Opinion > February 14, 2008

By Ryan Taggett | Guest columnist

As recently as two or three years ago, an observer could have spent weeks in the United States watching television and reading newspapers and have absolutely no idea that immigration was a serious issue.

More recently, however, the topic of immigration was put on the front burner, and the debate reached a new intensity during 2007. The idea that our immigration system is broken or at least fundamentally flawed seems to be self-evident and has been generally accepted by all sides. Approximately 12 million people are living in the United States illegally with more coming over every day. The real disagreement can be found on two points: is immigration (both legal and illegal) good for the country and what can we do to fix the current mess?

If you watch Lou Dobbs or enjoy conservative talk radio you might be under the impression that immigrants are a drain on our economy who give nothing in return; however, most economists seem to have a different idea. Today’s influx of immigration is not random; it is the result of a changing U.S. economy and changing demographics. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 2002 and 2012, our economy will create 56 million new jobs, half of which will require no more than high school educated workers. Meanwhile, native-born workers are becoming more educated each year. The result of this disparity is a shortfall of unskilled labor; the construction industry which creates 185,000 jobs a year is having difficulty finding enough young, unskilled Americans to fill new jobs. For the restaurant industry, the nation’s largest private-sector employer, the outlook is even worse. Their demand for labor will grow 15 percent between 2005 and 2015, while the native workforce will grow by only 10percent (getting more educated all the while).

Luckily, a large supply of workers south of the border is ready to meet that challenge. Impressively, labor force participation for foreign-born males is greater than that of native-born males in the United States, and the percentage for illegal immigrant men is even higher: 94 percent. While it is true that many illegal immigrants are poor and therefore contribute little by way of income taxes, they still pay for sales tax as well as property tax, and it has been estimated that two-thirds of illegals have income tax withheld from their paycheck. Additionally, they are eligible for no welfare or transfer payments from the government.

Finally, it can be useful to look at our own state of North Carolina, which has one of the fastest-expanding foreign-born populations in the country. A recent report indicated that the foreign-born workers filled one-third of North Carolina’s new jobs over the last 10 years, and were responsible for $11 billion dollars in consumer spending and saved wages, a figure that dwarfed the $61 million they cost the state in missed taxes and services. All this is but a fraction of the large body of data that indicates that immigration, both legal and illegal, has had a huge net benefit for the United States economy.

Still, as we recognized before, the fact that 12 million live here illegally is a troubling problem, and when the issues of crime, drug trafficking and terrorism are considered, it becomes obvious that reform is necessary. Over the past several years, many Democrats such as Ted Kennedy and a few pragmatic Republicans such as John McCain (and to his credit, President Bush) have made efforts to push through legislation to tackle this massive problem. Recently, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 came before Congress. While not perfect, it promised to make great progress towards establishing a sensible and workable immigration system.

To deal with the 12 million already inside the U.S., the provision would have allowed all current illegals to continue working in the U.S. — though it called for a stiff fine, payment of back taxes and a return to one’s native country. This compromise is realistic and fair and, combined with much tougher border enforcement provisions in the bill and an easier path to legal immigration, it promised to set us in the right direction with regards to immigration policy.

Unfortunately for all Americans, the xenophobic, populist forces won out. Their plan? Other than some useful slogans such as “deport ‘em all” or “enforce our current laws,” there was no plan other than the status quo. Luckily, it appears as though all the presidential front-runners are a bit more enlightened to the fact that we need to reform immigration and set up a sensible system, because immigration is good for America. Maybe, if Congress can get its act together, we can see real progress towards a sensible immigration policy in the near future.

Ryan Taggett is a junior political science major from Orlando, Fla.

Seeking Middle Ground is a weekly face off between College Democrats and College Republicans on a given topic.