“Widespread political ignorance is a serious problem that both major-party presidential candidates are trying to exploit. A recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds extensive ignorance on the key issue of immigration. The study finds large numbers of people believe misinformation about immigration, while rejecting true statements about it.
“For example, 51percent believe it is ‘definitely true’ or ‘probably true’ that “Immigrants are causing an increase in violent crime in the U.S” (48 percent say this is definitely or probably false). In reality, immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, have much lower violent crime rates than native-born citizens. Similarly, 44% believe it is “definitely true” or “probably true” that “Immigrants are taking jobs and causing an increase in unemployment for people born in the U.S” (56 percent think this is definitely or probably false). Most economists conclude that immigration does not increase unemployment among natives. . . .
“The KFF study also finds that 59 percent believe it is false or probably false that “Undocumented immigrants pay billions of dollars in U.S. taxes every year” (40 percent think it is true or probably true). The truth is undocumented immigrants pay almost $100 billion in taxes per year, most of that going to the federal government.
“The KFF survey does find respondents overwhelmingly get one point right: 84 percent believe it is “true” or “probably true” that “[I]mmigrants help fill labor shortages in certain industries like agriculture, construction, and health care.” These are indeed all industries where immigrants are major contributors. . . .
“Overall, public ignorance about immigration likely increases restrictionist sentiment. If many people realized that immigrants have low crime rates, pay more unto the public fisc than they take out, and do not increase unemployment, public opinion would likely shift in a more pro-immigration direction. These false perceptions aren’t the only possible justifications for immigration restrictions. But they are important considerations for many voters.” — Public Ignorance and Misinformation About Immigration, Ilya Somin, Reason, 7/25/24 [Link]
Fact Check of Above Quote: This article doubles down on the dogmatic claim of open border advocates that illegal aliens commit less violent crime than American natives. They cited a limited body of statistics, which if properly interpreted, show a higher rate of violent crimes by illegals. In any case, despite what this article claims, Americans aren’t imagining an uptick in crimes by illegal aliens. Even the mainstream media are reporting at least some of them.
The fact to keep in mind is that crimes by illegal aliens are preventable if we enforce our immigration laws. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration has failed to carry out this obligation. Ironically, the administration said that it was cutting back on general enforcement in order to focus on aliens who commit the most serious crimes. Even with this task, it has failed miserably. The statistics tell the story.
Since the Trump Administration, under Biden, arrests of criminal aliens have declined by 57 percent, and deportations of these criminals fell by 67 percent. Currently, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has more than 600,000 criminal aliens on its docket who are not in federal custody. Many, the administration reassures us. are in state and local jails. Just how many it won’t say. Thus, it’s fair to speculate that hundreds of thousands of them may be roaming free in our communities. In that case, it’s no wonder that many view illegal alien crime as a problem.
The claim that illegal aliens annually pay $100 million in taxes is an extreme estimate. Other sources put the total far lower. Yet no matter what the total, illegal aliens still receive more in tax-paid benefits than they contribute in taxes. To illustrate, illegal aliens in 2019 received $42 billion in welfare and $68 million for public education. These two items alone exceed their alleged contribution of $100 billion.
The article says illegal aliens fill worker shortages, but shortages aren’t necessarily a bad thing. Benefits they provide are prompting businesses to pay their workers higher wages, while also prompting them to invest in technology to automate the jobs that many people prefer not to do. A saturated labor market keeps down wages as well as innovation.
The media are determined to portray illegal immigration as a benefit and not a problem. With sophistry and misinformation, they promote the profound ignorance that we somehow gain from the mass violation of our borders.