Local Professionals Bring Experience, Perspective to Immigration Debate

By Caroline Stauffer

The Minority Political Leadership Institute, a Richmond-based organization promoting leadership on issues relevant to minority and underserved communities, featured a panel on immigration during a conference at Norfolk State University last Saturday.  Panelists representing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), an immigration-focused legal practice and an economic think tank shared their knowledge and experience. 

Michael Cassidy, Executive Director of the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis and co-author of the Institute's "Fiscal Facts: Tax Contributions of Virginia's Undocumented immigrants," countered the notion that illegal immigrants are an economic burden to the state.  He believes that Virginia's undocumented population, which the Pew Hispanic Center estimates to be between 250,000 and 300,000, in fact contributes a significant monetary sum to the Commonwealth. 

The Institute's report concludes that Virginia's undocumented population pays between $145 million and $174 million in income, sales and property taxes.  "When you are a low-income worker, you spend your money on basic necessities . you don't save it," Cassidy said. "Undocumented immigrants are paying sales taxes.  When they rent apartments, they pay property taxes."

Furthermore, the Institute determined that 50 percent of the state's undocumented population is working "on the books," and that between $114 million and $137 million of their collective income is withheld for Social Security and Medicare.  Cassidy believes the report's statistic on the number of undocumented workers "on the books," is conservative, noting that the chief actuary with the Social Security Administration believes the number is closer to 75 percent nationwide.  

To Cassidy, the proposal requiring the children of Virginia's undocumented immigrants to pay out-of-state tuition at in-state colleges and universities is "quite short-sighted".  "The only rights illegal immigrants in this country have are a K-12 education and emergency medical care," he said.  "Why shut the door on them after K-12 and deny them the opportunity to earn what amounts to an average $1 million more in a lifetime?" 

Radlyn Mendoza has been practicing immigration law for 10 years.  Speaking to the group, she countered the commonly held belief that immigrant laborers are taking jobs from Americans.  Employers are required to advertise jobs to Americans citizens before hiring immigrants, she said.  Mendoza also said the notion that immigrant laborers are working for lower salaries than what American laborers are willing to work for is simply untrue because employers are legally bound to offer the prevailing salary.

In her experience, the bottom line is that employers simply cannot find qualified American workers for hard labor jobs, such as quarry work and dry walling.  We aren't training American young people to do these jobs," she said.  "There is a purpose for lawful immigration." 

Tony Bryson, director of the Norfolk Sub Office of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, emphasized that naturalization "is the best thing we do."  He offered information on the benefits of citizenship as well as tips for those in the process of obtaining citizenship, information that is also available on the USCIS Web site.  Some benefits of citizenship include the rights to vote, receive a passport, run for office, work for the U.S. government, and upgrade the status of family members' visas. 

He stressed that those in the process of becoming citizens must watch out for consultant fraud and high fees.   Mendoza agreed that there are many people taking advantage of immigrants through fraud. 

Bryson stressed that the type of immigration USCIS supports is legal immigration.  "We are for legal immigration -- giving benefits to the right people," he said.  He acknowledged that the system is not perfect.  "There will have to be some type of reform," he said, noting the likelihood that change will occur during the next presidency.   

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