There seems to be a common belief that businesses, particularly small businesses, benefit from illegal immigration and therefore want to see the government turn the other way.
A new survey released by NFIB seems to prove this is not the case.
More than 90 percent of NFIB small-business owners surveyed believe illegal immigration is a problem. Seventy percent rank it as a "very serious" or "serious" problem, and 86 percent say it should have a "very high" or "high" priority for Congress and the Bush administration.
While a few small businesses may gain some economic benefit from hiring illegals, clearly the vast majority of entrepreneurs care deeply about this issue and want to see it addressed in a real and meaningful way. This concern stems from issues that go well beyond their business interests.
According to the small-business owners surveyed, 47 percent said the single most important reason illegal immigration constitutes a problem is the cost of illegal immigrants to taxpayers. Other reasons receiving significant support were national security and threat of terrorism (23 percent), disrespect for the law (13 percent), and job loss/depressed wages for Americans (10 percent).
