PS: Evidently, Tom has not actually met any Repubs to base his thoughts off of, but instead merely reads about us in brochures from the Dems.
Which is sort of funny in itself, when you think about it.

Christopher

-Really? So now because an American wants a stop to ILLEGAL immigration (not legal migration) he is xenophobic? How about there is a law of the land stating being in this country illegally is AGAINST the law.

” … I think your ideas are costing the world $ trillions/year is lost productivity due to you forcing labor to be sold at below world market rates”

-True. In the short run cheap labor (unskilled immigrant workers) will create worldwide economic efficiency because that cheap labor will move to a country (The US) where they can make larger contributions to world production. They can make larger contributions in the US (as opposed to staying in their home country) because in the home country machinery,equipment are scarce and technology is less sophisticated, which means that labor demand is weak. Yes US businesses benefit from immigration…

….BUT, you forget the other side of the equation. Let’s use the US and Mexico for example. The simplified perfect model of increase world production mentioned above omits relevant factors regarding cost v benefits of migration.

In the perfect model you assume that there is no cost to migration, but there are many costs, both explicit and implicit to the sending and receiving countries. In the perfect model you assume that migration stops once demand for labor is achieved, BUT IT DOESN’T. Immigrants keep on coming to this country legal and illegal even though there are no jobs to fill. And since the majority of illegal immigrants are unskilled (relative to the American workforce), once all the unskilled jobs are filled there becomes a surplus of (UNSKILLED) labor.
Keeping the surplus in mind, we now assume that there is full employment in Mexico and also in the US. We assumed that they left a low paying job for a high paying job. The truth is that they didn’t leave a low paying job in Mexico, they left chronic unemployment or underemployment. When labor leaves Mexico, that is actually a gain for Mexico because the unemployed (who are contributing ZERO to the economy) are not using the scarce resources being produced by the employed. Meanwhile in the US….

…there is a surplus of unskilled labor! This is how uncontrolled illegal immigration brings down the average level of real wages. Migration unskilled/low skilled labor is competing with native unskilled/low skilled labor.And guess who is sustaining the surplus (unemployed) labor (who, keep in mind, are still contributing ZERO to an economy)?…yep, the employed US workers. The after tax-income of working Americans now declines.You know that pesky saying, “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch”. Someone has to pay.

Consider the profile of a typical pre-1970’s immigrant to the country. Young, single, men with significant education and job training. Which means they were ready to be significant net contributors to output. They also avoided the welfare system because they would go back to their country when they earned some predetermined amount or there was no longer employment.

But since then the trend has reversed. Immigrants are not returning home compared to the rate at which they are coming in to the US. It has been proven that the immigrant population use the welfare system proportionately more than natives, not because they are lazy, but because there is a surplus of unskilled workers, and since the resource is there, who wouldn’t use it? Beats going back to the home country and being unemployed.(Ask someone who is from another country what kind of help their native government gives them in terms of the welfare system!) This was the case until 1996 when the Personal Responsibility Act, which overhauled the welfare system regarding new LEGAL immigrants and welfare benefits. But because of uncontrolled ILLEGAL immigration there is uncontrolled welfare benefits being distributed unaccounted for with counterbalancing inputs into the system. Why do you think California is broke? On paper, the numbers don’t balance out and the state is and will be in the red until it admits that it can no longer absorb illegals in the country at the rate that they are entering.

This is not even considering remittances and backflows to the native country. The World Bank estimates that money sent back to Mexico is about 18 BILLION a year from other countries. The bulk of it originating in the US. This is money not being pumped into the US economy.

Also not considering social and cultural negative externalities seen when immigrants are new to a society. ie; the drunk-driving laws in the US compared to the almost non-existent ones in other countries, 5 or more children to the majority of families (all while trying to work a low paying job), the increased incidents of domestic violence in the home.

At the end of the day, Americans have to ask themselves: Are the benefits of immigration greater than the cost? Keeping in mind that not all immigrants are created equal. The impact that a highly educated scientist (Einstein) is different than that of low skilled laborer with the potential to be a long term welfare recipient.

Everything else equals, immigration reduces wages, increases domestic output, and increases income (in the short run) in the receiving nation; but has the opposite effects in the sending nation.

“Your position is mean and arrogant”<—–
I
I
(pick up an economics book and study the facts before you bleed you heart out, sheez!!! Basic macroeconomics for crying out loud.)

On a personal note, as a Mexican ex-pat myself, It saddens me that my native country will forever suffer due to the uncontrolled illegal immigration permitted in the US. It will never “reach it’s potential” (as you so eloquently put it).

http://www.reteaparty.com/2009/01/americas-tea-party/

And that Performing Arts project in Las Vegas will add up to Vabout $200,000.00 per job. Looks like they will put Auto Union employees to work.

And the New Energy Efficiency Industrial Zone in Cidra, PR will cost millions per job,