Illegal Immigration is Complicated

US businesses fear illegal foreign worker crackdown by J.D. Riviere Thu Jul 26, 3:58 AM ET AUSTIN, United States (AFP) - US businesses are bracing for a possible major crackdown on illegal foreign workers, as the government seeks to give immigration authorities more power to punish companies hiring undocumented workers. (Yahoo News)

There is a segment of the population in the United States that is just delirious to hear that there could be a crack down on illegal immigrants. These are the same saints that have never broken the law or been forced to do whatever was needed for their family's well being. These are the same individuals that have money to burn and feel the government is taxing them too heavily and too often. I would call these people deluded, but I think even the residents of Oz would find them too far "out there" to be considered normal.

When businesses begin to feel threatened, especially when the markets are at such stratospheric levels and unemployment is so low, yet oil is close to a record high and defaults in the mortgage market seem to be looming like a repeat of the Savings and Loan scandal of the late 1980s, it is time to really take a look at the realities.

1) The population, illegal or otherwise, fill a needed niche in the economic structure from a labor perspective. Further, it is unlikely that the jobs they occupy could be filled by the average American today, either because of the low wage or more importantly the lack of skill set.

2) The population has become increasingly integrated into the economic fabric of society, with everything from cell phones to cable TV contracts. Defaulting on those contracts could cause more of an economic problem than the perceived burden burden placed on the society they live in.

3) Rounding them up and deporting them is an expensive and unrealistic option.

4) When the fines begin against businesses, those costs will be passed onto the consumer, in the forms of higher prices for goods or worse, the loss of jobs if the company is forced to close. Some would argue that this is not a significant issue, but the reality is that every business is tied to the economy and there are a few that are just barely hanging on. That would increase defaults in a shaky banking industry, but it would also displace workers and leave companies that depend on the labor (office buildings, construction sites to be stereotypical) without the labor to get things done, delaying or risking ongoing projects etc. like a string of dominoes.

I get that they are here illegally. As someone who has gone through the byzantine process of naturalizing, I get that. I also get that they are as integrated into our society as any other economic element and you do not just pull a thread out of a tapestry without knowing what it is connected to. The results could be catastrophic