The Compounding Effects of Illegal Immigration

The immigration laws were established to provide order for our society. The laws were considered necessary to provide for the entrance of an established number of immigrants annually that could be assimilated without disrupting and degrading the experience of U.S. citizens and others who are rightfully here.

The compounding effects of uncontrolled immigration is the reason that the immigration laws were put on the books in the first place.

When the law is ignored or not enforced, chaos is sure to follow due to the compounding effects of large numbers of people the society is not prepared for.

Adding too many immigrants, too quickly,  puts added pressure on the social order if those immigrant numbers outpace the ability to integrate and assimilate them into the general population.

Too many immigrants puts too much strain on our resources. It puts unnecessary strain on everything in our society---our water, our sewer systems, our roads, the electric grid, our infrastructure and our environment. It contributes to congestion and urban sprawl.

Add to this what it does to increase the financial strain on our schools and our health system and cost pressure on rents and housing costs, not to mention our law enforcement and justice system.

What happens when AI and technology displaces many of the jobs that low-skilled immigrants are likely to hold? Are we importing a gigantic permanent underclass that will have to be supported by welfare and tax dollars for years and years to come?

Is this the underlying reason that Democrats have embraced open borders? Importing large number of people who will be dependent on the government for support provides future votes to support the Democrat party agenda.

Of course, we are seeing massive sums of tax dollars being used right now at the federal, state and local levels to house, feed and care for the masses of illegal immigrants who the Biden administration has allowed to cross the border.

A recent study estimated the federal and state costs for the transportation and care of illegal immigrants to be over $151 billion this year.

At the border, services provided to illegals include food, clothing, transport to airports or bus stations, medical care, legal aid, translation assistance and assistance with booking travel.

Although illegals are generally not eligible for welfare benefits, they can access emergency medical treatment under Medicaid and are eligible for various emergency food programs once they are in the country.

Of course, every dollar spent on these illegals is a dollar less that can be spent on U.S. citizens.

$151 billion is a lot of money.

For context, that is more money than was spent in 2023 on Social Security disability payments ($150 billion), veteran's programs ($148 billion) or the entire food stamp program ($135 billion). 

It is more money than is expected to be spent on all new highway and street construction in the United States this year ($132 billion) from all government sources.

The amount spent on illegals this year is more than the total amount that will be  spent on Pell Grants to assist lower and middle income students to attend college ($25 billion) AND all new student loans provided  in 2023 ($114 billion).

It is incredible what the United States could do with $!51+ billion if it was not spending it on illegal immigrants.

None of the above takes account of the enormous costs being borne by sanctuary cities and others localities for illegal immigrants.

In New York City alone, the city projects it will spend $12 billion between 2022 and 2025 to provide shelter, food and service to illegal immigrants.

A substantial portion of this sum is being spent to house illegals in hotels in New York City.

A recent article in the Federalist reported that 20% of all hotel rooms in New York City are currently being used to house illegal immigrants,

That is about 16,000 hotel rooms.

121 hotels in the city are being used exclusively to house illegals.

If you take 20% of hotel capacity off line in a city it will undoubtedly have an effect on prices as supply and demand is altered.

New York City has always been an expensive city in which to find lodging.

I used to travel to the Big Apple a great deal on business and know that first hand.

Although most of the migrants are being housed in economy or mid-tier hotels, when those options are taken off the market business travelers and tourists are forced to pay more. They either have to pay more at what were once "affordable" hotels or are forced to move up to more expensive options.

To give you an idea of what current prices are in New York City per night for a hotel room here are a few examples (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday nights to reflect both mid-week and weekend rates) according to Hotels.com.

I have stayed at all of these hotels at one time or the other over the years.

Mid-tier hotels near LaGaurdia and JFK airports are also getting about $300 per night.

The average price of a hotel room in the city is reported to be $301 per night.

Of course, this also does not include the substantial taxes that are levied on hotel rooms in New York City. Taxes are going to increase the per night rate by about 20% (see total cost above).

I once was in New York City for a night and then traveled to Ashland, Kentucky the next day for another business meeting. The taxes on my hotel in Manhattan alone were more than my hotel rate in Kentucky.

It is reported that the illegals in New York City are not just getting shelter at hotels in the city.

Sanctuary hotels also offer social freebies, according to the city’s Department of Homeless Services. Many hotels provide bilingual operational support services, including child care, job training, computer access, personal care items, and laundry service. Migrants can also receive trauma or mental health counseling.

Hotel room rates are just one example of the compounding effects of illegal immigration.

Far more troubling is what is going on in the labor market.

Yes, there is a need for immigrant labor in certain sectors of the economy.

However, how does the United States absorb 10+ million illegal immigrants into the labor market in three years without negatively impacting the jobs and wages of native born workers?

A UK firm, Standard Chartered recently released a research report that estimated that half of the job growth this fiscal year beginning in October, 2023 is the result of jobs that have gone to undocumented immigrants.

Source: https://twitter.com/zerohedge/status/1799608998561231342/photo/1

What is striking in this chart is comparing the job growth this year in undocumented immigrants (dark green) to legal immigrants (blue) and to native born workers (light green).

This research further amplifies what I have reported in the past about U.S. employment trends that show that all of the job growth in recent years has gone to foreign born workers.

It is true that some of this is due to the fact that native-born boomers are aging out of the workforce.

However, their children and grandchildren are not taking those jobs.

In the last four years, the number of foreign born workers has increased by approximately 4 million workers while the number of native born workers has been flat. 

A growing economy has masked the potential societal issues with this trend.

However, a slowing economy and a future recession will be a different story.

We may not see a recession next month or even within the next year. However, we will see one in the foreseeable future. 

We will then see the full force of the compounding effects of illegal immigration when millions who want to work can't find a job--both natives and immigrants.

At that point we are going to wish we had multiples of that $151 billion we spent last year on illegals to take care of a lot of joblessness and economic suffering.

The full compounding effects of illegal immigration is yet to come.