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Wichita Eagle Editorial
Posted on Wed, Jan. 23, 2008
Assess costs of immigration, new laws
Kansas lawmakers eager to pass new laws cracking down on illegal immigration should look before they leap. By rushing through bills based more on rhetoric and fear than hard data, lawmakers risk imposing a cure that's worse than the illness.
Yes, many Kansans are rightly fed up with our nation's broken borders. They want action. But local activist group Sunflower Community Action is right in arguing that lawmakers have an obligation to weigh, with analysis and studies, the real impact of illegal workers and laws aimed at driving them out.
Would such laws be cost-effective? Enforceable? What would be the impact on the state economy? Could there be unintended consequences?
In Texas, a 2005 comptroller general's report found that the $1.16 billion that illegal immigrants received in public benefits, such as education, were outweighed by the $1.58 billion they contributed to state coffers. Likewise, in Arizona, a recent study using 2004 data found that the net economic impact of illegal workers was a benefit of $940 million.
Other studies in both states, using somewhat different criteria, have reached opposite conclusions, finding a net drain on the economy from illegal immigrants.
These dueling studies suggest, at the very least, that the impact of illegal immigration is complicated and resistant to simplistic formulations and remedies.
Oklahoma's new law imposing harsh penalties on those employing illegals reportedly has prompted an exodus of thousands of illegal Hispanic workers (as well as legal family members), with farmers, landscapers, builders and others warning that they're losing large swaths of their work force. Oklahoma GOP state Rep. Shane Jett told USA Today that the new law could be "the single most destructive economic disaster since the Dust Bowl."
Likewise, some predict that Arizona's new laws will backfire on the state. "Industries will shrink and prices will go up," said Judith Gans, a University of Arizona immigration expert.
In 2006, Colorado passed tough new laws designed to deny public services to undocumented immigrants. In the first year, state departments spent $2 million implementing the laws.
How many people did they catch? None.
In Kansas, state government spent $1 million last year complying with a federal proof-of-citizenship requirement for HealthWave, the state children's health insurance program for low-income families.
How many illegal immigrants did the dragnet nab? One.
State Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita, has been careful to stress that her proposals will not target legal immigrants or conscientious employers. That's fine, as far as it goes.
But those pushing a crackdown have a further obligation: to show that their measures are effective, fiscally sound and won't end up doing more economic harm than good.
For the editorial board, Randy Scholfield
© 2007 Wichita Eagle and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.kansas.com
Assess costs of immigration, new laws
Kansas lawmakers eager to pass new laws cracking down on illegal immigration should look before they leap. By rushing through bills based more on rhetoric and fear than hard data, lawmakers risk imposing a cure that's worse than the illness.
Yes, many Kansans are rightly fed up with our nation's broken borders. They want action. But local activist group Sunflower Community Action is right in arguing that lawmakers have an obligation to weigh, with analysis and studies, the real impact of illegal workers and laws aimed at driving them out.
Would such laws be cost-effective? Enforceable? What would be the impact on the state economy? Could there be unintended consequences?
In Texas, a 2005 comptroller general's report found that the $1.16 billion that illegal immigrants received in public benefits, such as education, were outweighed by the $1.58 billion they contributed to state coffers. Likewise, in Arizona, a recent study using 2004 data found that the net economic impact of illegal workers was a benefit of $940 million.
Other studies in both states, using somewhat different criteria, have reached opposite conclusions, finding a net drain on the economy from illegal immigrants.
These dueling studies suggest, at the very least, that the impact of illegal immigration is complicated and resistant to simplistic formulations and remedies.
Oklahoma's new law imposing harsh penalties on those employing illegals reportedly has prompted an exodus of thousands of illegal Hispanic workers (as well as legal family members), with farmers, landscapers, builders and others warning that they're losing large swaths of their work force. Oklahoma GOP state Rep. Shane Jett told USA Today that the new law could be "the single most destructive economic disaster since the Dust Bowl."
Likewise, some predict that Arizona's new laws will backfire on the state. "Industries will shrink and prices will go up," said Judith Gans, a University of Arizona immigration expert.
In 2006, Colorado passed tough new laws designed to deny public services to undocumented immigrants. In the first year, state departments spent $2 million implementing the laws.
How many people did they catch? None.
In Kansas, state government spent $1 million last year complying with a federal proof-of-citizenship requirement for HealthWave, the state children's health insurance program for low-income families.
How many illegal immigrants did the dragnet nab? One.
State Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita, has been careful to stress that her proposals will not target legal immigrants or conscientious employers. That's fine, as far as it goes.
But those pushing a crackdown have a further obligation: to show that their measures are effective, fiscally sound and won't end up doing more economic harm than good.
For the editorial board, Randy Scholfield
© 2007 Wichita Eagle and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.kansas.com
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