Immigrants Could Help Alleviate $17 Trillion National Debt

Miami, FL (Law Firm Newswire) December 29, 2014 – The debt cannot be tackled without both political parties coming together to approach debt reduction. Immigration reform could boost the financially sagging agricultural sector.

The concerns are not just economic. They run much deeper, even affecting the next generation and the present outlook on the lack of growth of a nation still teetering on the brink of economic instability. “What we do not deal with now passes to the next generation. What we have now may not be available to the next generation. Taking action now is critical. However, immigration reform has gone nowhere over the last few years. Its future still remains murky,” said immigration attorney Larry Rifkin of Miami’s Rifkin & Fox-Isicoff, P.A.

“Last year, close to $2 billion in crops was left in the fields because farmers did not have enough seasonal immigrant workers to handle it. There has been a dismal failure on all political fronts to deal with the increasing gap between the nation’s need for food and the farmers’ ability to produce it,” Rifkin added “No serious shortage of labor in any job sector due to no immigration reform is a serious cause for concern.”

To begin the immigration reform journey once again, the issue needs to be dealt with in a hands-on manner. Politicians need to stop using it as a fundraising tool, a political football and a diversionary tactic. Both parties are too hide-bound ideologically to move forward as a united team. Finger pointing becomes the order of the day, and the lives of more than 13 million immigrants and their potential financial contributions to the economy are left hanging in the balance – again.

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), if immigration reform were dealt with it would save the nation a little over trillion dollars over a 20-year period. The deficit currently stands at $17 trillion. Difficult journeys must begin somewhere.

The economy is not likely to be repaired overnight, In the current, unstable atmosphere, lower wages are being offered to thousands of immigrant workers, resulting in lower salaries overall. In fact, economists in the labor industry speculate that illegal aliens have lowered the working wages of U.S. high school dropouts between 0.4 to 7.4 percent. There are 25 million Americans working in low wage jobs who did not finish high school.

Low-wage earners and seasonal field labor are not competing with skilled laborers with high pay for wages. Instead, undocumented workers and those without high school diplomas or any other education compete head-to-head. Low-wage earners complement skilled workers by doing low-cost, menial tasks, freeing the skilled workers to specialize in, thus increasing the latter’s wages, but rarely their own.

Immigration reform would deeply affect many U.S. economic sectors, including agriculture, construction and other labor-intensive fields. One change will always create others, even if the effects are unintentional. A comprehensive plan is needed. Immigration reform requires a special kind of balance that may be difficult to find, given the current political climate.