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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (15564)	11/8/2003 6:05:25 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793606

U.S., Mexico interests splitting on migrants Robert Robb - Arizona Republic There have been important changes in the nature of illegal Mexican immigration over the past decade and a half or so. As a result, the interests of the United States regarding immigration reform may now substantially conflict with the vision Mexican President Vicente Fox came to Phoenix this week in part to promote. Illegal Mexican immigration used to consist primarily of young men coming to this country to work temporarily. When this was the case, the best evidence was that illegal immigration, although an objectionable breach of our country's laws, was on balance economically beneficial to the United States. These were young men who mostly took jobs that were difficult to fill and used very little in the way of social services. However, that pattern of largely circular immigration - temporary and episodic employment in the United States but long-term primary residency still in Mexico - has been giving way to a more settled pattern. Illegals now stay in the country longer. That drives a desire for family consolidations and even better jobs. This has dramatically altered the economic equation. The claim is still made that illegals primarily fill an unmet need for unskilled labor in this country. But the real wages of Americans without high school diplomas have been dropping, suggesting a surplus of such labor, not a shortage. Moreover, immigrant labor, legal and illegal, is taking over some previously skilled occupations. In Phoenix and most of the Southwest, this is most evident in the construction trades, which used to be a sturdy bridge to the middle class for the native born without a college education. In the 1980s, construction paid above-average wages in the Phoenix metro area. Demand for such work obviously remains high, but immigrants make up an increasingly larger portion of the labor pool. And construction now pays below-average wages in the Valley. Family consolidations have hugely increased the use of public services among illegal immigrants, particularly education and health care. Educating non-English speakers is now the chief challenge facing border state schools. And immigrants have significantly degraded the emergency health care system, clogging it with primary health care demands. Immigrants, legal and illegal, are largely ineligible for income-based public benefits. But their U.S.-born children are eligible. And with the more settled pattern of immigration and family consolidations, taxpayers are in fact supporting an increasing number of illegal immigrant families. While illegal immigrants do lower the cost of some goods and services, a lower price is not always the optimal price for society. For example, lower food prices in the grocery stores are an unquestioned benefit. But higher fast-food prices might actually be better for the country. And while some projections indicate future shortages of unskilled workers, production processes adjust to the available labor pool. It is not at all clear that the United States benefits from easing that pressure. Paradoxically, this change in illegal immigration patterns is partially the result of more aggressive border enforcement by the United States, which has greatly increased the transaction costs of coming and going illegally. Despite the significantly higher price, difficulty and danger, illegal immigration is not abating. That makes our existing illegal immigration policies ineffective and cruel. Fox has positioned himself as a champion of Mexican citizens residing in the United States. He wants to regularize, to the extent possible, the status of those here illegally. Generally, Fox wants to maximize the opportunity for Mexicans to come to this country to work and live. But he wants them to retain their identity with and loyalty to Mexico while here. His government is dedicated to making it easier for Mexican citizens residing in this country to vote in Mexican elections and actively promotes duel citizenship. That's all clearly in the best interests of Mexico. But having an increasing portion of its population and workforce with such divided loyalties does not self-evidently benefit the United States. There obviously needs to be a substantial increase in the legal opportunity for Mexican citizens to work in the United States. But there may be a growing divergence in the interests of the two countries over the specifics of the program. azcentral.com