Note: The debate over illegal immigration is heating up again in Congress and has been a hot issue with the public for years. To say the issue is complicated and multi-faceted is an understatement. A Line of Sight has written extensively on the subject. This month we are grateful to Diedra Garcia for sharing her thoughts on the issue. Mrs. Garcia’s is President of a family owned $14 million multi-state construction company. She’s been recognized as one of Colorado’s leading entrepreneurs, participates in many civic activities, has been a Governor’s apointee, and is married with two teenage daughters.
It is challenging if not impossible to go a day without being exposed to the topic of immigration to this country and the perceived impact it has. It is an unavoidable topic of conversation at work and at home as it is inevitably in the news on a regular basis. It was a most pressing issue in our last national election and I’m sure will be center stage in 2008. The US Congress has struggled to introduce and pass anything that even the extremists on either side of the issue can relate to and embrace, let alone a mainstream solution. In response, states like ours have taken the matter into their own hands, with Colorado passing the most sweeping reform legislation in the country in a 2006 special session.
In response to the emotions evoked, rallies and purchasing boycotts are held, one just recently in Denver, to demonstrate support by current immigrants and others for allowing some form of legal entrance to the U.S. Extremists on the other side, stir their own brand of emotions with perceived racist, harsh anti-any-immigration-whatsoever rhetoric. My own view of the subject is that people are exercising misplaced but valuable emotions, which could be better utilized elsewhere. The benefit to our workforce provided by immigration from other countries, Mexico included but not singled out, is an undeniable hard economic fact.
Some Context About This Author
To allow appropriate context, I should disclose that I am an employer in the commercial construction industry, conservative in my views and a registered, practicing Republican (“practicing” because the country made it clear in its last election that we aren’t getting it right yet). I believe in responsible choices by mature adults and not in government-mandated obligation to benefit our community. I believe that as individuals we appreciate, respect and value what we have worked hard for, by far over what is given to us. As the product of a set of divorced parents, I believe in the value of both mothers and fathers in the family unit. I like good hip hop music and will forever cherish the R&B music of the 70’s and 80’s, but I think hard core rap that objectifies women as sex tools for men, and typically substandard sex tools at that, is fundamentally societally destructive and should be censored if not banned altogether. I believe that market economic forces, left to their own devices will manage themselves, without undue government regulation/taxation. See? Fairly conservative. Told ya.
Although it may seem a contradiction, is it with that conservative perspective that I observe and comment on the issue of immigration. Unfortunately, many view the issue as either conservative or liberal; a party line invitation so obvious it doesn’t even need to be extended. However, I believe we mislead ourselves by attaching philosophical, emotional connotations to the issue, as it is our tendency to do. People get caught up at opposite ends on either side, with arguments like “immigration is what this country was founded on and stands for today” or “immigrants are just terrorists who haven’t been discovered yet.” The reality is that our economic engine has a demand for work that attracts with magnetic force, the supply of those who need to work.
The Numbers
The U.S. requires a birth rate of at least 2.1 or more to grow our economy. We are the world power house, currently at 2.0. However, this is not entirely or even primarily attributable to native born U.S. residents. It is the immigrant population that provides this population fertility and growth. This Hispanic population alone reportedly grew by nearly 10% in 2004, compared to the US growth rate of only 2.5%. This translates to over 7 million new births (with over 50% of them being Hispanic).
Our economy rightfully boasts 21% of the Gross National Product and world wealth. We do this currently with only 6% of the world’s population. Our less fortunate world neighbors (185 countries) have to share the production of 50% amongst themselves of the GNP or world wealth and they do it with 90% of the population.
The conclusion is that our economy, to sustain its production/supply of 50% must improve its supply of workers from only 6% to a number that can meet the need. Economically coincident to our need for workers, our less productive world neighbors have a huge supply of workers, presumably idle, since they are not needed to maintain a mere token percentage of world production or output (50% 185 countries).
Skilled and Unskilled—Both are Needed
Although I believe people try to make it a purely Mexican-oriented issue and I disagree with this, admittedly many of this supply comes from Hispanic and Asian countries (80%), with only 12% from Europe and Canada. This tends to relegate Mexico to the status of immigration poster child. Since current legalization resources are strained beyond capacity, naturalization is a virtual myth for so many. The demand created by the supply of work is anything but. Mexican immigrants continue to defy the border to access that supply. Their wages in Colorado, for example, can achieve about $6-10 per hour for unskilled labor. Their wage in Mexico for longer hours and the same labor, would be closer to $6 per week. In my view, the Mexican immigrants clearly have a handle on the economics of the situation as it relates to unskilled labor. There is an undeniable need for this type of laborer.
In addition to the need for unskilled labor, the professional, advanced and terminally degreed demand is huge and increasing. The number of H1B visas, granted for professionals like engineers and scientists to perform work for American companies is currently 65,000 per year. This number hasn’t changed in 17 years, despite the overwhelming shift in the economy to a service and technology base. The US Citizenship office received twice as many applications for the 2008 allotment on the first day they were available. Since the H1B is the employer’s tool for accessing highly skilled workers, this alone demonstrates a clear business demand.
Sad But True
It is often argued that immigrants take jobs away from American workers. As an employer, I contend this argument couldn’t be any more flawed. We are clearly not graduating the number of engineers as our eastern world neighbors. We are clearly not raising children who are forced to work barefooted in the streets to be able to eat, thank God. What about the dreaded topic of the ICE raid on the Swift Meat Packing plant in Greeley? I have worked very hard and will continue to do so, to ensure that my children don’t have to slaughter, slice and disassemble bloody cow parts and then mop up the remains afterward. I know most of us have.
Our U.S. children, for the most part, have a choice as to where they want to work until they either commit to an education or gain more work experience. Ask a manager of a fast food restaurant, whose workers are both immigrant adults and American teenagers, which group experiences the most employee turnover. Ask that same manager which group is deeply committed to their work, no matter how menial or physically demanding the task, with little complaining and a dedication to doing a hard days work. As an employer in the construction industry with two legal Mexican immigrants in our employ, I can attest the difference is astounding. Many (not all) of American unskilled labor we hire are a challenge to manage. They are selective about what work they feel they should have to do, watch the clock often for their reprieve, and jump from job to job until they find their “appropriate” place with an employer, where the “other guys” have to dig the trench.
The Only Answer
It is clear that our demand cannot be satisfied internally, unless we can start multiplying and reproducing ourselves at a physically impossible rate. We would also likely need to rethink families where both parents work, as someone really should play the caregiver role, which would again, defeat the purpose of trying to increase our labor pool. I suspect this responsibility would fall to women and take them out of the workforce which would be a clear step backward for our society as it’s taken this long to prove that we can be both mothers and important professional role models for our children. In the years it would take these newborns to grow into working age adults, we would have completely forfeited any competitive advantage as a country.
My question is this: why would we fight market economics to accommodate extremist rhetoric?
The issue is not who was born here and have a right to be here versus who was born in Mexico—err, other countries (ok, indulge me just one cynical editorial comment). The issue is how can we manage immigration to our competitive advantage? We need a clear and accessible path for legal immigration—one that actually meets the demand for workers, not the “virtual” process that exists today. We need a system for identifying and processing those who are already here and contributing to the economy (as well as identifying those relative few who are committing crimes and must be returned). Many of these workers are paying into federal benefit systems such as Social Security, and will never be entitled to benefit personally. I believe they should be counted and taxed, including some form of payment to absorb our costs for having to completely reinvent our system to accommodate the influx. This could be either financial or a community service requirement. I believe the stream of immigrants should and would gladly pay their way and expect no public assistance. My theory is that they would work and appreciate the physical and financial investment they had to make to come here and they might even set an example for the rest of us.
Emotion is understood but wasted on this issue. Our economy has spoken loudly and clearly and told us it is hungry. To deprive it nourishment it would make it weak. However, our economy has its own innate survival mechanism and feeds itself in the absence of an institutionalized diet. We need to dispense with emotional rhetoric and focus on what we face – a U.S. economic imperative.
My Thanks
With the exception of my information sources -- the Congressional Research Service, The U.S. Census Bureau, The Colorado Lawyer, October 2006 issue, The Rocky Mountain News, Editorial, December 15, 2006 issue -- these views are solely my personal reflections, biases and opinions. I welcome the opportunity to share them as well as the opportunity to hear others.
Diedra Garcia is President and CEO of DRG Construction Corp., a family-owned corporation. The Denver Business Journal has named her the Outstanding Woman of the Year for Business (Construction and Real Estate) and one of Colorado's most influential younger business leaders (40 Under 40). She has been honored as Business Woman of the Year by the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as well.
Posted on Monday, May 14, 2007
by By Diedra Garcia
filed under