"The Immigration Equation" - Analysis

This article can be found at: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/magazine/09IMM.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&sq=immigration%20equation&st=nyt&scp=2.

Roger Lowenstein’s article, “The Immigration Equation,” takes an economical viewpoint on looking at immigration. While the article does have a slight bias in favor of immigrants, it does present two opposing opinions through two men: George Borjas, a Cuban immigrant who believes immigrants derive Americans of a better economy, and the Canadian David Card.
Even the fact that Lowenstein chooses to open and focus on an intellectual immigrant shows how dependent America is on immigrants. Lowenstein also makes a point that “like gardeners and seamstresses, a surprising number of Ph.D. economists in the U.S. are foreign-born.” He goes on to mention “America’s diversity…is a secret of its strength.” From this statement, it can be concluded that these immigrants of varying skill levels and nationalities, make America and its economy thrive. Thus, in order to continue growing as a country, our identity must remain diverse.
As Lowenstein goes on to describe the many views and opinions of economists mainly concerned differences in wage and education, he does finally mention that “immigration policy responds to a host of factors – cultural, political, and social as well as economic.” While all the facts and figures prove that modern-day immigration has been a huge issue of concern in the past few years, they cannot explain exactly the sudden surge of immigrants. “What the economists can do is frame a subset of the important issues,” Lowenstein states at the end of the essay. And that is exactly why this article is useful: the author has been able to show us the impact of immigrants on economists and their necessity to Americans by both keeping prices of goods and labor low as well as keeping America a strong country overall.

Mexican X-ing

This is a picture of an immigrant crossing by a road in southern California. Signs such as this are common where illegal immigrants are frequently seen crossing roads in large groups. In an episode of Comedy Central's Mind of Mencia, comedian Carlos Mencia makes fun of this sign after asking a variety of people what it means, trying to convince a California DOT spokesman to admit it is an "Immigrant Crossing" sign, and by making his own sign that sterotypes Mexicans. As a result, for many people this has become a sign that mocks and ridicules illegal immigrants while enforcing negative stereotypes. Unfortunately, these stereotypes often carry over into politics and result in ignorance and biased legislation.

Mexico's Brain Drain

This cartoon illustrates the "Brain Drain" from Mexico to the United States. The winged brains, representing intelligent, educated Mexicans, soar over the barrier to United States citizenship. Meanwhile, the poor, uneducated Mexican migrant at the bottom is left staring up longingly at the United States. The purpose of this cartoon is to illustrate the difficulty that the majority of Mexicans find as they try to find legal means of entering the United States. With no other alternative, the poor Mexican crosses illegally. In order to obtain a visa or other form of legal paperwork to live in the US, an induvidual is forced to take an interview and prove that they are qualified. As recent immigrant Andrea Torres said, "My dad got a visa a few years ago. Even then, as a college graduate with a promise of a job in Florida, it was hard. Now it's just impossible." This cartoon is an argument for the loosening of immigration requirements to the United States from Mexico in order to make it easier for poor Mexicans, like those at the bottom of the cartoon, to be able to live and work in the United States.

Minuteman Cartoon

This cartoon depicts a member of the Minutemen group, who is against immigration to America, watching the Mexico-American border through binoculars. A steriotypical illegal immigrant, wearing a sombrero, hands him a drink. Despite the conflicting character backgrounds, the Minuteman is completely unphased with the fact that an illegal immigrant is helping him out: his two-way radio stays deserted in the sand. With this cartoon, a question regarding the necessity for immigrants is raised: could Americans, even those against illegal immigration, survive without the services the immigrants provide us with? Though left somewhat open for interpretation, the comic does suggest that Americans should take a look and see how many elementary tasks are completed with immigrants' help: the evidence is closer than it appears.

Does Illegal Immigration Hurt American Workers?

Currently, there are six million illegal immigrants in the American workforce (roughly 5% of the total.) It is often argued that these workers are taking jobs away from native-born Americans. However, it is also argued that illegals, rather than taking jobs, are indirectly creating them through the boost their labor gives to the economy. Additionally, Hispanics added an estimated ten billion dollars to the economy in 2002. However, this ten billion is out of a total of over three trillion.
Another often-used argument by immigration opponents is that if illegal immigrants were not so willing to take low-paying jobs, then working conditions in those professions would be considerably higher. Unorganized, "unofficial" illegal immigrants can work for miserable conditions for less than minimum wage. This argument is undercut, however, by outsourcing and the ability of American-based companies to relocate jobs to Asia and other worldwide. If these companies were forced to negotitate with unions that require higher wages and better working conditions, then they might just decide to pack up and leave altogether for a place with even more expendable workers with poorer working conditions.