Thank you for a somewhat balanced, lighthearted approach to what is a very difficult issue (“¿Cuanto cuesta?” June 24). Most articles I read take one side and ignore all the issues on the opposite side. The last six months or so I have been trying to become more informed regarding this issue.
One thing I realize is that in order to understand the impact of illegal immigration, we would need to study it. However, part of being illegal is that you do not want to be noticed. As a friend of mine tells me, every time our company has layoffs, the blade of grass that stands out gets cut; raising your hand to say you are illegal might be the last time you get to raise your hand in the United States!
One interesting idea I have is that we should be measuring a number of things in Arizona right now. According to many articles, there is an exodus underway of illegals out of Arizona. It might be highly informative to see the impact (positive and negative) on the economy in Arizona. This might give a clear idea of a partial impact analysis (since we won’t know if only a portion leave or if all of them do). I saw one article that indicates that one small school district (five schools) has lost more than 110 students since the law was passed. This equates to more than $500,000 in, depending on your view, lost school revenue or reduced tax requirement.
Also, one thing I did think of toward the end of your article: the issue of how when things get tough, we look to point the finger at illegals. I might add that when things get tight in my family budget, I look to see where am I spending money that I do not need to. I suspect most of us, as things are going well, are not as concerned. But what with the housing market meltdown, the stock market unstable, etc., people start to feel the pinch directly. Then we look at the government (local, state, and federal), that appears to be going further and further in debt. It starts to make each of us wonder how are we going to pay for this. And yes, at these points, we look to see where can we tighten the budget. Is that fair? Yes, I think so. What I am still not sure of, though, is what is the real cost? But thanks again for the lighthearted way you told the story.
This article appears in Jul 15-22, 2010.