The Financier, Illegal Immigrants and the Economy

If you have not read a front-page story in the March 19 Wall Street Journal titled “Boston Financier Steps In to Bail Out Illegal Immigrants,” please do so. It is by far one of the most interesting stories I have read, and it neatly sums up the issues at hand on the controversial topic of immigration.

The article opens:

One frigid March morning last year, federal agents raided a factory in this old whaling town, arresting hundreds of illegal immigrants as they sewed vests and backpacks for U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Most were shackled and sent to a detention center in Texas, where they faced rapid deportation unless they could post thousands of dollars in bail -- money they didn't have -- to buy time to mount a defense.

Then, a mystery benefactor appeared. The anonymous donor ponied up more than $200,000 to spring 40 people from detention.

The payments, which until now haven't become public despite extensive news coverage of the raid itself, came from Bob Hildreth, a Boston financier who made his millions trading Latin American debt. He was "infuriated" at the televised images of workers being shipped to Texas, he says. Helping them make bail is "payback."

Hildreth called the raid and the breaking up of families “un-American.” In contrast, a local talk radio host Ken Pittman, who is strongly against illegal immigration, was quoted: “I would ask him [Hildreth] to show the same compassion for American workers displaced by these illegal aliens.” As for the factory’s owner at the time, he was arraigned in federal court, and the plant now has a new owner.

What to make of all of this? First, Mr. Pittman doesn’t get the economics of immigration. Immigrants – both legal and illegal – overwhelmingly compliment the native-born workforce. That means that immigrants aren’t taking jobs, but instead are doing jobs not done by those born in this nation. They are responding to market forces. In turn, they are boosting businesses, consumers and the economy.

Second, while no one endorses illegal activity, this scenario clearly spells out the continuing need for comprehensive immigration reform that not only beefs up border protections for national security purposes, but also recognizes economic reality, why people come to this nation and why we need them to come. That means legal avenues for immigration must be expanded, and a path must be opened to legalization for those in the nation illegally but who otherwise are contributing to our economy and society.

The idea that only cracking down at the border will “solve” our illegal immigration problem is just plain dumb, as it ignores economic reality. True respect for law means fixing laws that don’t work. That’s the case with many taxes and regulations, for example, and is the case with immigration.