The US economy is in a rut and people today are more desperate for good paying jobs than ever before. Rising unemployment rates and a slow economy have fueled the recent debate over the cost of illegal immigration in the country today.
It’s no secret that illegal immigration has been on the increase in the past decade. Even with the recent slowing down of the US economy, foreign workers still flock to the US for the relatively higher wages they will be receiving compared to those in their home countries.
What are the costs of illegal immigration in the country today?
In spite of what many people believe, illegal immigrants do in fact pay taxes. They are also not eligible for most government aid and services such as food stamps, welfare or Medicaid. So the idea that undocumented workers take a huge share of Social Security benefits while not paying taxes is untrue.
However, one of the benefits that they can enjoy is that the children of illegal immigrants may go to free public school. This is considered a cost of illegal immigration that is worth paying because it would be unproductive and even dangerous to have a large amount of out-of-school and unskilled children and youths in society.
Allowing the children of illegal immigrants access to public school is really much better than the alternative. Nobody wants to have gangs of unemployed teenagers running around because they lack training and education.
A frequently discussed topic is healthcare for undocumented immigrants. Emergency hospital rooms are obliged to take in illegal immigrants because they are not allowed to turn away anyone, even if they cannot pay for the cost of medical care. Since most of them do not have health insurance, the hospital is obliged to absorb the cost of emergency care.
This cost is not negligible and in large hospitals can cost tens of millions of dollars, especially since emergency care is much more expensive than the non-emergency care available. Not all of the cases are even emergencies – many people just go to the emergency hospital room for care because they know the hospital is not allowed to turn them away.
Of course, some of these hospitals are funded by taxes and people have objected to taxes being spent on non-citizens.
While some take the position that publicly funded clinics should turn away non-citizens, others assert that public health and safety concerns dictate that all sectors of society have proper healthcare. Illnesses would be spread much faster if a large portion of the population was denied proper medical care.
Lawmakers are divided on the issue. Medical personal, consistent with the nature of their job, simply prefer not to turn away sick people.
In any case, before policymakers can tackle the issue, they must ponder what the real cost of illegal immigration would be if such a large segment of the population were deprived of health care. Especially in states like Arizona which share a border with Mexico. The government might save a few tax dollars to deny illegal aliens health care but would there not be a cost in the form of danger to public health and the possible increased spread of illness? This is a complicated matter that needs clear minds and not hysterical rhetoric.
Tagged with: children of illegal immigrants • costs of illegal immigration • emergency hospital • food stamps • good paying jobs • home countries • slow economy • social security benefits • undocumented immigrants • unemployment rates
Filed under: cost of illegal immigration • illegal immigration statistics
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