It Is Dangerous to Be Right When the Government Is Wrong - Andrew P. Napolitano [54]
Moreover, from a practical perspective, an absolute, uninhibited freedom to travel would not have the “devastating” impact on American jobs that is so often conjectured, so long as it was accompanied by the abolition of the minimum wage. When the minimum wage rises, “some jobs that were worth hiring someone to do are no longer worth filling.”13 As a result, there are less low-skilled jobs available for people who live here legally. Thus, when the minimum wage rises, employers, to cut costs, hire illegal immigrants at a lower price instead of hiring people who live here legally (and paying them the minimum wage). Alternatively, if the minimum wage were eliminated, the opposite effect would occur; employers would pay people who live here legally fair market value—not the government-mandated amount—for the work they do. And as a result, immigrants would be less inclined to move here for fear of not finding work. Congressman Ron Paul explains it this way:
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Our current welfare system . . . encourages illegal immigration by discouraging American citizens from taking low-wage jobs [and minimum wage laws discourage their creation]. This creates greater demand for illegal foreign labor. Welfare programs and minimum wage laws create an artificial market for labor to do the jobs Americans supposedly won’t do.14
Opponents argue that legalizing immigration will only serve to make our nation less safe. Studies say otherwise. Since 1986, the year amnesty was granted to illegal immigrants in the United States, the U.S. murder rate has dropped by 37 percent. Forcible rape is down 23 percent. Drunk driving deaths are down by more than 50 percent.15 If these illegal immigrants are so dangerous, violent, and predatory, why are these numbers not going the other direction? Furthermore, “much is made of the alleged fact that 30% of federal prison inmates are illegal immigrants.” According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the correct figure is actually 14 percent, and most of these immigrants are in prison solely for the violation of immigration laws.16
Opponents of open borders also argue that illegal immigrants steal jobs and Social Security numbers, drive down wages by working under the table, and do not pay taxes to the detriment of the nation’s budget. These same opponents also assume that tougher enforcement at the border would actually eradicate these problems. This, despite the fact that “strict” border control has been our nation’s policy for decades, and has not seemed to work well at all. Locking down the border has not halted the flow of immigrants from the south or the north. Rather, the only effect of strict border control has been the perpetuation of the one-way flow of illegal immigrants, making it more dangerous and expensive for all parties involved. Consequently, immigrants in America are less likely to leave for fear of the inability to return. Consider that thirty years ago, nearly half of undocumented arrivals departed within a year. Today, only one in fourteen does.17
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Moreover, if these men and women were made legal, then they would not have to “steal” jobs and Social Security numbers, but rather they would have their own. They would not drive down wages by working under the table, but rather would work on the books. They would not avoid taxes, but rather would pay them. The net effect of the legalization of immigration would be positive. Immigrants “would gain more of a stake in participating in and preserving our way of life.”18
I leave you with an egregious story of travel restriction inflicted by government on the oldest and most aboriginal of Americans: The Iroquois tribe. The Iroquois, who helped to invent the game of lacrosse, fielded