Subsidizing Business

From The Washington Times:

U.S. households headed by illegal aliens used $26.3 billion in government services during 2002 but paid only $16 billion in taxes, an annual cost to taxpayers of $10 billion, says a report issued yesterday by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS).
The report, based on U.S. Census Bureau data, also said if illegal aliens now in the country — estimated at between 8 million and 12 million — received amnesty, paid taxes and used services similar to households headed by legal immigrants, the estimated net deficit would increase from $10 billion to more than $29 billion.
. . .
The report said if the United States is serious about avoiding the fiscal costs of illegal immigration, the “only real option” is to enforce the country’s existing immigration law and reduce the number of illegal aliens in the United States.

I don’t know if these figures are correct or not; let’s assume they are in the ballpark. This means that what we are really doing is providing at least $10 billion dollars in indirect government subsidies to business.
How?
The business community opposes the enforcement of immigration laws because it relies on the continued flow of cheap labor. “Cheap” meaning that the employers don’t pay the aliens a true living wage. So many employees end up drawing public assistance because they don’t earn enough to pay for basic services from their jobs. In other words, the taxpayers foot part of the employer’s true labor costs.
Security issues aside, I guess we can continue to this policy if we want. Just keep remember that when politicians talk about “free markets,” they usually don’t mean truly free markets.