Arizona's immigration law

[theatokos]

I've been asked my thoughts on the Arizona immigration law. It's impressive how well informed people are about US news. Of course, after living in the US my standards for informed people are pretty low. I have to say that I don't know much about it. snowcalla is basically my only source at this point! And the Daily Show. Hee. I figure the Economist will clue me in next week too. It's hard to get too worked up about it, even though I think it's a terrible law. But, of course, I do have some opinions!

Firstly, I'm wary of spouting off on Arizona. I think this law is a reaction to specific issues in the state. I have always been wary of people spouting off about Alaska and it's issues, including opening ANWR and wolf culling. Most people get all worked up, but don't really understand the complexities of the issues. (And do not get me started on the idea of 'untouched wilderness.') So I'm going to ignore Arizona, since I don't know anything about it.

Secondly, and I'm not defending the law, mind, but if the US as a whole won't deal with the issue of immigration, then I guess the citizens of Arizona have to take the lead. Even if Congress start debating this issue I can't see any real change occurring. It will be like health care - a start. But as we've seen, even though everyone will get health care, but it's still at the mercy of the insurance business and the medical-industrial complex. I see the same thing happening in immigration issues: band-aid beginnings. Unless the US is willing to pay the REAL COST of food corporate farms, producers, meat packers, restaurants, etc will continue to hire (and in many cases BUS IN) illegal immigrants to do the work that US citizens refuse to do for such low pay in such abysmal conditions. Are you willing to pick produce in the California sun for less than a dollar a boxful? Yeah, I didn't think so. And are you willing to pay $9 for strawberries? Or $11/lb for sustainably raised, ethically slaughtered, grass fed beef? No? Then chances are good you won't want to pay that much for feedlot fed, mechanically slaughtered meat when US citizens are working the cattle yard.

My liberal compatriots in the United States are all up in arms over this Arizona bill - and my conservative friends want stricter enforcement - but if they/we are serious about creating immigration reform then we've got to look at the much bigger and more uncomfortable picture.

Comments

[ewigweibliche.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I like the idea of an immigrant tax. Legal immigrants already pay income, property, sales taxes, and those things fund schools and such. Hell, if my mother had had an extra tax applied to her I am certain we would have gone hungry when I was a child.

I've been meaning to ask: what country are you from?

[msmidge.livejournal.com]

Illegal immigrants already pay some of those taxes too.

[lopezuna.livejournal.com]

You are right, that in many cases, immigrants may already be paying more on net to the US in taxes than the net cost they impose on US citizens. But low-skill immigration may still result in a transfer from the poor to the rich, because it drives down the wages of low-skill Americans and reduces prices for rich high-skill Americans. So given that the US is a country with a poor social safety net, it is logical for poor people to oppose low-skill immigration.

As regards actually implementing an immigration tax, clearly there would be tricky issues like what to do about non-economic migrants (like your mom). But the bottom line is, as long as the net benefit to immigrants of moving to the US is greater than the net cost they impose on US citizens, it is efficient to let them come, but to tax them and transfer that to US citizens so that nobody is worse off. It's got nothing whatsoever to do with morals or illegality. After all, there's a lot of stuff that is legal but immoral, and vice versa.

I'm from Ireland, by the way.

[ewigweibliche.livejournal.com]

You're Irish?! I did not see that coming! The Lopez and Spanish speaking threw me for a loop! Ha!