and local governments, and found that the tax revenues that unauthorized immigrants generate for state and local governments do not offset the total cost of services provided to those immigrants, but that the amount that state and local governments spend on services for unauthorized immigrants represents a small percentage of the total amount spent by those governments to provide such services to residents in their jurisdictions.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration_to_the_United_States)
Although Latino immigrants affect employment rates, health care, and taxes, it is not to the extent that we see in the news media. Carefully choosing networks with no biased view, and doing your own research are ways that you can avoid building judgmental stereotypes and learn more about each of those issues.
”Immigrants have practically no negative effect in the labor market on any person except other immigrants.
The effect on wages is modest by any appraisal, and the effect on unemployment apparently is zero…Increased immigration has a modest adverse effect on the wages of the immigrants themselves and on the wages of earlier waves of immigrants, but it has only a modest effect on the wages of the young black and Hispanic Americans who are likely to be the next closest substitutes (LaLonde and Topel). Neither the employment nor the wages of less educated black and white natives worsened noticeably in cities where immigrant shares of the population rose in the 1970s. On the positive side, there is some evidence that, in cities with more immigrants, employment grew more rapidly or declined more slowly in low-wage industries where immigrants tended to find jobs and that less skilled natives moved into better jobs (Altonji and Card). The broad implication is that immigrants have been absorbed into the American labor market with little adverse effect on natives. (Abowd and Freeman 1992, 22)" (http://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/pr-imnative.html)
”The study found that immigrants arriving from Mexico fell by 249,000 from March 2008 to March 2009, down nearly 60 percent from the previous year. As a result, the annual inflow of immigrants is now 175,000, having steadily decreased from a peak of 653,000 in 2005, before the bursting of the housing bubble dried up construction and other low-wage jobs.” (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32079947/ns/us_news-life)
Other issues included in the debate are the effects that immigrants have on taxes and healthcare costs.
“One thing is clear: Undocumented immigrants are driving up the number of people without health insurance. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 59% of the nation's illegal immigrants are uninsured, compared with 25% of legal immigrants and 14% of U.S. citizens. Illegal immigrants represent about 15% of the nation's 47 million uninsured people — and about 30% of the increase since 1980.” (http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-01-21-immigrant-healthcare_N.htm)
Undocumented workers are offered health benefits through Medicaid. The controversial aspect is that taxpayers don’t want to pay money for these immigrants to receive health care unless they are citizens.
“At the state and local level, illegal immigrants already cost more in public services such as education and health care than they pay in taxes, the Congressional Budget Office reported recently. Illegal immigrants make up less than 5% of the cost in most states, but closer to 10% in some California counties. In 2000, counties along the Mexican border lost more than $800 million in health care services for which they were not paid; about 25% of that went to care for illegal immigrants, according to a report by the United States/Mexico Border Counties Coalition.” (http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-01-21-immigrant-healthcare_N.htm)
As for the debate on taxes, the media present us with more “truthiness” when covering that issue. Undocumented workers have part of the effect on taxes, but that role is over-exaggerated by the news media today. They are sure to only focus on certain stories that spotlight immigrants as the reason for tax increases and health care problems.
"Illegal immigrants are estimated to pay in about $7 billion per year into Social Security… A paper in the peer reviewed Tax Lawyer journal from the American Bar Association asserts that illegal immigrants contribute more in taxes than they cost in social services.[105] The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reviewed 29 reports published over 15 years to evaluate the impact of unauthorized immigrants on the budgets of state and local governments, and found that the tax revenues that unauthorized immigrants generate for state and local governments do not offset the total cost of services provided to those immigrants, but that the amount that state and local governments spend on services for unauthorized immigrants represents a small percentage of the total amount spent by those governments to provide such services to residents in their jurisdictions.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration_to_the_United_States)
Although Latino immigrants affect employment rates, health care, and taxes, it is not to the extent that we see in the news media. Carefully choosing networks with no biased view, and doing your own research are ways that you can avoid building judgmental stereotypes and learn more about each of those issues.
