Letter to the Editor: Bush Immigration Plan Meets GOP Opposition

My pen will not be deterred by editors refusing to furnish my words with their deserved platform! Here is one sent to the Washington Post:

There seems to be one reality overlooked by everyone involved in the debate over immigration reform (Bush Immigration Plan Meets GOP Opposition, 1/2/5): legalizing people currently working in America illegally will add substantially to the cost of employing them. Many proponents assert, as Fletcher notes, that these people do work legal residents are not willing to do, and this may be true, but also true is that employers spend far less on undocumented employees. Beyond lower wages are savings on payroll taxes (including social security) and benefits that will be necessary expenditures when the workers are legal. Any legitimate discussion of solutions to this enduring issue must take into account these costs or be deemed irrelevant.