William H. Geiger III, well known Nativist (if not Native) American, writes:
In <199711192035.VAA20768@basement.replay.com>, on 11/19/97 at 09:35 PM, Anonymous <nobody@REPLAY.COM> said:
Actually, many studies have found that immigrants, legal and illegal, make a net positive contribution to the economy, even considering their access to government services.
Yes and 4 out of 5 doctors in an independent study prefer Buffren. Would you care to back this up with some actual facts.
From the Cato Institute, a well known libertarian think tank, http://www.cato.org/dailys/4-22-97.html:
Myth number four: Immigrants impose a financial burden on taxpayers. Immigrants do make somewhat heavier use of means-tested welfare programs than natives. There have been especially flagrant abuses by immigrants of particular welfare programs, such as Supplemental Security Income. But because immigrants tend to come to the United States during the start of their working years --between the ages of 18 and 35 -- they make very large net contributions to the two largest income transfer programs: Social Security and Medicare. When the payroll tax contributions of immigrants are taken into account, the Urban Institute found that the foreign born constitute a net fiscal windfall to the public sector of some $20 billion a year. To the extent that welfare use by immigrants is a problem, this can be addressed by restricting the welfare eligibility of immigrants, not by keeping immigrants out.
More details can be found by searching for "immigration" on www.cato.org.