IMMIGRATION 2020: WHAT’S YOUR QUESTION?
VIDEO
FOREIGN LABOR
With record unemployment, shouldn’t we pause foreign worker visa programs?
- A labor Economics Report found illegal workers depress the wages of all workers, but hit minority workers and those without high school degrees hardest
- Of all legal immigrant admissions in 2018, 12.6 percent came on work-related visas
- A 2019 report in the Journal of Economic Surveys concluded that “immigration can create winners and losers among the native-born workers”
- Work visas cover all kinds of jobs from IT and farm labor to au pairs and paid interns
Video
WORKSITE ENFORCEMENT
How do you strengthen punishments for companies that hire illegal aliens?
- Only since the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986) has it been against the law to hire an illegal alien
- Worksite enforcement also reduces affiliated crimes, including human smuggling, identity theft, and worker exploitation
- Annual prosecutions of employers almost never climbs above 15
- Just 11 managers and no companies were prosecuted for hiring illegal aliens from April 2018 to March 2019, a Syracuse University analysis found
Video
HEALTHCARE
Is it fair to give health insurance to illegal immigrants?
- The Census Bureau reported in September 2019 that 27.5 million people were uninsured
- In 2018, Forbes reported U.S. taxpayers “cross-subsidize health care for illegal immigrants to the tune of $18.5 billion a year.” In 2019, the Center for Immigration Studies study put it closer to $23 billion per year
- Since 2016, California has allowed illegal aliens under 18 to receive taxpayer-backed health care. In 2019, an additional $98 million was allocated to health benefits to those between the ages of 19 and 25
- Even as their own residents lack health insurance, Oregon and New York have extended benefits to illegal aliens, particularly children and/or pregnant women
Video
ASYLUM
There is a huge asylum backlog, how do we reform the laws?
- Asylum is given to those who can prove they have a “credible fear” of persecution due to race, religion, nationality, or political views but not on the basis of poverty
- A new joint asylum policy would creat more efficient procedures that would prevent frivolous asylum claims from taking time from legitimate claims
- Syracuse University’s TRAC says there are a million-plus pending immigration court cases, an increase of 31 percent over one year
- In 2019, immigration judges denied 69 percent of all asylum cases due to lack of merit
Video
EDUCATION
With a growing deficit, how can we afford to pay to educate illegal immigrants?
- Illegal immigrants are ineligible for federal financial aid, including student loans and the Pell Grants
- A 2010 FAIR study calculated that Limited English Proficiency (LEP) costs nationwide totaled $51.2 billion
- As of 2019, at least 19 states have provisions allowing for in-state tuition rates for illegal alien students
- The Pew Research Center report showed that only 20 percent of low-income Americans attended college in 2016 with most only able to afford the least-selective colleges that provide fewer resources to help students succeed