History has shown that prosperity follows immigration. Illegal immigrants have a positive effect on the American economy. Economists point out that the economic boom of the 1950s and 60s was driven by immigration, and the depression of the 1930s began after the restrictive Immigration Act of 1924 was implemented. Illegal workers provide a flexible, low cost labor pool for United States companies, thus allowing local companies to compete with inexpensive imports from cheap labor companies. Without illegal immigrants, many United States factories would go offshore. Illegal immigrants usually work in low paying positions that most Americans refuse to do. For decades, whenever there was a shortage of farm workers, the INS border patrol pretended that they didn’t see the Mexican workers crossing the border.
Illegal immigrants contribute much more money to the government than they receive in benefits, and therefore are not a social burden. Illegal immigrants pay millions of dollars into Social Security that they will never collect. They also pay state income, sales, and property taxes for which they receive few benefits. The Orange County Task Force found that illegal immigrants pay $83 million taxes each year and they receive medical services costing only $2.7 million per year. Most immigrants are drawn by the hope of better jobs, not by United States benefits programs. When job prospects dim, many return home. Far from ripping off the system, illegal aliens are more likely to be paying for it, says Douglas Massey