The Real Issues Behind The Immigration Problem

The current immigration debate focuses on undocumented people themselves rather than on what causes them to risk well-being and even life to come here illegally. That debate blames the victim rather that trying to solve the cause of unlawful immigration.

Ronald Bailey, in a recent article for Reason magazine, uses World Bank studies to suggest more realistic alternatives to mitigating illegal immigration than unworkable proposals like walling off the border and mass deportations. He is on to something.

People come to the United States out of economic necessity. That necessity is heightened by the fact that a worker in this country, according to the World Bank, has access to over $418,000 in intangible wealth to make a living, while the stay-at-home Mexican has just $34,500 in accessible intangible wealth.

What is intangible wealth, and how is it measured? And what does it mean for poor people who immigrate? Tangible wealth includes nonrenewable resources (oil, natural gas, coal, and minerals), cropland, machinery, equipment, structures (including infrastructure), and urban land. However, that alone does not account for a country