Folks, I just posted this as part of a comment on yesterday afternoon’s post about the immigration bill:
And yes, many of the folks coming across our southern border are uneducated and appallingly poor. Anything we manage to put together in terms of long-term plans (including partial integration) is really an investment in their children. And speaking of those children and young people — an infusion of young legal workers could potentially stabilize SS… A band-aid, yes, but something to think about in the wider view. We’re going to have to radically modify how we’re handling SS, but a transitory plan will work much better if there’s $ coming into it as my generation begins to retire.
There are so many facets to the immigration debate, but people are getting lost in the forest because they’re hung up on the illegal issues. In truth, the macro-economy / society will be dramatically affected by any solution, and this is an aspect about which I’ve heard no discussion.
Because such an enormous proportion of our population is aging, the Social Security system is broken and dying; it’s a pig in a python. We have to fix it, but we also need to have money flowing into it until changes can be made.
Whether Congress ultimately decides to give legal working status (and access to citizenship) to people here +5 or +10 years, the reality is that many of those are young families who would be able to contribute for years to come, giving us time to devise a new approach.
Leaving all the other pieces of the immigration debate aside, this strikes me as a powerful reason to integrate at least some proportion of people here illegally.
Polimom,
Building a bigger social security pyramid will only make its ultimate collapse more painful. Your solution, to inject more legal and more illegal immigrants as payers into this Ponzi scheme, may help you get your payout, but will not help our children very much.
Your point about the macro economy is good. Illegals cost $5B every year for unearned social services. This does not include the cost of the 25% of the federal prison population who are illegals. I pay these costs every day out of my own pocket. First I pay my own taxes, then I pay taxes for the illegals, then I have to volunteer hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars at school to make up for funding shortfalls.
Lots of parents pitch in to help, some with money, some with labor, some with both. How many illegal aliens pitch in at our school? None. They do not lift a finger. They don’t bother to learn English, or to teach their children respect for American culture, but they sure don’t mind sucking up the benefits, and they don’t hesitate to join in with lawsuits suing the school system for “racism” because their kids cannot pass the exit exams requiring language proficiency.
So you think more illegal immigration will improve the economy?
Jim,
Where did I say - ever - that illegal immigration will improve the economy? What I actually said was this:
“Leaving all the other pieces of the immigration debate aside, this strikes me as a powerful reason to integrate at least some proportion of people here illegally.”
Also - you interpreted what I said about the SS, apparently, as some kind of permanent solution. No. I suggested that the input of money would buy some time so that we can come up with another solution.