In light of the changing makeup of America's workforce, unions have taken different positions regarding the unionization of immigrants, especially those who are illegal.  Union leaders supporting President Bush's guest-worker program say it would give immigrants the rights and protection that they deserve.  [5]  Meanwhile, opponents argue the program will merely continue to exploit the workers, subjecting them to deportation when the work contract expires.  [6]  Additionally, there is the question of how the government will be able to process the sudden influx of paperwork that will accompany the guest workers.  [7]  The logistics of the guest-worker program elicit a fair share of debate.  However, suppose the guest-worker program is approved by Congress and formerly illegal immigrants are now able to organize, what will be the effect on the economy and labor unions?

Currently, illegal immigrants create an economic deficit because their income is so low that they do not pay enough taxes to offset the costs they impose on the federal government.  [8]  These costs include Medicaid, treatment for the uninsured, food assistance programs, federal prison and court systems, and federal aid to schools.  [9]  If illegal immigrants are given legal status, average tax payments would increase by 77 percent while costs on the federal government would increase by 118 percent.  [10]  Costs increase because legalized immigrants would now be able to access a full range of government programs while tax payments would stay at the same level as before the immigrants were given legal status.  [11]

An increase in the economic deficit is an unexpected result of granting legal status to illegal status; this is where labor unions can help.  Labor unions are in need of a boost in membership and many are looking to immigrants.  Union workers on average earn about 16 percent more than non-union workers.  [12]  Unionizing would present a win-win situation for both the unions and immigrants.  By boosting membership, unions can remain politically visible and socially relevant.  For the immigrants, unionization would increase their earning power and provide them with better work conditions.  Additionally, the increase in wages would correspond to an increase in tax revenues which would undercut some of the economic deficit.

III. Conclusion

Immigration reform will remain a hot button issue in America for years to come and there is certainly no easy solution to the problem.  As politicians continue to debate the merits of the guest-worker program and other measures of immigration reform, union membership will continue to dwindle and the economic deficit will continue to grow. 

[1] U. S. Department of Labor, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm (last visited February 3, 2007).

[2] Id.

[3] Krissah Williams, Unions Split on Immigrant Workers, Washington Post, January 27, 2007, available at 2007 WLNR 1640776.

[4] Devona Walker, Unions Want to Bring Illegal Immigrants Into Fold, HeraldTribune, July 19, 2006, http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006607190541.

[5] William, supra, note 3.

[6] Id.

[7] Michelle Malkin, Guest-Worker Plan Will be Disaster, The Press of Atlantic City, A9, January 26, 2007, available at 2007 WLNR 1618349.

[8] Steven Camarota, The High Cost of Cheap Labor:  Illegal Immigration and the Federal Budget, Center for Immigration Studies, August 2004, http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html.

[9] Id.

[10] Id.

[11] Id.

[12] Walker, supra, note 4.