There are a great many tall tales circulating these days in association with illegal immigration. Possibly one of the most prevalent claims from the political left is that western economies "need illegals" in order to support the dragging economy and fill a hungry labor market. An extension of this idea is that many of these migrants are "skilled workers" that the west desperately needs for vital roles.
But how much do the US and Europe really need illegal immigrants in order to keep western economies going? And how many of them actually bring important skills to western labor markets? Would they be sunk without these people? Or, would they be much better off?
First and foremost it should be noted that in the US there is ample evidence to show that the Biden Administration has been engaging in statistical manipulation for the last four years, and this includes labor statistics. While there was indeed a clear shortage of workers in the service sector during covid lockdowns (and the helicopter money supplied by covid stimulus and PPP loans), recent revisions to BLS numbers have cut at least 819,000 jobs from the books that Biden originally took credit for. In other words, those jobs never existed.
It was these same jobs numbers that were used by the Democrats to argue in favor of open borders; asserting that without illegals this explosion in labor demand would turn into a worker shortage crisis. While specific job sector stats (job categories) don't usually distinguish between legal and illegal migrants, there is little evidence to indicate they fill an important role in our society.
In America, migrants flood into the low-skill service sector and health services sector. In many cases this involves entry level nursing home care and similar employment. The other category in which they usually work is construction. They offer cheap labor for home building, but this has certainly not translated to lower housing costs.
In the meantime, tens-of-millions illegal migrants drive up housing demand, in turn driving up prices on new homes and rentals. Migrants are given access to government subsidies as long as they are under review for asylum or refugee status, in many cases they are offered more access to government aid than natural born citizens. Both California and Oregon are currently instituting housing loan programs available to immigrants only.
Census SIPP data from 2022 indicates that around 59% of non-citizen households in the US use one or more welfare programs, compared to 39% of US-born households. The establishment media and Democrats will often try to dilute welfare stats by citing legal migrant numbers instead of illegal migrant numbers.
Around 47% of illegal migrants to the US never completed high school (as opposed to 8% of US-born citizens).
It is estimated that illegals cost US taxpayers at least $150 billion in public services (officially) each year while paying only $25 billion in taxes. While some economists cite a potential $324 billion in GDP gain from migrant workers, this almost all comes from wages which illegals send to their families outside the US.
In the UK, migrant data is rarely tracked by the government, ostensibly because they want to keep the indigenous public in the dark as much as possible. However it is clear that, just like in the US, migrants (specifically from third-world nations) do not bring skilled labor to the table. UK migrants overwhelmingly work in the service and health sectors, once again in low-level nursing jobs, elderly facilities, some work in tech and the rest do not work at all.
The UK estimates that at least 1.7 million migrants are unemployed while on the dole, and they are costing taxpayers upwards of £8.5 Billion ($11 billion) annually.
In Germany, welfare costs skyrocketed in 2024 and reports show 47% of recipients for government handouts are migrants. The total cost of $49 billion is 14.8 percent higher than in 2023, 18.4 percent higher compared to 2020, and 23 percent higher compared to 2015. In the EU migrants from Africa and Asia are once again greatly overrepresented in health services.
The point is, the notion of "skilled migrant workers" saving western economies with their vital labors is a complete fabrication. Illegal migrants in particular are a net negative and a dangerous strain on the welfare system. They also drive up housing costs by creating mass demand with not enough supply, and this same demand drives up inflation in almost every other area of the economy. The roles they do fill can be easily adapted without them by offering minor subsidies or tax benefits for American citizens.
Like most countries in the world today, the US and European nations should be vetting migrants and only accepting those that bring value to the table along with a willingness to assimilate. Otherwise, they serve no useful purpose.
