Illegal immigration: cost vs benefits

This was a discussion started by a Republican on another thread. It was off topic there. And the person who brought it up, and others who agreed with them, refused to open a thread. But it did spark my curiosity.

The poster who brought this up claimed that it was costly to "maintain" a population of illegal immigrants. I pointed out that illegal immigrants were actually beneficial to the economy. And to support my assertion, I referenced an analysis by the George W. Bush Institute.

https://www.bushcenter.org/catalyst...y/benefits-of-immigration-outweigh-costs.html

There are many studies that confirm that illegal immigration is financially beneficial to our country (I'll list some of them at the bottom). But the response to this particular article was that it may have been true in 2016. But it's not true now.

Of course, the person who said that is a Trump Republican. So NO references, links, studies, quotes... or any type of supporting evidence for this was provided.

So my question to them is: what did Trump do in his administration to F-up the benefits of illegal immigration? I know that everything Trump touches dies. So I don't doubt that this is a fact. But, since they gave no specifics, I would love to hear how it was that Trump managed to pull yet another of his blunders.

Oh... BTW... As promised, some of the studies I have on hand... This is a copy-paste from a thread I opened a long time ago. I know this was all true before Trunp was President. So how did Trump mess it up?

Yes, there is a cost to illegal immigration. But, financially speaking, the benefits to the economy far outweigh the costs.

Oh... and if your response is going to be that they commit more crime or bring drugs... WRONG!

https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2021...-crime-research-shows-they-commit-a-lot-less/
https://www.cato.org/blog/77-drug-traffickers-are-us-citizens-not-illegal-immigrants
https://news.wisc.edu/undocumented-immigrants-far-less-likely-to-commit-crimes-in-u-s-than-citizens/
https://www.publichealthpost.org/research/undocumented-immigration-increase-drug-alcohol-problems/
https://www.pnas.org/content/117/51/32340
https://www.cato.org/blog/new-research-illegal-immigration-crime-0

 

Hilarious. Be back later to see how much further from the truth this gets.

 

So... I'm expecting SERIOUS responses from those who claim that this was true in 2016 but now... I guess Trump somehow messed it up. I think it was @kriman and @ButterBalls who made a claim that seems to point in that direction.

With links this time, hopefully. What comes out of Sean Hannity's and Tucker Carlson's ass is not generally considered "evidence" in a serious discussion.

 

Ya I hear you Maybe you could find something more recent then numbers from a half decade ago, or be less obvious when picking cherries

 

It's illegal. We are a nation of laws, agreed to by We The People. This constant assault by the Left; the riots, the looting, the assaults, the pro-criminal stance, the human trafficking, the wave of fentanyl, yes immigrants can be beneficial, but their first job? Is to start their process of being here, by observing, respecting and complying with OUR law.

 

Do you consider the border the same now as it was in 2016?

Migrant encounters at the border were around 30,000 per month in 2016. They are now around 200,000 per month.
Migrant encounters at U.S.-Mexico border are at a 21-year high | Pew Research Center

 

Read my sig! I do MY research, you do yours. If you want to claim Trump messed this up, then YOU do your own research.

I don't believe, like you do, that even TRUMP could mess up the benefits of illegal immigration. But if you claim otherwise, you show YOUR research.

On the other hand, if you just want to admit you didn't know what you were talking about, that's fine. We won't hold it against you. Especially because we already know that's the case.

 

That depends on whether or not Trump is considered above the law. But this has nothing to do with that. You concede that, legal or not, they are financially beneficial to the country. So my point is made...

 

Okay first let's understand some thing. There are two types of immigration. Legal and Illegal. The economics of the two are vastly different. Compounding the two is an issue and most pro immigration outfits don't even figure in the latter.

 

Good for Obama! But that has nothing to do with your yet to be substantiated claim that illegal immigrants suddenly stopped being beneficial to the economy.

 

Not doubting about that But I'm actually pleased you have taken interest in history! Now add some of data FIVE YEARS in the making Of course if you really believe immigration numbers are the same today as in 2016, well then you little siggy may be, well, as questionable as the data you are applying ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

If you will go back to my graph in #6, you might notice that the encounters at the SW border went up under Trump, but Trump immediately brought it down. Then Biden came along and let it go to a level not seen in two decades. It is that peak you are trying to compare to 2016.

 

Makes no difference. Illegal immigrants are beneficial to the economy, as the studies show. At least they were until 2016, according to posters like @ButterBalls and @kriman But they have yet to show anything to support their claim or even explain how Trump messed that up.

 

Does that fall under "Long time research"?

 

Okie dookie, nothing to see here

 

"Numbers" are not the issue. The FACT that the economy benefits from illegal immigration is the issue. That numbers prove this has been true for ... centuries, actually. But the numbers themselves are not what is being discussed here. You claim that this is no longer true after 2016 implies that Trump somehow messed that up. I would like you to explain how he did that.

 

And in what way did that mess up the fact that whatever illegal immigrants are here are beneficial to the economy?

Come on! Make your case! You weren't just talking B.S., were you?

 

There not Sooooo, when you say beneficial in what capacity are illegal or Migrants contributing to the country?

 

Fake News, Trump did not make our immigration law, our representative CONGRESS did. Are you from another country, you don't seem to understand our Citizen based system of Constitutional Liberal Democracy that replaced the monarchy where one person could declare law. In our system, no one has that power.

Their illegality is an insult to all of us, first they need to fix that, then they are free to benefit OUR country. I think the nation tires of some on the Left's constant promotion of lawlessness against all of us.

 

A complete distortion of the facts and what we said. Yes, encounters went up but, Trump brought them down to a level only seen once before in the last two decades. And then Biden let it go up to a level not seen in two decades.

Illegals bring with them, Covid, drugs, crime, cost of welfare, etc. The cost goes on. A little immigration might be OK, but there is no way a lot is also OK. By the way I lost a grandson to fentanyl likely brought across the border. He was well on his way to recovery, when this one episode killed him. So, my feelings are very strong on this.

 

Have fun!



Meanwhile I'll revel in the insincere din of Leftist denial clanging ever so hollowly in my ears...

"We're not for illegal immigration and open borders! Nobody supports that!!"

LOL - Good times....

 

They also create added burden on our educational system, pollution, healthcare systems, traffic and what you had to add and the list doesn't stop there.. I sort of see Golems point for "Beneficial" but at what point does excess overtake the benefits? This might be his reluctance to include total numbers to current demand for what I assume is "workers".

 

Drugs. Covid. Welfare. Crime. Expense of moving them around the country.

Now make your case that a 2016 study under very different conditions is still valid.

 

Couldn't help noticing you're questioning the integrity of Golem's research while offering none of your own to counter his. Typical.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/econom...s-about-how-immigrants-affect-the-u-s-economy
https://www.nap.edu/catalog/23550/the-economic-and-fiscal-consequences-of-immigration

 

Obama was president in 2016.

When Trump was in WH he admitted illegal immigration under his watch was worse than ever before in US history. He said they were "flooding" across the border.

As for the OP, "benefits vs cost", of course there is always two sides of the coin.