Are Mexicans Stealing Our Jobs?

To listen to President Trump and his most ardent supporters (and even many who are not so ardent), the Mexicans are eating our lunch and laughing at how stupid we are. I mean, it should be obvious, right? Look at the two countries and compare each of the standards of living, the jobs and employment situation, the quality of life, and the safety and security the people experience.

Clearly, Mexico is winning…right?

They want us to believe that at the same time Mexico is stealing all of our great paying jobs that are being shipped to Mexico, they are also stealing all of our low paying jobs by illegal immigrants crossing the border because they can’t find any jobs in Mexico.

Huh?

So the solution is to destroy NAFTA (the source of all of our great paying jobs being exported to Mexico) and build a wall to keep out all of the Mexicans who only want the low-paying jobs.

The counter-productiveness of all of this should be clear. I once thought that those on the right actually understood these things and the problem was convincing the left. That’s no longer the case.

Thank you, Trump. At least you have exposed the ignorance on the right that apparently has always been festering beneath the surface, hidden by the ignorance on the left. (See, I can say positive things about Trump!)

So, here are some random thoughts on the illegal immigration issue to ponder:

1. If we want Mexico to have the jobs and economy for their people in Mexico so that they don’t have to illegally cross the border just to find a low paying job, wouldn’t it make more sense to work with them closely to improve their situation instead of accusing them of taking advantage of us? And isn’t a free trade arrangement like NAFTA one of the best ways to do that? Yeah, yeah, I know…all of our “good jobs” are being sucked out of the U.S. into Mexico. Yet, our unemployment rate is near the lowest in history and Mexicans are still coming over in droves just to get the low paying jobs. Something doesn’t compute.

2. Shouldn’t we work with Mexico to improve their security? Many illegal immigrants come due to the insecurity and threats to their families. How about, instead of building a wall and locking all of the bad people in Mexico to wreak even more havoc, why don’t we work closely with Mexico and help eradicate them once and for all? Wouldn’t that benefit all concerned? You might say that we shouldn’t be meddling in another country’s internal affairs, but when we share a border and those issues start directly affecting us by creeping over the border, then they are no longer internal affairs. Putting a wall up and pretending the issue is solved is not going to help. It will only create a “ticking time bomb” in Mexico.

3. Since we are providing all of the incentives to all of the illegal immigrants to make the trip across the border (half of our leaders and people are literally inviting them in), isn’t this creating a bigger problem for Mexico because millions of immigrants from south of Mexico are flooding their country in order to make their way to ours? Rather than making Mexico pay for a wall on our southern border, wouldn’t it be more fair and responsible for us to pay for and help Mexico protect their own southern border?

4. If we continue to send mixed messages to those wanting to come to the U.S. with half our country inviting them in and once they get here, we are all providing them various benefits (food, education, healthcare), do we really think a wall is going to stop it? First, as long as the incentives remain, they WILL find a way in. Second, even if we build a wall now, once the other side regains power, they will simply tear it down, whether physically or effectively. Until we come to an agreed, educated, rational consensus on the issue, the problems will persist.

5. Isn’t the idea that the illegal immigrants are coming over and stealing jobs from Americans pretty much an, ignorant, leftist view of economics? It’s the idea that there is only one economic pie that remains a constant size. A zero-sum view of economics. That’s not how free-market capitalism works.

6. Isn’t the idea that jobs being shipped to Mexico is an obvious negative also an ignorant view of economics? Are there not many unseen benefits that are obtained from that? For example, if products can be produced cheaper in Mexico due to varying resource factors (both natural and human), isn’t that an overall good in a free-market capitalist system? If those products can then be provide to U.S. consumers at lower costs, does that not free up a lot of money for those consumers to spend on even more products and/or services? The snowballing affect encourages innovation and entrepreneurial ventures. That’s exactly how it’s supposed to work. Also, when Mexico has better jobs for their people, are they not better off financially and then be able to purchase more products themselves, much of which are various U.S. products?

Those are just a few random thoughts on the issue without getting too deep in the details. Most of these concepts are lost in the discussions because all of the hyped-up rhetoric and demagoguery drowns in out. But these are all important considerations in a reasoned, rational debate.

Can you think of any other random thoughts that are being missed? What do you think about the ones that I have listed?