By Marshall King, Truth Staff
During a time of economic growth, Hispanic workers filled jobs in Elkhart County.
If the economy would slow significantly, or if Congress opted to try to deport large numbers of illegal immigrants, what would happen?
"That's a huge question and one I don't think our community wants to find out," said Mike Yoder, Elkhart County commissioner.
Some in the community have called for immigrants to go back to their native countries south of the United States border. Yoder gets those calls and reads them in the newspaper.
Those with a view on economics say not so fast.
"I think the immigrant work force is quite beneficial to our state and to Elkhart County in particular," said Morton Marcus, an economist formerly with the Indiana University School of Business.
Immigrants have filled jobs in construction trades and the service sector. Some say they're taking jobs. Marcus doesn't think so.
Yoder doesn't either.
"The big question nobody can answer for me is, do we have a surplus or shortage of low-skilled laborers in the United States," he said, adding that he suspects there aren't enough U.S. citizens to fill the country's jobs.
The assertion that the immigrant work force keeps wages down probably is true, he said. Without immigrants, employers would be forced to pay higher wages to attract workers or move elsewhere to find lower-wage workers.
The jobs Hispanics fill support other higher-paying jobs in the community, said David Daugherty, president of the Goshen Chamber of Commerce.
Marcus doesn't think this is any different than other waves of immigration. The flow of human populations across borders has been going on for thousands of years. In this country, Irish, Eastern European and Mediterranean natives came to the United States to work.
"There is nothing new in this at all," he said.
Daugherty and elected officials have struggled with how to deal with the number of Hispanics here illegally.
Many of them work hard. They do help the economy, he said.
"You always get back to the point -- if you're here illegally, you're here illegally. You always get back to the issue," he said.
The question of reform becomes one of whether immigrants could earn rights or should be forced to respect the law.
Daugherty isn't sure the area's economic growth could have happened without the immigrant work force.
"They filled jobs that were there and needed to be filled," he said.
But there's a financial and social cost to having people here without legal documents, he said. Tax dollars are used to educate children of immigrants. A lack of insurance and driver's licenses impacts health care and insurance costs.
Other than education costs, Yoder doesn't think there's much difference in government costs to help a low-skilled worker who's here legally and one who isn't. He wants the county to figure out how to attract more higher-paying jobs.
He has spoken out about Hispanics and taxes. Some claim higher exemptions to avoid having more money withheld. Anyone, not just Hispanics, can do that, he said.
The biggest issue is that most residents without legal status don't file tax returns and the state government returns money to counties based on those.
"We know for certain there are income tax dollars from Elkhart County sitting down in Indianapolis," Yoder said.
It could total $2 million to $4 million a year, and he's working with state legislators to encourage changing the system so the county can get the money back.
Yoder doesn't believe deporting all the illegal residents is the answer to the larger issue.
"There has to be some sort of pragmatic solution to this and shipping everybody off to Mexico is not the solution because that would really hurt our economy," he said.
He has an idea.
The federal government should look at the number of workers Elkhart County would need and issue work visas to immigrants to fill those jobs. Then they could be here legally and get driver's licenses and insurance.
"The demand on our government infrastructure would start to decrease a little bit," he said.
Marcus has an idea for a solution too.
"I think Congress should basically withdraw from much of the efforts we have to hunt out and send illegal immigrants away and ask what we can do to provide better education, better health care for this population," he said.
That's not likely to happen on any large scale and he knows it. But he maintains it would have economic benefit.
"The benefits far exceed the costs. The problem is that these are strangers and we're not very welcoming to strangers. In Indiana, we're even less welcoming to strangers," Marcus said, adding, "I say you're not a Hoosier until you buy a gravesite and use it."