Undocumented workers subsidize Social Security
In “Who makes money off illegal immigration?”, Victor Davis Hanson decries that the migrant story is more complex than the liberal view of desperation and exploitation. Here’s what is curiously missing from his analysis:
Migrants pay billions in Social Security, which they will never see. That subsidizes American retirees. The Department of Labor reports that 50 percent of farm workers in the U.S. are illegal immigrants. Growers put this figure at 70 percent.
An open letter to President George W. Bush in 2006, signed by about 500 economists (including five Nobel laureates) stated: “While a small percentage of native-born Americans may be harmed by immigration, vastly more Americans benefit from the contributions that immigrants make to our economy, including lower consumer prices.”
The concentration of undocumented workers are in agriculture, construction and leisure/hospitality, and they bolster corporate profits.
Hanson and the Republican Congress don’t really want to lose the cheap labor “illegals” provide for their corporate backers, just as they don’t want to lose the political capital that comes from vilifying them.
Alan Cheah, Oakhurst
This story was originally published March 28, 2017 at 12:34 PM with the headline "Undocumented workers subsidize Social Security."