Posted on 04/19/2008 5:12:20 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
In 2007, "remittances," money sent back by Mexican workers to families in Mexico, beat out tourism as the second largest source of foreign money into the country. Only oil exports accounted for more.
That is $24 billion that was taken out of the American economy. It was not spent in American stores. Best Buy sold fewer televisions. Ford sold fewer cars and trucks. Winn Dixie and Safeway sold fewer groceries. U.S. Steel sold less steel. And yes, even Exxon/Mobil sold less gasoline than it could have. Those fewer sales curtailed the growth of jobs for Americans in those companies. It was taken completely out of our economy.
Most of this $24 billion was earned by illegals. That is not my statistic, it comes from the Mexican Government. According to the Washington Post.
Still, an estimated 400,000 to 650,000 Mexicans -- three-quarters of whom are undocumented -- cross the border each year to look for work in the United States, according to Mexican government estimates.
And it has really helped out down in ol' Mexico.
The money has transformed the landscape of many small towns, paying for new houses and new kitchens, cars and childcare, medical care and clothes.
So we know they paid the mortgages in Mexico. What about all the Mexicans in America that are having their homes foreclosed on in record numbers? How many mortgage payments were sent to Mexico instead of to American mortgage companies? How many American neighborhoods could have kept up their property values if not for so many of these foreclosures?
So not only did the money not stay in the United States, it was earned without paying federal or state income taxes, Social Security taxes, or Medicare taxes.
(Excerpt) Read more at redstate.com ...
Thanks for the open borders, Jorge Bush!
Giant sucking sound continues....
Seems like California ought to get some of that money to help pay for all the social services that the illegals aren’t paying for. Which is probably why they can afford to send a whole tanker car full of money back to Mexico.
Something verrrrrrrrry wrong with this picture.
But FairTax will fix all this, as we give them monthly checks and they send that money flying on home to Mexico.
That is SO true!
Nearly everybody at FR worships (rightfully so) Sowell and Williams, and yet, hardly any of us, it seems, have read what they have to say about sending greenbacks out of the country.
Butt, butt there was that clown on c-span this morning talking about how much good the Latino thieves did for America, you know doing jobs no one else would do and etc.
No problemo. Just print more more money to make up the difference. The gov knows how to do that.
Isn't that a sad state of affairs? What the heck, we still have GOOGLE!
Ford Motor Company. Last Trade: 7.45
We had a trade deficit last year with Mexico of $75B. That is, we bought $75B more of their stuff than they bought of our stuff. Adding that to the $24B, we now have a $99B cash flow deficit with Mexico.
I don’t believe Mexico is hoarding all this money — they would be foolish to be piling up a pyramid of greenbacks — so it either gets recycled into purchases from other countries, investments in other countries, or investments in the U.S.
This $24B figure doesn’t necessarily mean anything at all.
The dollar isn’t worth much so maybe it is just as well that we export it..........................
You should be censored. That in not supposed to be the way to think!
Luckily, free speech and free thought still go together! Here, at least...
1) its the most efficient form of "foreign aid." It goes right to families and the poor instead of to some government agent's cousin's son. It is earned income, not just a gift. And it is spent by poorer families on what they need, not what the government thinks they should need.
2) People making this money are buying a lot of things in the U.S. as well, thus increasing demand for goods. You can't talk about people earning money and sending it home if you don't talk about the money they spend in the U.S. as well.
3) This is not a zero sum game. If a worker did not create that wealth, it may not have been created at all. The pie grows every year because we have more people creating more wealth. The idea that the pie is one size and every dollar one person gets comes out of the pocket of another person is a fundamental flaw in the economic thinking of the left. I hope the right doesn't go down that path of ignorance. The wealth creation happening because workers are working inside a capitalist society should be applauded, not derided.
None of this takes away from the fact that people illegal working should not be working. But that's a rule of law issue, not an economic issue. The economics are in favor of allowing more people to migrate to where they can create the most wealth for their work. Thanks to our successful capitalist system, that means economics alone would lead to an inflow of working immigrants.
Also if it wasn't a rule of law issue, then the easiest solution (which fixes most of the "don't pay taxes, taxpayers cover their expenses" etc arguments) is to legalize all of them. Lift the cap on immigration and those problems disappear.
Illegal immigration is a law and order issue, not an economic issue.
Don’t have a link. I have Sowell’s books, and I guess you could google Williams on the subject.
This certainly should be figured into our balance of trade deficit. We are also stuck with paying billions in tax dollars for the education, medication, and incarceration of illegals every year. Talk about a losing deal all the way around.
But if, as is likely, we stupidly subsidized these transactions by giving free medical care to the Mexican earner, then we could have a net loss -- but not because he sent his earned money home to Mexico.
More Americans killed by illegal aliens than Iraq war, study says
When you start digging into the numbers the only ones that can be sourced with the feds are the number of American murdered in 2005: 16692
I have seen federal numbers for illegals held in jail ranging from 19.3% to 27% of the federal prison population.
Here's a sampling of USA cities wanted for murder. What you'll see is that in big USA cities like LA or NYC most of the murderers are Hispanic. Unknown are the % of illegals. In smaller cities the FBI will post the nationalities of the murderers. About 25% of the most wanted are illegals wanted for murder. This number agrees with the percentage of illegals incarcerated in federal prisons. +-25%Pictures of top 10 most wanted in LA. Up until recent stories about crime in LA posted by the LA Times--the pictures included the nationality of the murderers. They were all foreign nationals and mostly Mexican.
Wanted for Murder in New York City.
Chicago wanted for Murder
Philadelphia wanted for murder
San Francisco wanted for Murder
New Orleans wanted for Murder
Pictures of suspects wanted for murder in Washington DC
FBI USA 10 most wanted. (two of 10 are Mexican nationals) Around 40% of the FBI's wanted for murder are Mexican Nationals
There are currently no exact numbers on the number of Americans killed by illegals. Part of the reason is that the government deliberately obscures the number. I talked on the phone with the head of statistics for the US Bureau of Prisons. He said his office wasn't allowed to publish the number of illegal alien murderers. Rather they were forced to put legal and non legal residents in the same category. I talked to ICE. They put out detailed numbers on illegal child molestors. However, they put out nothing on illegal murderers.
Part of the reason for the silence on the matter is that there is evidence to suggest that most Americans being killed by illegals are black--as is the suggestion in this LA Times Article. Also this article from the LA Times. And here. This makes intuitive sense. We see stories regularly of drug gang killings in Mexico but we don't see those same stories in the USA. The reason we don't see those stories is not because its not happening. Rather we don't see the stories about illegals killing blacks because that kind of story is terribly politically incorrect. The populations being displaced in downtown sanctuary cities especially are American blacks. That means that their criminal elements would be pushed aside by Mexican gangs as well. That's also the story that the wanted for murder posters in all the major cities seems to suggest.
Nevertheless, the pattern of non reporting is starting to break. Discovery Channel has a series called Gangland that mentions ethnic cleasing of blacks by Mexican gangs
Reported Foreign Nationals on Death Row in the U.S.
To look at other USA cities go here http://stlouis.fbi.gov/ and replace stlouis with the city you want.
All that said the true number of criminal aliens is far higher than is revealed by criminal aliens in prisons. Most are simply waived through the courts.DHS Secretary Chertoff, has been quoted as warning that two million people in this country illegally have committed serious crimes. See also here and here
However the number of illegals on death row is far lower.
It makes one wonder how we ever survived without illegal immigration.
ping
To paraphrase open borders advocates, they’re merely committing crimes that Americans won’t commit.
Now here is money that Congress can tax with my okay.
I’m pretty sure the border didn’t magically open under President Bush’s administration. Now granted, his administration has not done much to stem it, but the open border has been around for several administrations.
To add: Given that the US economy has a size of about $5,000,000,000,000 a year, that’s a blip. Also, even if the money is spent in Mexico, a lot of the goods bought there are made in the US...
Ford sold fewer cars and trucks............... really? I see a lot of mexican gardners driving their own brand new Ford trucks around here. Many have nice SUV’s too. Seems that many have taken over the trades, like Electricians, Masonary, Roofing etc. and apparently are doing well enough to afford new vehicles.
bump
“but the open border has been around for several administrations.”
Very true. But not only has Bush done nothing about it, but he’s prevented others from trying to stop it.
So spending money outside the US is somehow bad? Most Americans do. The Theresa Heinz types and their playtoy men even buy multi-million dollar homes outside the US and..gasp...buy food and other stuff in local stores while there. Add up those dollars flowing out of our country if you want a chance at perspective here. The amount mentioned here is a speck of sand on the beach...the few dollars of minimum wage a sea of poor folks were able to send to Mexico. What did the US get? Hundreds of billions worth of cheap, unorganized labor to help us have cheap produce in our USA stores. If you want to say you’re against cheap illegal labor coming here...at least don’t use silly trumped up perspectives.
It seems to me that Bush even encouraged it with some of his comments. That takes it to a new level, for sure.
Ping!
The comments on the Red State Page are made by someone who has absolutely no regard whatsoever for the rule of law. He wants a total amnesty. If this is his perspective I wonder how many laws I could break out on his front lawn before he decided that suddenly the rule of law was important again.
Second, his economics are from another planet. I’m all for creating wealth, but when you send a significant portion of that wealth to another country we lose. If these people were citizens most of that money would very likely stay here in the US. Factor in the additional cost of education, healthcare and incarceration and we’re looking at a huge expense rather than a new gain.
Lastly, his idea that this is an excellent form of foreign aid to Mexico incorrectly assumes that we should be giving Mexico nearly 20 times the annual foreign aid we give to any other country on the planet.
He’s an moron.
It appears that slavery would be fine with you also.
“Ford sold fewer cars and trucks...And yes, even Exxon/Mobil sold less gasoline than it could have.”
Ford, Exxon and many other of these companies are also in Mexico. The only reason Ford sells less cars is because they make crap. I’d rather pay a Mexican $3/hr to pick strawberries than a union member $30/hr.
In fact, due to the lower cost of final goods patially due to lower labor cost most like drives higher overall sales.
Keeping illegals out is one thing, but the article author making bogus economic arguments is another. Just stick to the security issues.
At least they worked for it not like the usual foreign FREE aid we dole out
Very weird.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=61861
“The bottom line, which you need to know for your own bottom line, is that U.S. taxpayers are giving more than $9,000 a year in cash or benefits to each immigrant, a third of whom are in the country illegally. That’s $36,000 for each immigrant household of four.
Because the U.S. has 37 million immigrants, legal and illegal, the national cost was more than $346 billion last year, which was twice our fiscal deficit. The cost of immigrants is so high because, as Rubenstein writes, “Immigrants are poorer, pay less tax and are more likely to receive public benefits than natives.”
Her source for the article is a new research paper that just came out and is hot linked. Good luck.
Financial transfers are not a part of the balance of trade, they’re a part of the current account, and it’s far from clear that a current account deficit is in fact a bad thing.
Thanks
Don’t forget clinton and gore’s Citizenship USA.
“This certainly should be figured into our balance of trade deficit. We are also stuck with paying billions in tax dollars for the education, medication, and incarceration of illegals every year. Talk about a losing deal all the way around.”
Just the tip of the iceberg. Add in trashed houses and neighborhoods they leave behind, the cost of theft and vandalism as more of them are out of work (empty refis and foreclosed houses are being stripped, just like in the late 80’s early 90’s)e, the increase in crime in the areas they live and the cost to law enforcement, the cost to our environment as they drive unsmogged and undocumented cars and trucks (stealing registration forms and stickers are a BIG business in the Bay Area, the police flat out told me NOT to keep my registration the car anymore, they break in specifically to get it), and the cost of cleaning up the border states where they have trashed the environment where they cross. (And the cost to live stock stolen and eaten down there).
Then, add in the cost of the drug war, because all that money flowing back to Mexico helps prop up the drug lords there. If you don’t think that the drug cartels own the Mexican government lock stock and barrel, you are a customer of their products. I’ve said all along, and been called crazy, that the drug cartels have a lot more to do with the borders than the US government will admit - we could have an all out war on our border if we truly cut off the cartel’s money.
Mexico has been the met addicts running a crack house and meth lab next door for too long, it needs to be dealt with. Either by diplomacy, or tanks. Until then, there will be no end to what we’re dealing with - as soon as the economy recovers even slightly, they’ll flood over the border again in bigger and bigger numbers, and our President and Congress and Senate will ignore the issue again once.
Are you quite sure about that? Those are dollars, so they're going to have to be spent on American products or invested in American assets eventually.* Is it really that different if the products they buy are owned by Mexicans in Mexico instead of Mexicans in America?
*The only alternative would be for Mexicans to continue to circulate them within Mexico instead of converting them into pesos. It seems unlikely this would happen on a large scale, but were it to the only effect would be to reduce the supply of the dollar in the US (somewhat countering the Fed's inflationary easing of the money supply).
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