Illegal immigrants are entitled to a variety of benefits as well, including a K-12 education and emergency medical care. The undocumented parents of citizen-children currently constitute one of every seven recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children in Los Angeles County. In light of this, Gov. Wilson's citizenship proposal suddenly seems less radical. But there is no need for grave concern. For every statistic suggesting that immigrants gorge at the public trough, Muller can cite several others that suggest the reverse.
Studies based on New York City, for instance, reveal few worries about immigrant costs.
New York City, for example, would have lost 1.5 million residents in the 1970s if immigrants had not arrived to cut the loss nearly in half. During the 1980s, the city officially gained just over 250,000 residents, thanks largely to more than 850,000 legal immigrants who settled there. Fewer people means lower tax receipts, more abandoned schools and housing, and a crumbling infrastructure. Without fresh injections of immigration, New York might have gone the way of Detroit and become a desolate and dangerous urban core surrounded by suburban expatriates. New York certainly has its share of problems today, but it is still a livable city.