The Commercial Appeal

In the May 3rd issue of The Commerical Appeal, Tonyaa Weathersbee's “Who Loses if undocumented workers go?” carefully avoids the terms “Illegal” and “immigrant” and prefers the euphemism.

Similarly, we just experienced “A Day Without Immigrants.” Another euphemism, since all Americans - except for Native Americans – are either immigrants or children of immigrants.

But Weathersbee does bring up an interesting question: What would a day without Undocumented (illegal) workers (immigrants) look like?

To answer that question, you first have to know how many live in the US. No one knows exactly because they are undocumented. However, Pew Research estimates there are roughly 11.1 million illegal immigrants living in the US, or 3.5% of America's population. This 3.5 percent commit 13.6 percent all crimes, 12 percent all murders and 16 percent all drug and human trafficking sentences.

Factor in the costs of services such as healthcare and education. According to The Federation for American Immigration reform, this amounts to $113 billion annually. Yet illegal immigrants only contribute $11.6 billion annually in taxes.



Add to that total something called Remittances – money sent by illegal immigrants back to their homeland. Pew Research calculates that amount to be $26.72 billion each year – money that simply evaporates yearly from the economy.

All totaled, A Day Without Illegal Immigrants would SAVE the US $351 million.

The COST of a Day Without Immigrants would be incalculable.

Ernest Seger, Germantown

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