ustry and hospitality industry rely on low-skilled, low-wage workers who are often illegal immigrants. The recently proposed Enhanced Border Security and Visa Act of 2001 provides increased funding for border patrol agents and the operation of a system to track all foreign nationals in the U.S. Typically business lobbies fight for open borders in order to keep the supply of cheap labor coming across them. Texas Senator Lamar Smith (R) is opposed to such porous borders. He contends that not only do illegal immigrants cost the U.S. much more than they contribute to the economy, but their existence represents an insidious form of corporate welfare, “Each immigrant who arrives without a high school education will get on the average $89,000 more in government benefits than they pay in taxed over their lifetimes. These annual newcomers will cost taxpayers $27 billion. The system is the worst form of corporate welfare. Taxpayers must pay the tab for immigrant social services in communities where many of these same Americans lost their jobs to the cheap labor of unwelcome foreigners” (Garcia 1).
Illegal immigrants also displace many low-skilled, low-wage employees living in this country legally. Employers risk prosecution for hiring illegal immigrants, but thousands of them cannot resist paying them much lower wages. On any given day in Los Angeles, Texas, or New Mexico, you can drive to a specific location and find waiting a group of illegal immigrants who will hire out for the day for lower wages than legal residents. In addition to having the negative effect on the economy of raising unemployment, illegal immigrants also use more welfare resources than natives. According to George J. Borjas, “In 1970 immigrants were less likely to receive welfare than natives. By 1998, 20 percent of immigrants received assistance, compared with only 13 percent of natives” (A23).
There have been many stories reported about employer...