Thread: CBS4 Examines Illegal Immigrant Costs In Colorado

http://cbs4denver.com/local/local_story_204132300.html

Jul 22, 2006 9:30 pm US/Mountain

CBS4 Examines Illegal Immigrant Costs In Colorado
Tough Question: Is there a cost to illegal immigration?
By CBS4 Reporter Alan Gionet

Alan Gionet
Reporting

(CBS4) DENVER While there's still a lot of debate surrounding the issue, a recent study in Colorado showed that illegal immigrants compete for jobs only with people working at the lowest levels.

Sylvia is a case in point. She's a single mother with four children. Three of them are school age, and another is now an adult. Sylvia crossed the border into America 12 years ago. Speaking in Spanish she told CBS4 why she came to Colorado, where she now works in housekeeping:

"I came to Colorado because they pay more here for work. Minimum wage is more.

"I do like being a housekeeper, but there are some times that I would like to get ahead and get a better job."

Rich Jones of the Bell Policy Institute said illegal immigrants working in Colorado generally are not taking jobs from Americans.

"Every economic study that's looked at this would argue ... that what they are doing in many cases is supplementing jobs," Jones said. "They are not supplanting jobs that Americans hold."

Advocates of tougher laws against illegal immigrants agree the low wages usually paid to people like Sylvia keep the prices of things like fruits and vegetables, often picked by migrant labor, lower. But don't be fooled, many say, illegal immigrants are costing Coloradoans in other ways.

"When you get a family that is paid say between $20,000 and $30,000 a year and they have got three kids in school system, I mean that's right there $33,000 just in education costs," University of Denver and former Gov. Dick Lamm said. "This isn't cheap labor; don't fool yourself."

The federal government requires states to provide services like education and emergency medical care but shares little of the cost.

The Bell Policy Center concludes that illegal immigrants, who often use false identities and fail to report income, bear less of the tax burden. They estimate that the average income for an illegal immigrant household is $27,400 per year.

Illegal immigrants, referred to by Bell Policy as "undocumented workers," pay an estimated $1,500 to $1,800 per year. The household of a US citizen would typically pay about $2,200 per year. Most of those wages are in federal taxes. There are some local taxes paid because many illegal immigrants are paying rent to homeowners who then pay local taxes. Sometimes, money taken out of their pay by the federal government might be over-contributed because illegal immigrants may not apply for tax refunds.

"From a federal standpoint, most of the studies will show that over time, in particular the federal government ends up having a net gain," Jones said.

What Can Be Done?

A liberal policy institute in Washington called the Center for American Progress is the only one to come up with an estimate of the cost of deporting all of the illegal immigrants in the United States. They put the cost at $200 billion over 5 years. That would be $41 billion a year -- more than the annual budget for the Department of Homeland Security.

Supporters of tougher laws against illegal immigration say that's not even the issue and that almost no one is advocating that. But many, like Colorado Congressman Rep. Tom Tancredo believe attrition will take care of the problem if there's a stiff crackdown on both illegal immigrants and employers.

Not all think that way. Jones suggest amnesty is a logical next step.

"The key would be to look at a comprehensive reform of the immigration laws to ensure that the workers who are coming in do have documents, are legally able to work, and then they're going to be paying a full range of taxes including all the income taxes," Jones said. "I think we'd be much better off; we'd have more taxpayers than we do in the current system."

Jones said the US is also creating more low skilled jobs than it fills and needs more workers.

Lamm also suggests amnesty.

"Ultimately we're going to have to give amnesty," he said. "I just don't think we should give amnesty until we get control of our borders so that we can prevent the next 20 million people who are already somewhere, Bangladesh, Syria, wherever else it is, gearing up to come here."

Sylvia said has no plans to go back to Mexico. She's worried about what the future holds for her children, and she says there are more options for them in the US.

"They have more opportunity to have a dignified job," she said.

She's a single mother with four children.

Why is there never a mention of the father of these children? Has she ever been married or were these children born out of wedlock so taxpayers could pay for them?