BYU NewsNet - Illegal immigrants pitch in to United States economy

Orlando Priedo wakes up every morning, kisses his wife goodbye and drives his car to the health clinic where he works as a chef.

At least once a week, he stops to buy gas. After dropping their four kids off at school, Alejandra Priedo usually spends the day running errands.

She gets groceries at the local supermarket, does a couple loads of laundry at the laundromat down the street and pays the rent with Orlando’s fully taxed paycheck.

Some say this typical lower-income family is a valuable cog in the state economy, but a lot of people in Utah want them to leave.

That’s because they are illegal immigrants.

“We’re just trying to do our best,” said Alejandra, a native of Argentina. “We didn’t come here to rob anybody or take anything from anyone, but we’re still treated like criminals.”

For years, the nationwide immigration debate has focused largely on the economic impact of illegal immigrants. Now, as Senate Bill 81 — scheduled to go into effect July 1 — threatens to make it easier for law enforcement officials to deport illegal immigrants from Utah, the question has risen again: Does the presence of undocumented workers help or hinder the state economy?

Between 50 and 75 percent of illegal immigrants pay federal, state and local taxes, according to research reviewed by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The New York Times reported in 2005 that illegal immigrants paid more than $7 billion into the Social Security fund — benefits to which they are not entitled.

Opponents of illegal immigration argue that state and local governments lose money in providing public services like education and healthcare to illegal immigrants. A report issued by the Congressional Budget Office in 2007 supported that argument, though it found that the losses incurred are likely modest considering the amount of taxes paid by immigrants.

In Utah, the government spent more than $76 million to educate undocumented students in 2004, and an additional $107 million to educate U.S.-born children of undocumented parents, according to a report issued by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, an organization known for its anti-immigration stance.

However, Tony Yapias, a Latino community activist in Salt Lake City, said it would severely damage the state’s economy if the estimated 40,000 illegal immigrants in Utah were to leave.

“Latinos are doing the jobs that nobody else wants to do,” Yapias said. “It would have a huge impact if all those immigrants left the state.”

Yapias also said that in the current recession, businesses need employees who will do minimum wage jobs rather than live off welfare checks.

“I have a lot of (U.S.-born) friends who would prefer to get an unemployment check rather than work,” Yapias said. “They say, ‘I’m on vacation’ and they’re not really running to the low-paying jobs immigrants do.”

According to the Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, labor isn’t the only area of the state’s economy that would take a hit if immigrants left. The organization estimates illegal immigrants bring $2 billion of revenue to Utah every year.

After all, immigrants don’t only make money in Utah — they spend it here, too.

At the Albertson’s grocery store on Center Street in Provo, managers estimate that up to 25 percent of their clientele is Hispanic. Everett Tenney, the store’s grocery manager, said there is no way of knowing how many of their customers are illegal immigrants, but he said the considerable Hispanic population they serve has influenced their business model.

“It’s enough to where our corporate supervisors have allowed us to mold our store to fit the market we’re in,” Tenney said.

The produce section, for example, carries about triple the amount of peppers a normal store would carry. There is almost an entire aisle of authentic Mexican brand beans and rice, and even a four-foot section to display religious candles popular in Central and South America.

To serve Hispanic customers, Tenney said the store takes advantage of the returned missionaries in the area and employs several fluent Spanish speakers.

The bottom line, Tenney said, is that the business model depends on Provo’s Hispanic community.

“If a quarter of our customers up and disappeared into thin air then that would affect our business quite a bit,” he said.