Anti-immigration Fallacies
I saw a very bigoted rant about immigration on Facebook. It contained many fallacious and erroneous statments. I would like to respond to these.
The post starts out thusly:
Joe legal works in construction, has a Social Security number and makes $25.00 per hour with taxes deducted.
Jose illegal also works in construction has no Social Security number and makes $15.00 per hour cash, under the table.
Right off the bat, we are starting with some gross assumptions and generalisations. Notice how in the example, our undocumented worker is named José? This clearly demonstrates that the person who wrote this diatribe is clearly targeting latino immigrants, despite the fact that a) not all latinos are here illegally, and b) not all undocumented immigrants are latino. So before we even really get started, we have clear evidence of bigotry, fallacy, and false information.
Furthermore, I find it indefensible to claim that an undocumented worker makes $15 per hour. If an employer is exploiting undocumented workers to save on costs, you can be sure he's not going to pay his workers even that large a sum.
But we'll work with this amount for now, for the sake of argument. $15 an hour. Go ahead.
Ready?... now pay attention....
Joe legal: $25.00 per hour × 40 hours = $1,000.00 per week or $52,000.00 per year. Now, take 31% away for State and Federal taxes. Joe legal now has $31,231.00.
Jose illegal: $15.00 an hour × 40 hours = $600.00 per week or $31,200.00 per year. Jose illegal pays no taxes. Jose illegal now has $31,200.00.
Ok, I'm with you so far. Those numbers sound right. But here's a radical idea that will solve this problem:
Tax everyone. The moment a person sets foot on American soil, regardless whether he's here legally or illegally, give him a Social Security number, ensure that employers are paying him the same as native-born American citizens, and then tax him. This will solve both problems: the problem of employers exploiting undocumented workers, and the fact that undocumented workers don't currently pay taxes (and note here as well that we're still only referring to income taxes; undocumented immigrants do still pay sales tax, which is where funding for a lot of public services come from).
Joe legal pays medical and dental insurance with limited coverage for his family at $600.00 per month, or $7,200.00 per year. Joe legal now has $24,031.00.
Jose illegal has full medical and dental coverage through the State and local clinics and emergency hospitals at a cost of $0.00 per year. Jose illegal still has $31,200.00.
If you are so upset that an undocumented worker can get free health care through state and local clinics, then I welcome you to rely on these same clinics for your health care. I guarantee you, after a single visit to one of these clinics, you will realise just how useless such clinics are.
Sure, these clinics are better than nothing, but they are a far cry from the level of care that Joe Legal gets from his paid insurance. I don't know about anyone else, but I find it more indefensible that undocumented immigrants are denied basic levels of health care than that native-born Americans “have to” pay for their superior health care.
Joe legal makes too much money and is not eligible for food stamps or welfare. Joe legal spends $500.00 per month for food or $6,000.00 per year. Joe legal now has $18,031.00.
Jose illegal has no documented income and is eligible for food stamps, WIC and welfare. Jose illegal still has $31,200.00.
Joe legal pays rent of 1,200.00 per month or $14,400.00 per year. Joe legal now has $9,631.00.
Jose illegal receives $500.00 per month Federal rent subsidy. Jose illegal pays out that $500.00 per month or $6,000.00 per year. Jose illegal still has $31,200.00.
Bad news: undocumented immigrants cannot receive food stamps or other forms of welfare. Most welfare programmes (including food stamps, Medicaid, and housing benefits) require proof of legal status to qualify. So let's adjust our figures downward to account for the fact that our undocumented worker is spending just as much on food and rent as Joe Legal: $10,800.00. Still more than Joe Legal, but remember that Joe Legal has access to health care, whereas our undocumented worker has questionable access, if any.
Joe legal pays $200.00 per month or $2,400.00 per year for car insurance. Some of that is uninsured motorist insurance. Joe legal now has $7,231.00.
Jose illegal says, "We don't need no stinkin' insurance."... and still has $31,000.00.
Of all the horribly racists comments in this diatribe, this one is the most horrendously egregious. Never mind the fact that you can practically hear the demeaning faux-Mexican accent oozing through the words typed in the sentence above, indicating a complete lack of empathy for a human being who is simply trying to make a better life for himself and his family, it is beyond callous to suggest that all undocumented immigrants are so vile as to simply choose not to buy insurance. As mentioned previously, these are real life, flesh and blood human beings, who have the same feelings and needs as every other human being on this planet.
Yes, there are some undocumented immigrants who don't have insurance. But there are also some native-born American citizens who don't have insurance. And many of the undocumented immigrants who don't have insurance would have insurance if they could afford it. Remember that we're using inflated figures here, since undocumented immigrants seldom earn $15 per hour, as our original figure claims.
So let's adjust our numbers again to reflect the fact that, at $15 an hour, our hypothetical worker can afford insurance. We're now down to: $8,400.
Joe legal has to make his $7,231.00 stretch to pay utilities, gasoline.. etc.
Jose illegal has to make his $31,200.00 stretch to pay utilities, gasoline and what he sends out of the country every month....
Our undocumented worker doesn't have much more than Joe Legal does. Only $8,400. And he has to stretch that out to pay for utilities, gasoline, etc. Not only that, but he's sending money to his family back in Mexico. Of course, some people are going to be enraged that American money is being sent to a foreign country. But I'm upset that there are Americans that think that it's acceptable to force people to live in horrible conditions, with little to eat, unsanitary living areas, and no medical care. Remember, these are human beings. They get hungry and thirsty and sick and injured, just like everyone else on earth. They feel pain, they love and cry and dream and despair, exactly like Americans do. I really cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would think it's acceptable to force someone to continue living in such conditions for no other reason than because of where they were born. As if they had any control over that.
Joe legal now works overtime on Saturdays or gets a part time job after work.
Jose illegal has nights and weekends off to enjoy with his family.
Another blatantly bigoted statement. Undocumented workers often do more work, always for less pay, than native-born American citizens. They don't sit around on the weekends having parties with their families. They're out there every day working themselves to death for scraps to provide for their families.
This statement is simply false.
Joe legal's and Jose illegal's children both attend the same elementary school.
Joe legal pays for his children's lunches while...
Jose illegal's children get a government-sponsored lunch.
Jose illegal's children have an after school ESL program.
Joe legal's children go home.
I find this statement to be particularly ludicrous. Americans do not value education. This is demonstrable. But with few exceptions, undocumented immigrants are amazingly grateful for the opportunity to send their children to school. They know that their children will have a better life for themselves if they get an education. Whilst Americans and their children are bemoaning the fact that they have to attend school, and often choose not to take their schoolwork seriously, the majority of immigrants (undocumented or otherwise) are working as hard as they can to make a better life for themselves and their children. They don't take their education for granted. They know that it's the ticket to a better life. They work hard in school, and learn as much as they can, whilst American students tend to blow off their education, expecting to coast through with a minimum of work and eventually getting a cushy job behind a desk (or, even better, as an overpaid entertainer like actor, musician, or athlete).
So I find it disingenuous in the extreme that the person who wrote this entry is complaining about school.
Plus, allow me to clear up a few errors in the above statements. 1) Joe Legal will qualify for the same government sponsored lunches that an undocumented immigrant receives. 2) ESL classes are not 'after school.' I can speak directly to this point, because I am an ESL teacher. ESL classes are held at the same time as regular classes. ESL students are pulled from the regular classroom to learn English. So they're not getting more education than English-speaking students. In fact, they're getting less. As your English-speaking students are in the regular classroom learning mathematics, history, arts, science, music, and PE, the immigrant students are missing out on those vital lessons to learn the most basic communication skills necessary to function in this country at all.
Furthermore, immigrants actively want to learn a new language, because they know it will be essential to their well-being. How many English-speakers bother trying to learn any new langauges at all? Not very many.
Now, when they reach college age...
Joe legal's kids may not get into a State school and may not qualify for scholarships, grants or other tuition help, even though Joe has been paying for State schools through his taxes, while...
Jose illegal's kids go to the, 'head of the class' because they are a minority.
This statement is also not true. Minority inclusion programs for university students target all minorities, including native-born American ethnic minorities. It's not the children of undocumented immigrants who are being given preferential treatment; it's natural American citizens.
Joe legal and Jose illegal both benefit from the same police and fire services, but Joe paid for them and Jose did not.
Another blatant falsehood. Remember at the beginning when I mentioned that, although undocumented immigrants don't pay income tax, they do pay sales tax? Guess which of those categories of taxes pays for police and fire services?
Here's a hint: it's not income taxes.
Not to mention, police protection for undocumented immigrants is often just as risky (if not more so) than going without. If an undocumented immigrant is attacked by bigoted Americans, those immigrants suddenly find themselves facing a dillema: a) call the police and risk getting imprisoned, deported, or worse by the very police from whom they sought protection from their attackers, b) defend themselves and risk getting arrested for assault, which leads again to the 'imprisoned, deported, or worse' conundrum in option A, or c) simply let their attackers assault them unchecked, risking serious injury or death. Not a lot of return on investment those immigrants are getting for the taxes they're paying to support the police, is it?
Do you get it, now?
If we vote for or support any politician that supports illegal aliens,... we are part of the problem.
Its way PAST time to take a stand for America and Americans!
We need to keep this going -- we need to make changes ASAP!
What are you waiting for?...Pass it on!
No, the problem is not voting for politicians who support illegal aliens. The problem is racism. That's it. Plain and simple. If you hold this over-simplified view of immigration, then you are racist. There isn't any nice way to say it. You're just a racist. Mexicans aren't the problem. Immigration isn't the problem. Politicians aren't the problem.
The problem is racists who think that, for some reason, the place in which you were born somehow makes you more deserving of jobs and legal protections than a person who was born in a different place.
I've said it many times: why should American jobs be reserved for Americans? How does being a citizen of the United States for no other reason than that you were born here make you better qualified than someone who was born in a different country? I really don't understand that viewpoint.
You know what makes a person qualified for a job? If that person is capable of doing the job. That's it. The location of your birth should have nothing at all to do with it.
It's way past time time to take a stand for basic human rights for every human being, regardless of where he or she was born or the legal status of their residency.
We need to keep this going. We need to make changes ASAP!
What are you waiting for? Pass it on!
Be the change you want to see in the world. Make a stand for human beings. Not for nationalities. For human beings.