There are few issues as polarizing today as the issue of what to do about the estimated 11 million people who live in the United States without authorization. The current administration has made its position very clear; it believes extreme enforcement and mass deportations are the best way to handle this issue. But let us take a minute to consider the effects of such an approach.

First, we all depend on government services in one way or another which are provided by taxes. We pay all kinds of taxes to various levels of government, and so do immigrants, undocumented or not. Many people present in our country without authorization do indeed pay state and federal income taxes (research indicates they pay a higher effective tax rate than most U.S. citizens) and everyone pays local and state sales taxes, property taxes, excise taxes and so forth.

Eliminating 11 million people’s tax contributions will have an impact on the way governments at all levels provide services. In La Plata County, we could lose as much as 10 percent of our population to extreme immigration enforcement, putting a very unwelcome burden on local governments that are already struggling to maintain services in light of decreasing revenues. Not to mention leaving local businesses without employees, and in some cases, managers and even owners. Our local restaurants and hotels (engines of our local tourism-based economy) would take a huge hit, as would the construction sector, but we would feel the effects in every part of the economy.

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