The presence of undocumented workers in the U.S. workforce is a complex issue with no easy answers. On one hand, these individuals contribute significantly to various industries across the country, filling essential roles and helping drive the economy. On the other hand, their presence raises concerns about legal compliance, fair labor practices, and the strain on public resources.
As Columbia workers’ compensation attorneys, we at Smith, Born, Leventis, Taylor & Vega recognize the importance of this ongoing debate. That’s why we decided to make it the focus of our annual college scholarship essay contest, asking students to grapple with the question:
Should undocumented employees be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits despite their immigration status?
We received nearly 200 thoughtful essays from students across the country, each offering unique perspectives and insights. After careful deliberation, we’re pleased to announce the winner of our scholarship: Kazuaki Hatano from Folsom Lake College in California.
Kazuaki’s essay stood out for its depth of research, nuanced analysis, and compelling arguments. We’re excited to share his essay with you and hope it helps foster continued conversation around this important topic.
Here’s his winning essay:
Should we have workers compensation for undocumented workers?
Undocumented immigrants have always posed a challenge for the United States in terms of financially and socially, especially workers compensation. Workers compensation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “is a key part of social insurance in the United States, providing medical care, rehabilitation, and cash benefits for workers who are injured on the job or who contract work-related illnesses and is mandatory in most states”. This is guaranteed for any immigrant and legal citizen in the United States but this is not guaranteed for undocumented immigrants, due to their workers compensation. Most states allow it but there have been a few states, such as Montana and Georgia, that have proposed legislation to remove workers compensation altogether for illegal immigrants. The big question becomes, should we have workers compensation for undocumented workers?
One of the bigger benefits that having worker’s compensation have is to protect a labor force of undocumented workers that work in the most demanding industries, such as agriculture and construction. According to an article titled A Majority of Americans say immigrants mostly fill in jobs U.S. Citizens do not by the Pew Research Center, “77 percent of Americans say that immigrants, including undocumented workers, work in jobs that regular U.S. citizens would not work such as construction (with 1.3 million undocumented workers) and the food sector, (with 750,000 undocumented workers), which are both very dangerous jobs”. As a result, this creates labor shortages in essential jobs. An example of a labor shortage is in the construction industry, according to the Associated Builders and Contractors, or ABC, “the construction industry in 2023 needed to hire more than 500,000 construction workers in order to meet the ongoing demand of construction of new buildings”. With scarcity in essential workers rising and the dangers of working in industries such as construction, it is only more imperative that we provide workers compensation for undocumented immigrants. Since a good percentage of undocumented workers work in essential jobs, protecting those undocumented workers in those essential jobs will only become more imperative for our economy to thrive.
One of the downsides to having workers compensation for undocumented workers is that undocumented immigrants already cause a massive fiscal drain into the United States, meaning that they receive much more taxpayer money than contributing their pay to taxes. According to an article, The Cost of illegal immigration To Taxpayers, by the House Judiciary Committee Republicans, “the lifetime fiscal drain (taxes paid minus costs) for each illegal immigrant is about $68,000”. This means that undocumented workers are receiving much more taxpayer money than they are contributing to paying their taxes, making them a fiscal drain for the United States. Another study provided by the Center of Immigration Studies said that “the total fiscal drain for the entire illegal population is estimated at 746 billion dollars” (Steven A. Camarota). With undocumented workers already having a massive impact on taxpayer money, providing undocumented workers workers compensation would only lead to a higher fiscal drain dedicated to undocumented workers.
Another downside to providing workers compensation for undocumented workers is it would not be fair to those immigrants that came to the United States legally and received the same benefit, even though legal immigrants had to pay money to receive the benefits of being a U.S. citizen. According to an article titled The Cost of US Citizenship is about to Rise by Lauren Villagran from USA Today, “The naturalization application form, called an N-400, now costs $640 when filing a paper application or $725 including the fingerprint fee, called “biometrics.” Immigrants that immigrate to the United States legally have to pay a pretty substantial amount of money, especially if they are poor, to become a U.S. citizen. To give those benefits, such as workers compensation, to undocumented workers may seem unfair to those legal immigrants that completed the immigration process and received the benefits, without actually paying money to become a citizen. Should we really have undocumented workers receive workers compensation, when they haven’t even gone through the immigration process like many legal immigrants had to do in order to become a full citizen?
Immigration will always pose a challenge for the United States. After all, we are the American Dream, where immigrants all around the world come to the United States in order to create a successful life for their families. But what about illegal immigrants that come to this country? Should their path to success become halted because they don’t have citizenship? Providing workers compensation can be one of the pillars for an opportunity for illegal immigrants to succeed. Without having workers compensation for illegal immigrants means that we could be cutting out a decent portion of essential workers that provide for our country, which could have devastating consequences without the presence of undocumented workers in essential jobs. It also prompts something that many of us Americans feel, which is that if you work hard in the United States, you should be able to be rewarded, which is what undocumented workers are literally doing. However, every upside always has a downside, and providing undocumented workers with workers compensation can mean that we could drain our fiscal budget even more to pay for the undocumented worker community and it can be unfair to those immigrants that did immigrate here legally, considering how expensive acquiring a U.S. citizenship can be. The United States will continue to face problems but the first step in creating a great country is to have conversations such as workers compensation for undocumented workers, to really come to terms the best solution is.
Works Cited
Camarota, Steven A. “Deportation vs. the Cost of Letting Illegal Immigrants Stay.” Center for Immigration Studies, 3 August 2017, https://cis.org/Report/Deportation-vs-Cost-Letting-Illegal-Immigrants-Stay. Accessed 26 March 2024.
“The Cost of Illegal Immigration to Taxpayers.” House Judiciary Committee, 11 January 2024, https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/camarota-testimony.pdf. Accessed 26 March 2024.
“How Much Does An Immigration Lawyer Cost in California? (2024).” U.S. Law Center, 16 January 2023, https://www.uslawcenteronline.com/blog/how-much-does-an-immigration-lawyer-cost-in-california/. Accessed 22 March 2024.
“A majority of Americans say immigrants mostly fill jobs U.S. citizens do not want.” Pew Research Center, 10 June 2020, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/06/10/a-majority-of-americans-say-immigrants-mostly-fill-jobs-u-s-citizens-do-not-want/. Accessed 22 March 2024.
“News Releases | ABC: 2024 Construction Workforce Shortage Tops Half a Million.” Associated Builders and Contractors, 31 January 2024, https://www.abc.org/News-Media/News-Releases/abc-2024-construction-workforce-shortage-tops-half-a-million. Accessed 26 March 2024.
“Removing workers’ compensation costs from the National Compensation Survey : Monthly Labor Review: U.S.” Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2023/article/removing-workers-compensation-costs-from-the-national-compensation-survey.htm. Accessed 22 March 2024.
“The US citizenship application fee is increasing: What to know.” USA Today, 19 February 2024, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/02/19/us-citizenship-application-fee-increase/72578216007/. Accessed 26 March 2024.
About this year’s winner
Kazuaki Hatano is a first-year student at Folsom Lake College pursuing an environmental engineering degree. Currently, his goal is to get experience in the industry working with water treatment before going into teaching. During his free time, you can find him enjoying beautiful hikes around California, going on runs, working out, spending time with friends, playing chess, and relaxing.
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