Immigration and Public Benefits

In my Immigration Law class, we are currently discussing the impact of unauthorized immigrants on the public treasury. More specifically, we’ve been debating the participation of unauthorized immigrants in public benefits programs and whether they create a net loss through their consumption of public services (e.g. public education, public benefits, hospitals, etc…). It’s been interesting listening to peoples’ opinions on this given what I see at CLS and especially at the Chinatown Clinic. In light of my experience this past semester, I think that the arguments presented by different scholars are overly simplistic and don’t actually reflect what is going on in the real world. For example, some argue that overall unauthorized immigrants may not have a huge negative impact on the public treasury because they consume very few public services and any slight consumption is largely offset by the taxes and social security income paid by these immigrants. Furthermore, they argue that it is necessary to take into account the fact that many have children who grow up and are better educated and therefore able to find better employment. They point out that these children pay higher taxes and contribute more to society, which generally offsets any loss attributable to their unauthorized immigrant parents. I find it interesting that these are the leading scholarly arguments when the clients I have been helping at the Chinatown Clinic are not at all like the unauthorized immigrants envisioned by these scholars. Of course, I deal with a small subsection of the unauthorized immigrant population at the clinic, so I can certainly see how maybe in the grand scheme of things, these theories might actually play out. However, the reality that I see every week is very different. Most of my clients at the Clinic are elderly and unable to work. Those who do work are generally paid under the table in cash, so they are not contributing