The defenders of illegal immigration are now arguing that ending DACA would cause economic doom. Some reports from CNBC state that ending DACA would cost the economy 200 billion. Still other reports say it will cost 400 billion.

Let me be clear. This is false and using a line of argument that only an economic illiterate would make.

Debunking the Theory

When the defenders of DACA give out the amount of money that the economy will lose they do so by calculating the total amount of wages all the illegals under the Dream act earn and then having that magically disappear from the economy. In what world are these jobs contingent on having illegals? If there were no illegals around these jobs would still need to be done. There is no special skill someone under DACA would have that an American would not and conversely there is no special skill an American would have that these DACA recipients would not have. Except they work for far less than an American would. Which explains why big business is lobbying very hard to keep them around.

The people who make this argument rely on the public being kept in the dark about what type of jobs the DACA illegals hold. There is an idea out there that these jobs are things no American would do at any price which is why we need the DACA illegals to fill them. Apple recently bragged that it had DACA recipients employed in its software division, marketing, and sales. Do those sound like jobs no American is willing to do? Microsoft defiantly said that they would defend their DACA employees in court. Is Microsoft running a plantation somewhere where these illegals are employed in backbreaking labor?

The reality is that there is plenty of available labor to take these jobs. The government may say that we are at full employment but we have one of the lowest labor participation rates ever recorded. There are plenty of people to take the jobs these illegals will vacate.

Going Further

In contrast to the doomsayers I would like to argue that the removal of DACA illegal in the labor pool would actually a benefit to the economy not a drain. The primary reason illegals are hired by corporations is that they are willing to work for less money and benefits. If an American were hired for the job they would have to pay more. Higher wages means that they get to spend more money on the economy and generate even more employment for the community. This is actually the free market working as intended as the only reason price of labor was down is because too much additional labor was introduced.

DACA illegals also have a much higher chance to have relatives abroad that they need to send money to. Every dollar that they send back to Mexico or any other country is another dollar that is taken out of the US economy. Instead of generating jobs and demand in the US economy it generates jobs and demand in another one. If a citizen were to get the job then almost everything would be spent inside the US. Please note that even if you buy goods made by foreign companies it still generates demand and jobs in your local community as those stores need more employees, more delivery people, and a bigger supply chain for the increased demand. These newly employed people then repeat the same cycle of demand.

Lastly it is even I would argue that it is even beneficial for the government to remove the DACA illegals. The current argument is that they pay taxes so their removal would lead to those taxes no longer being paid. Whoever fills their roles would still pay taxes too. Best of all they would no longer be part of those who are too discouraged to look for work and would be off government welfare leading to the government spending less.

To sum everything up. Whether the DACA illegals are there or not the jobs they leave still need to be done. If we hire Americans to do it it is better for the economy as a whole. Those who disagree with this have no right to ask for any minimum wage increases.