Like Slaves, Illegal Aliens Are Profitable As Hell To Somebody

wikipedia |  The economic impact of illegal immigrants in the United States is challenging to measure and politically contentious. Since it is a challenging field to quantify, it leaves room for varying methodologies of study, and so the definitive results of the economic impact can change^[1]

One possibility is that foreign workers entering the country illegally can lower wages and increase overall costs of production. This comes from the theory that when there are more illegal immigrants in the country, there will be more immigrants looking for employment because most illegal immigrants prefer to work.^[2] This increases competition among low-skilled local workers, and this will push wages for the domestic low-skilled labor market down. Simultaneously the increased supply in unskilled illegal migrants can offset technological developments and "reduce the country's economy's competitiveness in the international market".^[3] The opposing theory is that even though this can happen in some areas with more low-skilled employment, on the net illegal immigration increases the welfare of domestic workers because their additional consumption outweighs the costs of welfare.^[4] Along the same lines it is argued that illegal immigrants work for lower wages, then domestic residents recognize these profits and can choose to either spend or save this new revenue,^[5] so the net outcome can be decided by the net of these two economic forces. Studies have shown that overall in the long run illegal immigration benefits the country in terms of its general production, but introducing many people in the labor market can lead to income distribution that can tend towards domestic workers and immigrant workers on other occasions. The net short-term impacts of some aspects of illegal immigration can be inconclusive.^[6] Though this net effect changes, the number of immigrants crossing the border illegally is less unclear.

There were approximately 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2016, roughly unchanged from the prior year but well below the 12.2 million peak in 2007. There were an estimated 8 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. civilian workforce in 2016, roughly 5%.^[7] The Congressional Budget Office reported in 2007 that "the tax revenues that unauthorized immigrants generate for state and local governments do not offset the total cost of services provided to them" but "in aggregate and over the long term, tax revenues of all types generated by immigrants—both legal and unauthorized—exceed the cost of the services they use."^[8] Unauthorized immigrants demand goods and services^[9] while an estimated 50 to 75 percent pay taxes.^[10] Due to cheaper labor, they contribute to lower prices in the industries where they work, such as agriculture, restaurants, and construction.^[9]