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April 2005
AMNESTY: THE BUSH PUSH
BILL TO LEGALIZE 20 MILLION OR MORE
ILLEGAL ALIENS
WARNING: "GUEST-WORKER PROGRAM"
AND "EARNED LEGALIZATION" ARE TROJAN HORSES
FOR AMNESTY
The Looming Amnesty Threat
- President George W. Bush says he is expending "political
capital" to push through legislation
legalizing the situation of 20 million or more illegal
aliens.
- This amnesty will likely be disguised as "earned
legalization" or "guest-worker programs."
- Illegal aliens currently in the United States will
be issued a three-year work visa, which eventually
grants permanent resident alien status. In effect,
illegal aliens will be rewarded for breaking the law.
Wages Lost, High Unemployment Continues, Taxes Subsidize
Benefits
- American workers lose $190 billion annually in
wage depression due to mass immigration. Wages are
depressed on average $1,700 a year [George Borjas,
Harvard University].
- Native-born workers suffered the entire decline
in net employment over the period 2000-2003 [Steven
Camarota, Center for Immigration Studies].
- Mass immigration costs approximately $93 billion
a year in taxes. This is a net cost after subtracting
taxes paid by immigrants [Donald Huddle, Rice University].
Amnesty Adds 100 Million to the Population?
- The Census Bureau estimates there are 8 million
illegal aliens in the United States. One very reliable
source estimates the number is more than double, 20
million illegal aliens [Robert Justich and Betty Ng,
Bear Stearns Asset Management].
- Other estimates, using information from the Census
Bureau, indicate the actual number may be between
29 and 37 million illegal aliens [extrapolation from
February 22, 2002, Testimony of David J. Stoddard,
submitted to the U.S. Subcommittee on Criminal Justice,
Drug Policy and Human Resources, Rep. Mark Souder,
Chairman].
- Legalizing even 20 million illegal aliens and allowing
them to bring in spouses and children will result
in a massive population increase of roughly 100 million
in a very short time. This is based on the assumption
that each illegal alien would, within a few years,
bring in three to four family members.
Urgent Action Needed
Call, Write, and FAX your Representative and Senators
today:
- Oppose any attempt to pass an Amnesty. Be on the
lookout for code phrases such as "earned legalization"
or "guest worker program."
- Make the case for reducing legal immigration as
well as eliminating illegal immigration. Legal immigrants
act as magnets for family and friends, many of whom
will likely come illegally, This is one important
reason why a moratorium on legal immigration is necessary.
Massive legal immigration is one of the many "pull"
factors in illegal immigration.
- Push for a moratorium on legal immigration in
excess of 100,000 a year. It is desirable in and of
itself, but even if we don't gain a moratorium as
such, pushing for it creates pressure for other
reforms and makes it more likely we will succeed.
Pressure to enact a Moratorium heads off attempts
to offer an Amnesty to the millions of illegal aliens
in the United States.
BALANCE DATA
February 2005
THE NEW AMNESTY MATH
CHEAP LETTUCE =
OVERCROWDED CLASSROOMS,
HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOMS
The 109th Congress is considering legislation this year
to create a guest worker program that will, if passed,
provide millions of illegal aliens with legal status and
the possibility of citizenship or permanent residence
in the near future. President George W. Bush is expending
"political capital" in order to get the legislation
passed and is optimistic he will prevail.
President Bush noted in his December 20th press conference
the importance of recognizing "the reality of the
world in which we live." What he did not address
is one crucial aspect of that reality: the latest estimates
indicate that between 18 and 20 million illegal aliens
now live and work in the United States (Justich and Ng)
Legalizing any substantial portion of this number will
result in even faster population growth and increasing
pressure on environmental resources and economic infrastructure.
This is a critical juncture in American history. Mass
immigration, both legal and illegal, is unsustainable.
The American public cannot afford to leave the tough decisions
about immigration reform to its political leaders. Georges
Clemenceau, the premier of France during World War I,
noted that "war was too important to be left to the
generals." Similarly, this political question is
too important to be left to the politicians.
First and foremost, any effort to legislate an amnesty
for illegal aliens, no matter how it is presented, must
be defeated. Next, the connection between legal and illegal
immigration must be exposed. A high level of legal immigration
inevitably results in high levels of illegal immigration
due to the "magnet effect" for family and friends
of legal immigrants. Finally, we know a moratorium on
legal immigration exceeding 100,000 is the only certain
route to population stabilization. It's our job to convince
the politicians this is the case.
Proponents of mass immigration base their case largely
on two persuasive myths. Together they have significantly
distorted the debate about immigration reform. One is
the idea the United States can easily absorb millions
more people. The second, closely connected with the first,
is that the American economy desperately needs millions
of immigrants "to do jobs that Americans won't do."
Below, we subject these myths to a critical examination.
Myth #1 The
United States has room and resources for millions more
people.
The population of the United States is now 295 million.
If the demographic trends of the past decade continue,
U.S. population will climb to over one half billion by
2050 and one billion by the end of the century. Nearly
90 percent of the annual population increase of 3.2 million
comes from immigration, legal and illegal. The only means
of reaching population stabilization is a combination
of a moratorium on legal immigration beyond 100,000 annually
and rigorous efforts to eradicate illegal immigration.
The United States still has a great deal of empty land,
but space is not the only consideration in determining
how many people a country can support. What counts is
carrying capacity, i.e., the resources and the infrastructure
to provide a reasonably good life for the population of
the country. The United States has already overshot its
carrying capacity. To a large extent, we are sustaining
our present life style by importing resources, petroleum
in particular, from other areas of the globe.
Continued population growth threatens to overwhelm not
only the natural resources that serve as the basis for
the economy but also the components of economic infrastructure,
roads and bridges for automobiles and trucks, airports,
mass transit facilities, for example. In those parts of
the country where immigrants have settled in large numbers,
the school systems are stretched thin not simply by the
increased numbers but also by the special needs the children
of immigrants may bring with them. Hospital emergency
rooms are even more crowded than before in many areas
because of large concentrations of illegal immigrants,
many with extensive unmet health needs.
One crucial area of concern is food supply. Cornell Professor
David Pimentel warns that the United States faces an agricultural
crisis within the next few decades. Should demographic
trends continue, the United States will cease to be a
food-exporting nation before 2050. This would, of course,
cause problems with food supply. It would also mean the
loss of the present $40 billion annually from food exports.
According to Pimentel, Americans now pay an average of
15 percent of their income on food, but this could rise
to between 30 and 50 percent and would result in a serious
deterioration of living standards.
Myth #2 The
U.S. economy depends on a continuing flow of immigrants
ready "to do the jobs Americans are not willing to
do." In his December 20th press conference,
President Bush outlined his rationale for a guest-worker
program. He emphasized that we must be compassionate to
illegal aliens who are "coming here to do jobs that
Americans won't do." The President repeated this
line five times, but a closer look at the facts tells
a different story.
A large number of illegal aliens are unskilled and uneducated,
willing to work for low pay and in exploitative conditions.
The net result is depressed wages for workers in any sector
of the economy involving unskilled labor. Those workers
hardest hit are those with few skills and limited education,
whether native born or legal immigrants. According to
the Center for Immigration Studies: "Job competition
between immigrants and natives is especially fierce at
the bottom of the labor market, because so many immigrants
are employed in the low-skilled/low-wage segments of the
economy." Harvard Professor George Borjas has estimated
that mass immigration now costs American workers $190
billion annually in depressed wages. Studies also indicate
that mass immigration is the root cause of high unemployment
among those with few skills and limited education.
President Bush has claimed that his proposed guest-worker
program "recognizes the reality of the world in which
we live." The true reality is that this massive influx
of immigrants is drastically altering our economy, with
wage depression and job loss the inevitable result. Americans
will take jobs in the hotel service industry, in construction,
in janitorial services, and many other areas of the economy
where employers seem to favor illegal aliens. Americans,
however, want to work for a living wage and want to be
assured that they are not being exploited by their employers
in terms of working conditions and benefits. Americans
did these jobs before 1965. In some sections of the country
they continue to do these jobs. The keys are adequate
wages and good working conditions, not a massive influx
of people willing to work on almost any terms. The
present reality is that these are not jobs Americans won't
do, they are jobs Americans used to do.
A small number of businesses and corporations benefit
from cheap labor, while the costs are borne by taxpayers
in general. Borjas notes, "By increasing the supply
of labor between 1980 and 2000, immigration reduced the
average annual earnings of native-born men by an estimated
$1,700 or roughly 4 percent." President Bush's guest-worker
program simply papers over the problems of our failed
immigration policy. Those hardest hit are American workers
first and American taxpayers second. Cheap lettuce
isn't really so cheap after all.Solutions
BALANCE and the organizations affiliated with it in ASAP!
(Alliance for Stabilizing America's Population) have an
effective remedy for the current immigration impasse.
- BALANCE supports the idea of a moratorium on immigration
beyond 100,000 annually for five years. 100,000 is
the largest number of immigrants the United States
can take in each year and still achieve population
stabilization. The moratorium itself will provide
an opportunity for an investigation of the problems
associated with mass immigration and for the development
of effective immigration policies.
- BALANCE opposes any measure that is an amnesty
for illegal aliens, no matter how it may be disguised.
Amnesty will send the wrong message to the millions
in other countries who might wish to come to the United
States. Would-be immigrants will believe that, no
matter what laws are on the books, it is enough to
get to the United States in order to be in place for
the next amnesty.
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POPULATION-ENVIRONMENT
BALANCE
Phone: 202-955-5700
FAX: 202-955-6161
E-Mail: uspop@us.net
http://www.Balance.org |
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