Mass Deporting of Dreamers and Other "Illegals" Would Help No One and Hurt Everybody

Mass deportations of Dreamers and other illegal immigrants would be irrational because it would involve substantial economic cost without providing any  economic benefit.   The closest thing to a benefit the action would provide is that it would provide some happiness to those psychological misfits who are  obsessed with obeying laws regardless of the consequences.  

 "Illegal" immigrants are fully integrated in the economy,    The economy is partly dependent on their spending.   If an epidemic or a military attack were to kill 10, million Americans the economic impact could be devastating.  The deportation  of a similar number of people would have the same effect.  The money they spend in retail businesses affects the number of employees those businesses can employ.    A reduction in consumer spending would force retailers to lay off people.  Manufacturers of consumer goods,  clothing and  highly processed foods would  have to cut production because of reduced demand.    Layoffs at these firms and by retailers would further reduce demand.  Local governments often depend on sales tax revenue that would fall if too many consumers were removed from the city.

Stock traders often over react to events that hurt businesses.  They often  act like a herd of nervous cattle and stampede if any thing threatens stock prices. When stock prices are high, traders begin to worry that prices are too high and they will jump at the first sign  of a price drop.  Obviously, traders would sell retail stocks if they knew retail sales would drop even if the anticipated drop would only be a few per cent.   Sellers would try to get the best price  possible, but if many wanted to sell,  there could be a shortage of buyers which would mean a major drop in price.

Government could set up a procedure to determine whether individual immigrants are worthy of  being allowed to stay.  As with any group of people, some illegal immigrants are having a positive impact  on our society and some are having a negative impact.  The federal government should encourage those who are having a positive impact to stay to help replace the 10,000 baby boomers who retire every day.

Congress should discourage those who have a negative impact by imposing a mandatory ten year jail sentence on those who come here illegally and engage in violence, theft or sale of drugs before deporting them.  Deporting them without a jail sentence would accomplish nothing because they would likely find a way to come back. 

Congress could set up a point system for evaluation of immigrants.  Those immigrants who are already here can be evaluated more easily than those who are still living in other countries  Emphasis should be on families because those adults with families are inclined to want a good place for their families to live  A family could earn points by being employed,  learning English and participating in religious or civic organizations. Public safety jobs such as military or fire fighting would provide extra points.   Children could earn points for the family by doing well in school including participating in  extracurricular activities such as sports or music. 
  
Many Americans have long believed that God helps the United States  Those  politicians who share this view should consider the possibility that God has helped the Dreamers and their families to avoid being caught and deported.  Perhaps God has placed the Dreamers here to replace the babies who have been aborted.

Taxpayers have been investing $10,600 per student per year to educate the dreamers so they can eventually replace retiring  workers.  Deporting Dreamers would throw away that investment.

There is a popular myth that those who don't pay an income tax don't pay taxes. Income tax is only one of the taxes Americans pay.  Those who are living in or visiting America pay visible taxes such as sales taxes along with hidden taxes   Business owners sometimes point out that businesses don't  pay taxes  Their customers do  The money a business pays in taxes ultimately comes from customers. The money employees  pay in taxes also comes from customers   Many of the customers who  provide the money to cover business and employee taxes are here illegally.

Is Trump Right About Mexico?

Is Mexico adopting an old British practice from the colonial era?  Is Donald Trump correct when he says Mexico is sending some of its criminals into the United States mixed in with otherwise law abiding immigrants?  

During the colonial period Britain cut the cost of operating jails by sentencing some of its criminals to  "penal transportation to" the North American colonies.  After the American Revolution "transportation" meant being sent to Australia or New Zealand.   The practice was particularly common with Irish and Scottish criminals and is mentioned in some Irish folk songs.  .

Later criminals would slip into the United States  along with honest immigrants. Some of those with criminal pasts, including some Nazi war criminals, came to the United States to try to change their lives and become honest citizens.   Back when America had a frontier, Americans who started out on the wrong side of the law would move to the frontier to try to start over.

Mexico, like the United States, has multiple government units of various sizes.   Government corruption is a problem in Mexico.  It is very possible that some Mexican government agencies are helping or encouraging criminals to go to the United States by mixing them in with honest people who are entering the U.S. illegally.   The Obama administration's lax enforcement of immigration laws could encourage such a  process.

I don't know if Mexico is encouraging some its criminals to come to the U.S. or not, but the claim should not be automatically dismissed.  We know Mexican drug lords are smuggling drugs into the U.S. so Mexican criminals are able to enter the U.S.  CNN reports that Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman  controls 80% of the drug trade in President Barack Obama's home town of Chicago.  Let's hope Guzman doesn't control Obama.

Trump's claim deserves a thorough investigation.


I'm not going to do a separate post on Trump's comment about Captain John McCain nor am I going to repeat it or provide a link.  I disagree with what Trump said, but I recall hearing a similar criticism being made from some of those in the military a few decades ago.   I don't recall the details of the earlier criticism.