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Raise minimum wage to check illegal immigration

BY DANIEL J.B. MITCHELL

The issue of illegal immigration blows hot and cold in American politics. Right now, the issue is hot. Various proposals have caused a congressional deadlock. Some are pushing for a wall along the Mexican border and other tough enforcement measures. Others want some form of amnesty with more enforcement of the approach adopted in the mid-1980s: control at the level of business hiring and employment. Let’s call these two opposing positions Plan A and Plan B.

Opponents of Plan A say that walls are not effective. But that depends on what kind of wall. The Berlin Wall was very effective. The Maginot line on the French-German border forced the Germans in World War II to invade France through Belgium. Such walls would cost billions to construct and police.

Plan B is essentially a repeat of what was tried in the 1980s. It has a fatal flaw. Businesses can be asked to scrutinize documents such as birth certificates and green cards before hiring. But counterfeits of such documents are readily available. In the end, we were unwilling to hold businesses accountable for determining which documents are genuine.

Nor were we willing to produce a difficult-to-fake national ID card. The issues go beyond civil liberties concerns, which are real enough. A truly difficult-to-counterfeit card, presumably some kind of electronic card with personal information embedded in it, would cost billions to manufacture, distribute, and administer.

There are about 150 million people in the U.S. labor force. Several more million look for work. We would have to deliver cards to all of them, carefully verifying they are who they say they are. If we mistakenly give cards to illegals based on phony papers, it would be the ultimate amnesty program.

So is there a viable Plan C that won’t cost vast sums and raise civil liberties concerns? Opponents say illegal immigration depresses wages, particularly at the low end of the labor market. So let’s raise the minimum wage — federal and state — to a level that would be consistent with whatever legal immigration we would like to see. Then let’s enforce that wage and collateral labor standards such as provision of workers’ comp, adherence to workplace safety standards, etc.

Would this policy reduce the number of jobs available? Presumably, it would — but that is what opponents of illegal immigration want. Hamburger flipping, car washing, hotel bed-making, apparel production and strawberry picking would cost more, absent the illegals. With fewer jobs to offer, the attraction to enter the U.S. illegally would diminish. In California at least, both the Democratic Legislature and the Republican governor are pushing for a minimum wage increase, although they can’t agree on the details.

Is Plan C perfect? No. But we are not going to adopt either Plan A or B in a meaningful way. So it’s either Plan C — or we can just leave the issue alone.