Friday
Aug142009
Immigration Reform Should Include Guest Worker Program And Taxes On Work Visas, Says Economist
Friday, August 14, 2009 at 4:24PM
By Annie Berman - Talk Radio News Service
At a Capitol Hill briefing held by the Cato Institute Friday, economic experts recommended factors that should be included in immigration reform including a guest worker program, taxes on work visas, and tighter internal enforcement and border security.
Peter Dixon, an economist from Australia who holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University, argued that illegal immigrants who hold low skill, poorly paid occupations are more likely to be unreliable workers than an employee who is a citizen of the U.S.
“The main reason for their productivity being low is their wages. Economic theory suggests that people will be employed up to the point where their wage is equal to their productivity,” Dixon said. “If wages were higher than their productivity, well then they will get fired. If wages are lower than their productivity, then you want more of them...They systematically earn lower wages than legal residents.”
Dixon explained that if the U.S. imposed tighter border security and tighter internal enforcement, it would cost twice as much for an illegal immigrant to cross the border. Therefore, a reduction in the labor force of low skilled, low wage workers would cause vacancies to open up at the top of the job market.
“Border crossing is a dangerous thing to do. You’ve got to give money to smugglers, it might not be successful, you might be sent back home...We’ve built the fence higher in a way that’s equivalent to potential illegals thinking in terms of it costing them an extra $5000 [for example] for a crossing,” Dixon said.
To counteract a reduction in the number of jobs available to citizens, Dixon suggested a guest worker and legalization program wherein employers may obtain visas that are taxed. The taxes from the visas would go to the government and an incentive for employers to higher immigrants that want to work in the U.S. would be created. With a guest worker program, there is the possibility that each guest worker would bring more productivity with them, the economist added.
Dixon explained that the U.S. standard of living will go up because because there would be more productivity, but without any drain on public expenditures due to only a small rise in population. Dixon also made clear that the guest worker program would not be a “path to citizenship”. Immigrants who choose to participate in the guest worker program would simply be guests, not automatic citizens, Dixon said.
“It has to be made completely clear that this is not a path to citizenship. This is a way in which the U.S. gets a job done. It’s like trade. You are importing labor to do a particular job and then go away again. So it’s not meant to be a path to citizenship.”
At a Capitol Hill briefing held by the Cato Institute Friday, economic experts recommended factors that should be included in immigration reform including a guest worker program, taxes on work visas, and tighter internal enforcement and border security.
Peter Dixon, an economist from Australia who holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University, argued that illegal immigrants who hold low skill, poorly paid occupations are more likely to be unreliable workers than an employee who is a citizen of the U.S.
“The main reason for their productivity being low is their wages. Economic theory suggests that people will be employed up to the point where their wage is equal to their productivity,” Dixon said. “If wages were higher than their productivity, well then they will get fired. If wages are lower than their productivity, then you want more of them...They systematically earn lower wages than legal residents.”
Dixon explained that if the U.S. imposed tighter border security and tighter internal enforcement, it would cost twice as much for an illegal immigrant to cross the border. Therefore, a reduction in the labor force of low skilled, low wage workers would cause vacancies to open up at the top of the job market.
“Border crossing is a dangerous thing to do. You’ve got to give money to smugglers, it might not be successful, you might be sent back home...We’ve built the fence higher in a way that’s equivalent to potential illegals thinking in terms of it costing them an extra $5000 [for example] for a crossing,” Dixon said.
To counteract a reduction in the number of jobs available to citizens, Dixon suggested a guest worker and legalization program wherein employers may obtain visas that are taxed. The taxes from the visas would go to the government and an incentive for employers to higher immigrants that want to work in the U.S. would be created. With a guest worker program, there is the possibility that each guest worker would bring more productivity with them, the economist added.
Dixon explained that the U.S. standard of living will go up because because there would be more productivity, but without any drain on public expenditures due to only a small rise in population. Dixon also made clear that the guest worker program would not be a “path to citizenship”. Immigrants who choose to participate in the guest worker program would simply be guests, not automatic citizens, Dixon said.
“It has to be made completely clear that this is not a path to citizenship. This is a way in which the U.S. gets a job done. It’s like trade. You are importing labor to do a particular job and then go away again. So it’s not meant to be a path to citizenship.”
Federal Judge Stalls Controversial AZ Immigration Law
By Brandon Kosters - Talk Radio News Service
U.S District Judge Susan Bolton has blocked the controversial provisions of the Arizona immigration law, S.B. 1070. Bolton filed a preliminary injunction against the sections of the law which allowed Arizona police officers to check citizens’ immigration status and required immigrants to carry proof of citizenship with them at all times.
She said that the law could easily lead to wrongful imprisonment of legal residents and that it called for police to perform tasks and exercise authority reserved for the federal government.
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is expected to appeal Bolton’s ruling and the case is expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
Proponents of the law claim that action must be taken to mitigate the incredibly large number of illegal immigrants in Arizona and that the state is simply taking action that the federal government has declined to take.
Opponents of the bill have said the law leads to racial profiling and hurts tourism to the area, particularly from Mexico.
Outspoken critics of the law include President Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder and Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, a prospective Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Arizona.