Undeniably illegal immigration presents a problem, not simply that it violates law but more so that the influx is unaccounted for, consequently making it impossible for the system to evaluate true employment needs and protection now and in the future. Obviously some undocumented workers do displace native-born workers in various industries — particularly in meat-packing and agriculture where skills are not required, but not overwhelmingly. More importantly is the placement and recruiting of natural citizens — unable to stay abreast of inflation — in an eroding wage-rate environment where an abundance of foreign workers compete among themselves as well. Of course, there is a positive angle in that sustaining low wages serves as a disincentive to outsourcing some industries and in taking up the slack in job-demand in many service industries requiring few if any skills, particularly in parts of the country that are well educated and skilled. Yet in other sections of the nation where unskilled labor is plentiful, undocumented workers put a stranglehold on wages for the natural citizen competing for these jobs.
The greater implication is that this deluge of illegal border crossing causes tangible and intangible havoc. Surely millions of jobs are off the books, devastating the national treasury and the dire need of a greater ratio between workers and retirees for social security solvency. Further, those who are on the books are so lowed paid that their contribution to SS is minuscule and pay little in income tax and in all probability eligible for earned income tax credit.
Moreover, the “diversity” trend has reached a saturation point with the influx of Hispanics and Asians and is shortchanging the legal process of systemic selection of Europeans — yes, white — who tend to be, if not highly skilled, at least prone to assimilate more easily and willing to set aside the primacy of cultural heritage, but which as a rule carries with it old world work ethic of much needed crafts.
In conclusion, the deluge of the unskilled — apparently advantageous to employers expecting far less entry skills — is causing community restiveness, particularly in posing insurmountable challenges for public education by eroding the natural sequence of curricula normally afforded the native born child. Then there is the erosion of a century of hard-earned workers’ rights. Optimistically, however, in the future or in the next generation there will be much demand for more skilled workers who, subject to more substantial tax and FICA — may just put the US back on the track to fiscal responsibility.
Copyright © 2005 Richard R. Kennedy All rights reserved. Revised: November 10, 2005.
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