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Related BlogsMises Economics BlogJuly 26, 13:34 PM AM
"Every time I read a newproposal from a politician forwhat the government shoulddo to handle immigration, Ithink we've hit bottom. Butthen I'm afraid we haven't...."California InsiderJuly 26, 9:02 AM
"This is another way ofsaying that raising theminimum wage hurts low-skilled workers by denyingthem the opportunity to grabhold of the first rung of theeconomic ladder. ..."Marginal RevolutionJuly 26, 6:14 AM
"The minimum wage createsunemployment among thelow-skilled. As a result, theminimum wage tends tocreate disproportionateunemployment amongteenagers and young AfricanAmericans. ..."ParaPunditJuly 26, 0:21 AM
"The economic downside forthe economy as a wholewould be fairly small. ..."No More ApplesJuly 25, 18:42 PM AM
"Now here's the thing thatthey didn't quite say. Byraising the minimum wagethe onus is put on employers
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Raise Wages, Not WallsBy MICHAEL S. DUKAKIS and DANIEL J. B. MITCHELLPublished: July 25, 2006
THERE are two approaches to illegal immigration currently beingdebated in Congress. One, supported by the House, emphasizesborder control and law enforcement, including a wall along theMexican border and increased border patrols. The other, which issupported by the Bush administration and has been passed by theSenate, relies on employers to police the workplace. Both proposalshave serious flaws.
As opponents of the House plan haverightly pointed out, walls rarely work;illegal immigrants will get aroundthem one way or another. Unless weerect something akin to the BerlinWall, which would cost billions to build and police, abarrier on the border would be monitored by largelysymbolic patrols and easily evaded.
The Senate approach is more realistic but it, too, hasproblems. It creates a temporary worker program butrequires employers first to attempt to recruit Americanworkers to fill job openings. It allows for more borderfencing, but makes no effort to disguise the basic futility ofthe enterprise. Instead, it calls on employers to enforceimmigration laws in the workplace, a plan that can onlysucceed through the creation and distribution of a costlynational identification card.
A national ID card raises serious questions about civilliberties, but they are not the sole concern. The costestimates for producing and distributing a counterfeit-proof card for the roughly 150 million people currently inthe labor force — and the millions more who will seek workin the near future — extend into the billions of dollars.Employers would have to verify the identity of everyAmerican worker, otherwise the program would be asunreliable as the one in place now. Anyone erroneouslydenied a card in this bureaucratic labyrinth would beunemployable.
There is a simpler alternative. If we are really serious aboutturning back the tide of illegal immigration, we should start
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instead of taxpayers. ..."Michael Williams -- Master ofNoneJuly 25, 16:42 PM AM
"But illegal immigrants workillegally and aren't paid theminimum wage -- only legalworkers are. ..."JustOneMinuteJuly 25, 15:05 PM AM
"One can't say this idea lacksimagination. ..."Hit & RunJuly 25, 5:12 AM
"I'm guessing anyconservative economist whopredicted employmentcontraction of thatmagnitude following a $3hike in the minimum wagewould get roundly blasted asan alarmist wingnut and shillfor business. ..."Neuticles aren’t funnyJuly 24, 21:50 PM AM
"Won't the effect actually beto incentivize additional 'offthe books' employees at sub-minimum wages? ..."
A version of this op-ed appeared in print on July 25, 2006, on page A19 of the New York edition with the headline: RaiseWages, Not Walls.
by raising the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour tosomething closer to $8. The Massachusetts legislaturerecently voted to raise the state minimum to $8 andCalifornia may soon set its minimum even higher. Once theminimum wage has been significantly increased, we canbegin vigorously enforcing the wage law and other basiclabor standards.
Millions of illegal immigrants work for minimum and evensub-minimum wages in workplaces that don’t come close tomeeting health and safety standards. It is nonsense to say,as President Bush did recently, that these jobs are filled byillegal immigrants because Americans won’t do them.Before we had mass illegal immigration in this country,hotel beds were made, office floors were cleaned,restaurant dishes were washed and crops were picked — byAmericans.
Americans will work at jobs that are risky, dirty orunpleasant so long as they provide decent wages andworking conditions, especially if employers also providehealth insurance. Plenty of Americans now work in suchjobs, from mining coal to picking up garbage. Thedifference is they are paid a decent wage and provided
benefits for their labor.
However, Americans won’t work for peanuts, and these days the national minimum wageis less than peanuts. For full-time work, it doesn’t even come close to the poverty line foran individual, let alone provide a family with a living wage. It hasn’t been raised since 1997and isn’t enforced even at its currently ridiculous level.
Yet enforcing the minimum wage doesn’t require walling off a porous border or trying todistinguish yesterday’s illegal immigrant from tomorrow’s “guest worker.” All it takes is awillingness by the federal government to inspect workplaces to determine whichemployers obey the law.
Curiously, most members of Congress who take a hard line on immigration also stronglyoppose increasing the minimum wage, claiming it will hurt businesses and reduce jobs.For some reason, they don’t seem eager to acknowledge that many of the jobs they claim tohold dear are held by the same illegal immigrants they are trying to deport.
But if we want to reduce illegal immigration, it makes sense to reduce the abundance ofextremely low-paying jobs that fuels it. If we raise the minimum wage, it’s possible somelow-end jobs may be lost; but more Americans would also be willing to work in such jobs,thereby denying them to people who aren’t supposed to be here in the first place. Andtough enforcement of wage rules would curtail the growth of an underground economy inwhich both illegal immigration and employer abuses thrive.
Raising the minimum wage and increasing enforcement would prove far more effectiveand less costly than either proposal currently under consideration in Congress. If Congresswould only remove its blinders about the minimum wage, it may see a plan to dealeffectively with illegal immigration, too.
Michael S. Dukakis, the governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and from 1983 to 1991, is a professor of political science atNortheastern University. Daniel J. B. Mitchell is a professor of management and public policy at the University of California at LosAngeles.
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