Immigration: Facts & Faith

This post was originally published last year. However, in light of the recent White House proposal to revoke LEGAL resident status of LEGAL immigrants who make use of food stamps and other assistance programs they are LEGALLY eligible to receive, it is being rerun.

While we are waiting for Congress and the president to take ownership of DACA and immigration policy, let's consider some facts about the subject.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, (EPI), as of 2012, there were 40 million immigrants living in the US. They accounted for almost 15% of the US' total economic output from 2009-2012, through wages and salary earned.

Within the US economy as a whole, there are almost as many immigrants in white collar jobs (46%) as in all other occupations combined. "The perception that nearly all immigrants work in low-wage jobs is clearly inaccurate."

46% of all immigrants have at least some college education.

Nationally, the income of immigrant families is not much different from non-immigrants. 20% of immigrant families live below the poverty line, compared to 16% of those from native-born households.

In regards to immigrants' effect on unemployment, the EPI states that "the evidence shows that in the long run, immigrants do not reduce native employment rates." In times of a weak economy there is a small, short-term effect.

Similarly, the EPI found that the effect of immigrants on wages among native workers is "extremely modest... including those with low levels of education."

The EPI study points out that if there is anything to fear regarding immigration, "it stems from not providing legal status to unauthorized immigrants... Any situation where workers' individual bargaining power is reduced is going to put downward pressure on their wages and therefore, also, on the wages of workers in similar occupations and industries."

"Unauthorized immigrants contribute more to the system than they take out," the EPI says. Primarily because although they work and contribute payroll taxes, sales tax, property and income taxes, they are not eligible for government programs.

The Social Security Administration estimates that in 2005, unauthorized immigrants paid $7 billion into Social Security via automatic payroll deductions, "but they can never claim social security benefits."

By and large, unauthorized immigrants cannot receive income support via a state or federal program.

The EPI speaks to the issue of unaccompanied migrant children, pointing out that it was projected that by fiscal 2014, there would be some 51,000 such children in the US, primarily from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.

The EPI notes that typically most of these children either turn themselves in to the US Border Patrol or they are caught. If they are not from Mexico or Canada, they are turned over to the Department of Health & Human Services. At this point they are placed in shelters while they wait for an immigration trial.

Curiously, the EPI report makes the point that actions to strengthen the border "are likely to have little or no impact on the flow of unaccompanied migrant children or safety near the border."

The problem, says the EPI is not border security, but a lack of funding for services to this population, including a shortage of shelters and immigration judges.

So, a case could be made that the proposal by the current administration for $15-20 billion to fund construction of a new border wall and the millions of dollars needed annually to hire thousands of ICE agents would be better spent on providing additional services to immigrants and their children.

The bottom line is that:
. immigrants are not a drain on the US economy
. immigrants actually contribute more to the US economy than they take from it
. undocumented immigrants, especially, are paying into an economic system that they cannot derive many benefits from (like social security)
. paying billions to strengthen border wall security efforts are not necessary
. attention and funding needs to be given to help unaccompanied immigrant children and other undocumented immigrants.

What should be common sense and logic in regards to caring for the common good, seems to have been thrown out the window. David Brooks, a columnist for the New York Times, recently noted: "These days, partisanship is often totalistic. People often use partisan identity to fill the void left when their other attachments wither away — religious, ethnic, communal and familial."

Brooks goes on to write that: "When politics is used as a cure for spiritual and social loneliness, it’s harder to win people over with policy or philosophical arguments."

From a religious point of view, however, the evangelical movement in the US seems to be turning towards support of immigration reform.

When President Trump announced he was set to reverse the order on DACA in March, 2018, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops called the move "reprehensible." 

According to an opinion piece in Bloomberg News, a group of evangelicals called the Evangelical Table is advocating for immigration reform "consistent with Biblical values."

One hopes that this group, in particular, will recall that when God called Abraham out of his home country, telling him he would make "a great nation," in effect that nation would be made up of immigrants. Centuries later, Jesus and his family were forced to immigrate back to Egypt from Bethlehem to avoid being killed.

Both the Jewish and Christian faiths were founded by leaders who were immigrants. 

The spiritual descendants of the evangelicals (Puritans) were also refugees and then immigrants. And they would not have survived their first winter without help from Native Americans. It all points back to what the prophet Micah (of both Jewish and Christian renown), wrote as God's definition of true religion. "What does the LORD require of you, but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8).

To sum up: God seems to be very pro-immigrant. Shouldn't we follow God's lead?

Photo Credits: New Yorker, fivethirtyeight.com