Illegal Immigrants

[The Industrial Atheist]

Why do Faux news and right wing politicians have bullshit talking points?

To be clear, I don't want open borders, but I also don't like it when people wrongfully stigmatize vast groups of people. Some sources have an interest in making undocumented immigrants appear to be lazy, useless takers, because they want the voters to hate them instead of the government that redistributes the wealth from the bottom to the top and fails to do it's job competently.

My followup question was "How much do the illegal immigrants cost the US?"  For example, if they cost 100 billion dollars, it's nice that many of them pay a bit of taxes, but it's a lot of trickery to frame them as a positive addition, if they are actually a negative.

Another complication, is who's paying that 12 billion.  Are they talking migrant workers from Mexico?  Or Asian IT workers overstaying their work visas?  

My real point being, that saying "Illegals pay in 12 billion a year in taxes, and 8%" is the most positive way to frame the issue.  But you should be interested in the information and context that isn't being presented, or is being buried at the end of the article.

The unauthorized US labor force has stabilized since 2009. So the problem is not getting worse. The solution to the problem to the effect to the economy is to legalize those already here. They won't be undocumented, thus they won't be working for below minimum wage. Also they it makes it easier for them to try to work towards higher skilled jobs.

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So an old friend posted this on Facebook. This could work.

There is no immigration crisis, sudden or otherwise.  There is a crisis of white fright and fact free fear mongering.

My real point being, that saying "Illegals pay in 12 billion a year in taxes, and 8%" is the most positive way to frame the issue.  

Hardly, because while producing that 12b in taxes they are also contributing to GDP and our culture.  It;s an outsized contribution for their numbers, inability to access the safety net,  and decreased criminality compared to natives.  Not for nothing..without them, our population (and thus gdp and taxes and all that goes with it) would be decreasing.  We;re below the repop limit.

Immigrants subsidize your very existence.

Good point. Undocumented immigrants have been contributing to Social Security far more than they get out.