Troubles in the border economy
Dante Chinni
Posted: 11.09.2009 / 10:39 AM PST
When you have deep and long-lasting economic problems, they have different effects in Patchwork Nation’s different community types.
In the 210 counties that make up “Immigration Nation,” which are primarily in the Southwest, the economy and immigration are tied closely together. Cross-border traffic is a big economic factor.
In the past two years, as America has struggled with economic problems, the effects for “Immigration Nation” have multiplied.
Tighter attitudes toward immigration, combined with a smaller flow of people from Mexico, are dramatically altering the landscape.
2008 marked the first time since 1970 that America’s foreign-born population decreased, according to recent data from the US Census Bureau. Earlier this year, Janet Napolitano, secretary of US Homeland Security, said the economic challenges had led to a drop in illegal immigration. More-strict rules on border security, implemented in the wake of 9/11, have further impeded the flow.
In “Immigration Nation,” this has spelled economic trouble.
Traffic and spending slows
Last month KJZZ, a public radio station in Arizona, aired a report detailing the problems that businesses on both sides of the border have had as security measures have tightened. The customer base for those businesses have become much harder to reach. In Arizona, legal border crossings have dropped by 15 percent in recent years.
And the people who do come to the businesses simply spend less.
It’s hard to overestimate how much the economies in “Immigration Nation” are tied to cross-border traffic. Small businesses employ immigrants. Fewer immigrants mean fewer employees, as well as fewer consumers.
This spring, when we visited El Mirage, Ariz., an “Immigration Nation” community in Maricopa County, we heard from people about a definite drop in temporary residents. Many were instead headed to locales further north where there might be work, or they were simply heading home, according to Roy Delgado, a city councilman in the city.
That trend seems to have continued, according to Rachel Gomez, co-owner of the Rio Mirage Cafe.
“The immigration population is either changing, or people just aren’t going out to dinner or shopping or any of that sort of thing where they might be picked up by our sheriff,” she wrote in an e-mail. “In any case they are not working anymore, therefore not paying FICA [for Social Security and Medicare] and federal taxes, which they will never receive anyway.”
Further impact
Mr. Gomez says she never hires people without the proper documentation and she herself was born and raised in this country. But “her sheriff,” Maricopa County’s Joe Arpaio, has made illegal immigration a main issue, and sometime her friends can run into trouble.
The personal impact of immigration is vast, says Sylvia Rivera, who owns a local sewing business and who is also a US citizen. “I was personally touched by this when my friend’s husband was picked up and sent back to Mexico,” she wrote in an e-mail. “He’s been here for 11 years and has always been illegal.”
Ms. Rivera writes that the family should have taken care of that issue a long time ago, but she still feels bad for them. Regardless, the result is not just a hit to the people she knows, but also a hit to the broader local economy.
There is no easy answer, of course. Illegal immigration will continue to be a hot-button issue for the foreseeable future.
Combining that issue with economic problems, however, puts “Immigration Nation” communities in a unique and difficult spot. Recovery here could be a long, hard road.
November 9th, 2009 at 11:15 am PST
“In any case they are not working anymore, therefore not paying FICA [for Social Security and Medicare] and federal taxes, which they will never receive anyway.”
Coming from places with few government services, I would expect recent arrival to the US the realize how generous the country is. I would argue that all residents receive many tax benefits — Rule of law, national security, emergency medical care and many federal funded clinics for all, regulatory framework and international relations that sustain economic system that provides them work, free school and health care for children, food stamps and housing for us born children and by extension many adult recent arrivals. I could keep going - parks, clean air and water, function infrastructure sewage systems……
November 9th, 2009 at 11:53 am PST
[…] Patchwork Nation: American communities in a time of change. > Patchwork Nation Blog | The Christi… patchworknation.csmonitor.com/csmstaff/2009/1109/troubles-in-the-border-economy
November 9th, 2009 at 12:38 pm PST
DO NOT CALL ANY PORTION OF AMERICA IMMIGRATION NATION. AMERICA IS NOT THE NATION OF ILLEGAL CRIMINAL IMMIGRATION. HOW DARE YOU.
November 9th, 2009 at 12:54 pm PST
“The family should have taken care of this issue a long time ago,” is a typical, uninformed comment by somebody who clearly has no idea about how the immigration system works. People want to “take care of the issue,” but as long as the federal government does not fix the broken immigration rules, nobody can “take care of the issue” and the only option they have is to continue living with no documents in this country.
November 9th, 2009 at 2:46 pm PST
Anyone who is against enforcement of the laws of legal immigration is in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the American taxpayer. We are being robbed. Our children are being robbed and the open borders, amnesty advocates are acting against the interest of AMERICA and it’s citizens. If you encourage illegal immigrants to come here and subvert the immigration process, breaking every law they want to stay here and take American jobs away from Americans, you deserve to be arrested too. This is a land of laws. GET IT? LEAVE, before we catch you and throw you out.
NO JOBS for illegal immigrants and they will go home the same way they came here.
Deportation by attrition.
November 9th, 2009 at 2:55 pm PST
I am sure that there are many areas in the U.S. where illegal immigrants compete with Americans for jobs. And I have a problem w/ that. I also have a problem w/ the fact that in other areas (such as New England where I live) the population is aging and we need an influx of young people. Immigrants are the young ones who want to work here & without the legal & illegal immigrants a lot of jobs such as home health aides, restaurant workers etc. can’t be filled. I am not for amnesty because amnesty means forgiveness without payment, restitution or consequences. I am for giving a pathway to those people who are here illegally (a civil offense) who have broken no other law and who are willing to pay a penalty over & above the back taxes they may owe.
November 9th, 2009 at 4:18 pm PST
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Unemployment Report released on November 6, 2009:
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations – Unemployment Rate = 13.3%
Construction and extraction occupations – Unemployment Rate = 19.1%
Production occupations – Unemployment Rate = 14.5%
Transportation, material moving occupations – Unemployment Rate = 11.6%
Service occupations – Unemployment Rate = 10.0%
Total Unemployed Citizens and Legal Residents of the USA = 15,700,000
In Addition, Persons who currently want a job but are not included in the unemployment figures because they have not looked for a job in the last month = 5,995,000
Therefore, Total Number of Americans Looking For Work = 21,695,000
Estimated number of Illegal Immigrants working in the USA = 7,500,000
Meanwhile:
Management, professional, and related occupations – Unemployment Rate = 4.7%
The truth is that Illegal Immigrants compete directly with U.S. Citizens and Legal Residents for jobs. There are no jobs that Americans won’t do because they are doing them. Unless they are one of the 7.5 million Citizens and Legal Residents who could be working but are not at a cost to the Taxpayer of over $100 billion per year in welfare and unemployment thanks to Illegal Immigration.
Even when unemployment was at the lowest point of this decade in 2007 the US Bureau of Labor Statistics listed following data:
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations – Unemployment Rate = 8.5%
Construction and extraction occupations – Unemployment Rate = 7.6%
Production occupations – Unemployment Rate = 5.7%
Transportation, material moving occupations – Unemployment Rate = 6.0%
Service occupations – Unemployment Rate = 5.9%
Meanwhile:
Management, professional, and related occupations – Unemployment Rate = 2.1%
During 2007 we only reached full employment in the Management, professional, and related occupations, while the occupations that attracted Illegal Immigrant workers suffered unemployment rates that remained at recession levels thanks to Illegal Immigration. And we saw the number of people earning below poverty line wages raise to above 12%. Proof positive of how badly Illegal Immigration has hurt the low income American Citizen and Legal Resident. Statistics show that we never really ran short of workers to the point of needing millions of Illegal Immigrants to do those jobs. Illegal Immigration has done low income Americans far more harm than good.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:35 am PST
[…] Patchwork Nation: When you have deep and long-lasting economic problems, they have different effects in Patchwork Nation’s different community types. […]