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I hear your immigration concerns, now hear mine

Ruben Navarrette Jr. on

SAN DIEGO -- For those who think this nation of immigrants takes in too many immigrants, I hear you.

Restrictionists complain that the media doesn't listen to them. But whether it's through conservative talk radio, or right-wing cable television, or my own inbox, I hear these people.

They say it's not fair to generalize about motives, call them "racist" or fail to acknowledge the costs and dangers of unbridled immigration. They think the United States is being invaded, and that even our legal immigration system is broken because we don't run it like the admissions process at a fancy university.

They claim that immigrants won't assimilate or learn English, and that the newcomers want to turn this country into the dysfunctional places they left behind. They say illegal immigrants get free housing, education, welfare and medical care. They take jobs and accept lower wages -- both of which hurt U.S. workers. And they give nothing back. What little money they earn, they send to relatives back home.

The way the restrictionists see it, immigration -- both legal and illegal -- is a burden, an economic drag, and an overall negative.

I hear all that. And it's baloney.

 

For instance, although the undocumented aren't eligible for welfare and other public assistance, the cost of illegal immigration is real. But the economic benefits are also real. All immigrants -- even the undocumented -- pay taxes: property, sales, payroll, etc. Also, those in the country illegally forfeit billions of dollars into a Social Security system that they will never collect.

Show me a county anywhere in America where illegal immigrants use public services, and I'll show you a county where the economy is humming due to illegal immigrant labor as employers create jobs, buy materials and pay taxes.

The anti-immigrant myths are rooted in prejudice, fear, nationalism or cultural chauvinism. A lot of Americans aren't happy unless they're looking down on others. And, since the mid-1700s, immigrants of all colors have filled that role.

There is no "invasion"; invaders destroy through violence. These people see "Help Wanted" signs and think they've been invited.

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