Doug Wright and Immigration

[BlueHair]

I was listening to the Doug Wright show yesterday. He had a county assessor on (I can't remember if it was Salt Lake or Utah County). He basically said everyone that wants to get rid of illegal immigrants are misguided. He said they are a huge benefit to Utah. They pay social security taxes and will never draw the benefit. They rent homes, shop with cash, buy used cars, provide cheap labor etc... He said the real estate market would totally collapse without them. He also said they don't use the resources they are accused of using. There was no doubt in his mind that illegal immigrants are a net benefit and it's not even close.

[Katy Lied]

They pay social security taxes and will never draw the benefit.

Hey! Me too!

[Commando]

You just described my life. I'm glad I'm a net benefit to society.

[Indy Coug]

Imagine how much more beneficial they would be to America if they were completely legal.

[Slim]

Imagine how much more beneficial they would be to America if they were completely legal.

Hurray for amnesty!

[Sullyute]

If the people were here legally then wouldn't the county receive the same benefits anyway?

Social Security is another issue, but at least locally I don't see net benefit of having illegals aliens over legal aliens. I guess the arguement could be that there would be less aliens becuase it would be harder to get in the country legally.

Edit: I just realized that I more or less asked IndyCoug's question above.

[pellegrino]

Imagine how much more beneficial they would be to America if they were completely legal.

I can't imagine, how? If they're a big boost with little draw now, then how would legal status improve the boost?

[UtahDan]

Hey! Me too!

Right. That is everyone in our generation who lives to retirement age.

[Jarid in Cedar]

Right. That is everyone in our generation who lives to retirement age.

Hell, I will be tickled if my father/mother get to benefit from my contributions.

[Indy Coug]

I can't imagine, how? If they're a big boost with little draw now, then how would legal status improve the boost?

Increased access to and availability in the marketplace?

[Commando]

Just got back from Immigration Court. FYI the immigration system right now is a cluster f*. We need an extensive overhaul or it's just going to overwhelm the crappy system in place.

[pellegrino]

Increased access to and availability in the marketplace?

I can understand that, although I think any increase would be nominal. In my admittedly limited experience, most immigrants that come are not professionals who are qualified to get high paying jobs. The majority of them are coming simply for the opportunity to be employed. I do know a few undocumented folks who have advanced degrees but have no hope of finding a job in their field simply because they are illegal, but they are the exception.

[Indy Coug]

I can understand that, although I think any increase would be nominal. In my admittedly limited experience, most immigrants that come are not professionals who are qualified to get high paying jobs. The majority of them are coming simply for the opportunity to be employed. I do know a few undocumented folks who have advanced degrees but have no hope of finding a job in their field simply because they are illegal, but they are the exception.

There are a lot more than just a few of those where I live.

[pellegrino]

There are a lot more than just a few of those where I live.

It would be interesting to see a breakdown of what skills and education immigrants come with. If indeed a large segment of them are qualified to do much more than they're doing then that is all the more reason to declare an amnesty and overhaul the immigration system, making it easier to get in.

[Jacob]

I was listening to the Doug Wright show yesterday. He had a county assessor on (I can't remember if it was Salt Lake or Utah County). He basically said everyone that wants to get rid of illegal immigrants are misguided. He said they are a huge benefit to Utah. They pay social security taxes and will never draw the benefit. They rent homes, shop with cash, buy used cars, provide cheap labor etc... He said the real estate market would totally collapse without them. He also said they don't use the resources they are accused of using. There was no doubt in his mind that illegal immigrants are a net benefit and it's not even close.

So they ignored the issue of the $$ these illegals are sending back to Mexico rather than spending in Utah? They ignored the possible employment and wage effect on Utah residents if there were fewer immigrants?

I agree that the SS deal is actually a net benefit to us but there are other issues and its way too complicated to declare that they are a net benefit to Utah and it's not close. Who says we'd rather have illegals paying with cash than legals spending even more and paying with credit card?

And how would the housing market collapse? I understand that builders may have to pay higher wages, but most of these illegals live in really cheap housing and put more people in a house than legal/non-imigrant workers would. That could be a boost to the housing market.