Economics Neglected in the Immigration Discussion

Immigration is the hot topic, today (or yesterday. I’m a little slow). I agree with about 85% of the population that something needs to be done. And it needs to be done soon. The status quo of illegals living in our society indefinitely, paying or not paying taxes, abiding by or not abiding by out laws, cannot continue to exist. But to think that we can round them all up and ship them back is unrealistic. The technical challenges with this are huge. Where are they? How do you get them out? How do you prove some of them are illegal? And the logistics are huge, too. Busses, planes, boats? The inefficiency would make this a black hole of funding and would not achieve the end goal of grappling control of a population that is dramatically influencing healthcare, state revenue, crime, etc.

The piece of the immigration argument that never seems to get enough attention is the “jobs Americans won’t do”. It’s been clarified that it is the pay that is too low for Americans. At decade low unemployment levels, there aren’t a lot of people out there looking for these jobs. What is neglected is the immediate rise in price of goods that would stem from raising the price paid to these workers in order to entice them away from Wal-Mart or McDonalds. Jim Bennett touches on it, but his analysis is a long-term look.

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It is pretty clear that the premium to get Americans (or legal immigrants on track to become Americans) to do such jobs isn't all that great; whatever general price rise that accompanies it will probably be offset by reduction in welfare and unemployment expenses for the Americans who go back to work at the slightly higher pay.
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The price of goods will go up immediately. I won’t hold my breath that the “reduction in welfare and unemployment expenses” will trickle back down to me any time soon.

The economic factor is neglected in the discussions about immigration as it is in outsourcing to China. “We’re shipping all of our jobs over seas”. Yeah, but we’re paying $9.99 for a coffee pot. “Shipping Jobs over seas” strikes fear, but it is the macro economic picture that completes the outsourcing and the immigration discussion. One way to stop illegal immigration is to not hire them. Or not to hire a company that employs them. One way to stop outsourcing is to buy American. But the majority of people look at the price tag and decide they’d rather keep a few more dollars in their pocket than pay a little more for the “greater good”.

Jim Bennett article is good and it touches on most of the immigration subjects:

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There is a good deal of sympathy with the idea that Mexicans and others should be welcome to come here, as have other immigrants throughout our history, and join the American community. It's quite another for them to demand that they have a right to do so regardless of the wishes of the citizenry, or that they should not have to learn English or adopt the broad framwork of laws and assumptions that make America. It's not even a matter of assumptions of superiority: there's no implied superiority or moral imperative that, for example, favors driving on the right or the left side of the road, but it is vitally important that everybody keep to the same side. (I am waiting for the multiculturalist argument to the contrary.)
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And Glenn Reynolds also discusses immigration. And he mentions why he thinks this is a hot button issue today.

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A lot of it is anger at Washington: "We pay taxes, they say there's a war on terror, and they can't even secure the border." People don't necessarily expect perfection, but the powers that be don't even seem to be trying. That anger, I suspect, has a lot to do with the sudden interest of politicians in doing something -- or at least looking as if they're doing something -- about the issue.
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UPDATE: I should clarify that I am not in favor of the current immigration situation. And I don't believe in blind amnesty. But the solution is not as simple as "Send them all home"