Editor’s Notes
By Marivir Montebon
The day after Pres. Obama announced his executive order on immigration is definitely brand new for about five million undocumented immigrants. And it should be for government too.
The attitude towards immigration should be a Win Win for all.
The Department of Homeland Security revealed that the cost of deporting about 11 million undocumented immigrants would be $3.37 billion for border police, building of detention centers, and transfer of immigration judges to the south.
The process of deportation which includes apprehension, detention, legal proceedings, and transportation would be $18,310 per person. While in detention, government spends $3335 per person for 30 days.
The Center for American Progress said that a mass deportation policy would reduce economic growth by $250 billion annually, because immigrants are not only contributors to the economy, they are direct consumers too.
On the other hand, giving undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship will greatly benefit the economy. The process of documentation alone runs direct opposite to the ‘spending’ character of deportation. Integrating immigrants into the society means additional tax dollars. We have to account as government income, in the short term, penalties for overstaying, legal documentation and proceedings, as well as medical examination costs. The long term would be government income from the income and sales taxes of these new immigrants.
It was good enough for Pres. Obama to create an executive order yesterday. After all, his administration has the higher deportation record than his predecessor. Now it has to be the legislature to pass a comprehensive immigration reform program to fix the broken system.
The question is if Congress ever will.
