Letter
to the editor: Immigration at fault
Grounded
not in fear of terrorism, but rather in
basic economics is the law of supply and
demand. When immigration was open, people
flooded here in droves. It was not a problem
for a while. But during that time there
were no social "entitlements"
to create massive government expenditure
on every citizen.
Today,
we have a different situation and supply
is less than demand in every area. In Los
Angeles, for example, we have a terrible
housing shortage. Is this due to illegal
immigration? Yes! The law dictates that
if the number of people wanting housing
is greater than the number of dwellings
available, prices for dwellings will rise.
The massive influx of illegal immigrants
is consuming all dwellings, creating a shortage
of housing for citizens. This is why most
people in Los Angeles pay a disproportionate
amount of their income in housing expenses.
It is also why developers are not anxious
to build more housing. If supply should
equal or exceed demand, prices will lower,
deriving less profit. Land developers and
rental owners have a financial incentive
to keep illegal immigrants flowing in faster
than they can build homes.
The L.A. Times estimated that the cost of
illegal immigrants on our health system
is why it is failing financially and we
are having to close facilities. The consumption
of services is simply too high because of
all the illegal immigrants placing demand
on the system. The same goes for unemployment:
too many workers available and a staggering
number of them are illegal! Without those
illegal workers here, there would be jobs
for all citizens and pay rates would increase
naturally because of a lower supply of workers.
Arguments about citizens not willing to
take lower end jobs are specious and unsupported.
Arguments that illegal immigrants pay taxes
fail upon recognizing that these low-income
illegal workers are usually below the tax
level and even if taxed usually consume
far more in social services than they pay
in taxes. Our state budget deficit is an
indirect result of illegal immigration to
our state.
The
law of supply and demand is a natural law,
and our economic situation is nature reminding
us that no matter our noble ideals and philosophies,
the laws of nature will control the outcome.
The quotas of immigrants is set for our
well being, and to exceed that amount is
to harm ourselves -- we are seeing the harm
now. To personally feel the impact illegal
immigration has on you, just take a look
at your latest CSU tuition bill.
-- Ed Ober,
political science major
|
