PYE: Immigration restrictionists hurting our economy

In the mid-19th Century, the “Know Nothing” movement gained brief popularity as they used populist rhetoric to spread panic due to the influx of Germans and Irish Catholics into the United States. This movement faded away, but its spirit has resurfaced as populism has taken hold of the conservative and tea party movements.

Perhaps the best, most recent example of comes from conservative columnist Ann Coulter, who appeared last week on CNBC’s The Kudlow Report to discuss President Barack Obama’s planned jobs speech.

Coulter offered some ideas of her own to create jobs by taking aim at ObamaCare, the health insurance “reform” law passed last year, and regulations that are keeping businesses from growing. She also suggested that Congress repeal the minimum wage — a law that is not only burdensome to employers but also to younger and less educated workers.

However, Coulter also said, “No more immigration, legal or otherwise, of low-wage workers.” She apparently believes that immigrants are causing Americans to lose out on employment opportunities. Sadly, that is an example of a frequent talking point from the neo-Know Nothings in the conservative movement. It’s also not true.

Shikha Dalmia, a senior policy analyst at the Reason Foundation, recently noted that immigrants don’t take jobs from Americans “[b]ecause they gravitate toward those sectors where the native-born don’t or won’t work.” That point has recently proved true here in Georgia as a new law targeted at illegal immigrants led to an exodus of foreign workers, including those here legally that chose to leave to avoid harassment.

The agriculture industry, as was predicted, has been hit particularly hard by the loss of these workers. With Georgia facing an extraordinarily high unemployment rate, 10.1% as of July, you’d think that workers would migrate to South Georgia to fill the void left by immigrants. That hasn’t happened and the labor shortage will cost Georgia farmers up to $1 billion.

Taking aside the issue of jobs, Dalmia notes that immigrants have taken hold of the United States’ spirit of entrepreneurship by “creat[ing] their own jobs, starting businesses at a rate greater than the native-born. They enhance overall economic productivity, lowering the prices of goods and services and raising-not lowering-real wages.”

Of course, restrictionists will counter that immigrants cost states a substantial amount of taxpayer money, but those claims are dubious given the overwhelming economic benefits. For example, a 2006 analysis by the Texas Comptroller found that undocumented immigrants were a net positive to the state budget. Moreover, they contributed $17.7 billion to the state’s economy. Studies in other states have found similar results.

Coulter’s idiocy on this issue highlights another point. The conservative view, or so they tell us, is that they only have problems with illegal immigration. Notice that she is seemingly opposed now to all immigration to protect employment opportunities for Americans. This protectionist mindset is no different from what brought us Smoot-Hawley in 1930, a law intended to protect Americans goods by increasing tariffs to record levels. That law, signed by Herbert Hoover, caused a trade war that had serious consequences as the country plunged into the Great Depression.

While the issue may be somewhat different since it will not likely start a trade war, as Smoot-Hawley, the mindset is still the same; that we should enact measures to prevent economic losses on businesses or workers.

Free markets don’t end at an arbitrary line nor are they limited to geographic locations. Yes, there are jobs that Americans won’t do and immigrants have played a vital role in our economy by filling them and the economy is better off because of it.

You can read more of Pye’s musings on politics, sports and music at his personal blog, JasonPye.com, or e-mail him at jason@jasonpye.com.