From farm to city, debate roils - Illegal Immigration

August 27. 2006 12:29AM

From farm to city, debate roils

Scott ParrottTimes-News Staff Writer
scott.parrott@hendersonvillenews.com

The short session opens, and state lawmakers gather in Raleigh. Illegal immigration weighs on the minds of legislators who represent the big cities and the rural farmland found along interstates 40 and 85, the communities experiencing the brunt of the Hispanic population boom.In 16 days, lawmakers pitch 12 bills addressing immigration."We've got to have the labor, but the thing we've got to know is who they are, if they have a criminal background and if they have health problems that could jeopardize our population," says N.C. Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Laurel Park, who cosponsored four bills. "We've really got to tighten the borders up first and then know who is here and if you violate our laws while here you go home and don't come back."Two hundred fifty miles away, more than 3,000 marchers take to the streets of downtown Asheville for the Day Without Immigrants. They are fathers. They are mothers. They are farmworkers and waiters, painters and teachers. The marchers call for boycotts of work to show the clout immigrants carry in the local economy."We are one America," they chant for nearly an hour.Later, above the city streets, a grassroots political club fed up with illegal immigration collects more than $1,500 and raises two billboards. "Had Enough?" the signs ask, emblazoned by an upside down American flag topped by the Mexican banner -- an image taken from a pro-immigration rally in California."We regard America's humane treatment of immigrants, and America's allure to foreigners, as two of our country's greatest strengths," said the Buncombe County Republican Action Club, which raised the signs and supports immigration when it's done legally. "Few Americans, and certainly not us, seek a departure from that standard. We seek modification of laws only to protect our communities and to ensure respect for the law as the surest way to protect the immigrant's dream of a better life. That's what American voters want, and it's what the political leadership whom those voters elected must deliver."But the billboard on Patton Avenue is removed after vandals strike the sign twice within three weeks, first painting "RACISM" in big block letters and then the name of the restaurant where the club meets each month.Each of these events happened in the last three months, demonstrating the growing weight the debate over immigration carries among mountain residents.North Carolina led the nation in the growth of the foreign-born work force between 1990 and 2000, according to the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center.Henderson County, anchored by agriculture and the tourism and service industries, experienced a double-digit percentage increase in the Hispanic population since 2000.As the Hispanic population grows, so does the debate. It crops up in supermarkets and gas stations, restaurant kitchens and farm fields. Even the jargon inspires arguments -- illegal or undocumented?All the while, questions abound, unresolved questions that often pop up at the heart of the debate -- How much are illegal immigrants costing hospitals, schools, prisons, society? How is American society and the nation's economy benefiting?Researchers are starting to take a crack at these questions. But there's one question that remains unresolved. What should the nation do?An answerwith a question markAs the debate rages, researchers are delving into the numbers. Earlier this year, University of North Carolina researchers explored the economic impact the booming Hispanic population carries in the Tar Heel state. Put simply, they delved into the money side of the debate -- the cost, the benefit."Immigrants from Latin America, authorized and unauthorized, are dramatically changing North Carolina's demographic and economic landscape," reported study authors John D. Kasarda and James H. Johnson Jr.The study found North Carolina's rapidly growing Hispanic population contributes more than $9 billion to the state's economy through purchases, taxes and labor. If recent migration trends continue, the total economic impact of Hispanic spending in the state could increase to $18 billion by 2009.On the other hand, the growing population costs the state budget millions of dollars in health care, education and correctional services. Each year, Hispanics contribute about $756 million in taxes, both direct and indirect, to the Tar Heel state. Overall, Hispanics cost the North Carolina budget about $817 million each year. K-12 education racks up the highest price tag, costing $467 million, while health care costs $299 million and corrections $51 million.Take the taxes and subtract the costs, and researchers found the net cost to the state is about $61 million, or $102 per Hispanic resident each year. The study produced no comparable data for other demographic groups.The researchers said the cost must be seen in the broader context of the aggregate benefits Hispanics bring to the state's economy.For example, without Hispanic participation in the construction industry, economic output of this important sector would be much lower and annual labor costs nearly $1 billion higher."Above and beyond their direct and indirect impacts on North Carolina business revenues, Hispanic workers contribute immensely to the state's economic output and cost competitiveness in a number of key industries," they wrote.Among the study's other findings:• Hispanic buying power totaled more than $78 million in Henderson County in 2004, the study found. It reported no specific numbers for Hendersonville, but said Hispanics in the Asheville metropolitan area spent $214.5 million in 2004, creating 2,300 jobs and paying more than $100,000 in state taxes.• North Carolina's Hispanic population totaled 600,913, or 7 percent of the state's total population, in 2004.• Hispanics accounted for 27.5 percent of the state's population growth from 1990 to 2004 and 57 percent of the total enrollment growth in North Carolina Public Schools between the school years of 2000-01 and 2004-05.• Hispanics filled one in three new jobs created in North Carolina between 1995 and 2005, with significant concentrations in the construction industry (29 percent of the labor force).• North Carolina Hispanics' after-tax income totaled an estimated $8.3 billion in 2004. With about 20 percent of that total sent home to Latin America, saved or used for interest payments, the remaining spending had a total economic impact of $9.2 billion on the state. Much of that spending occurs in the major metropolitan areas along the Interstate 40 and Interstate 85 corridor, but it also supports businesses in every part of the state."This is precisely the importance of this document: To provide an overview of the real impact of the Hispanic Population in North Carolina, to attain an objective balance of their contributions and costs of providing social services to them," wrote Luis Ernesto Derbez Bautista, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs for Mexico. "In this way, the debate can shift from the level of emotions and political opinions into the level of plain reality."Even the researchers debateIt could be reality, it could be political opinion. But another argument often popping up in the debate centers around whether immigrants take away jobs from American workers.The Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research organization that does not advocate policy positions, sought to find out.In August, the center released a 56-page study that found big increases in immigration since 1990 have not hurt employment prospects for American workers nationwide.But the study also found the Tar Heel state may be an exception. The study found North Carolina ranked among eight states that had booming growth in the immigrant population and below average employment rates for native workers.The study did not look at whether wages were affected by immigration. Advocates for tighter immigration policies argue that immigrant workers depress wages for American workers, especially those with few skills and little education. Immigration supporters argue that foreign workers often take jobs that Americans don't want and won't take.Steven Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies, said his research shows that many young workers with little education are hurt by competition from immigrants."Employment for less educated natives has declined, and their wages have declined," said Camarota, who advocates stricter immigration policies. "There is no shortage of less educated workers in the United States."It's a difficult topic. And the debate surely won't stop -- even among the experts."Do foreign-born workers displace native-born workers and cause them to leave an area?" wrote Rakesh Kochhar, the study author. "A brief survey of the literature reveals considerable disagreement among researchers on this issue."Important in itself, the answer to this question is also critical for those attempting to measure the effect of immigration on the wages of native-born workers."The debate shows no sign of resolution here, either.Back in the mountains, a Henderson County farmer watches his orchard grow and fears apples will go unpicked because he cannot find enough hired hands after the clamp down on the border.Narcotics officers make a major drug bust. The main suspect an illegal immigrant from Mexico. A local business owner from Mexico watches the news and fears people will label the entire immigrant community criminals because of one man.A politician later points toward the bust as prime evidence illegal immigration spurs crime.A preacher pens a letter to the newspaper reminding readers Jesus Christ was an immigrant. Another taxpayer writes a letter calling for the deportation of illegal immigrants, saying they are costing too much -- too much for hospitals, too much for schools, too much for jails. Legal immigration is fine, another writes, but breaking the law is breaking the law.The stories go on and on.And it seems the debate will, too.Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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