A Most Debated Issue

"Cheap immigrant labor displaces American workers and cheats the taxpaying public in a variety of ways."

-- Donald Huddle, professor of economics, Rice University

"Cheap immigrant labor has a posi tive impact on the American economy and actually creates jobs in some minority neighborhoods."

-- Sidney Weintraub, professor of international affairs, University of Texas

Those colliding statements, both from Southwestern scholars in the field of immigration studies, reflect the controversy that surrounds a seemingly straightforward but highly emotional question: Does the inflow of illegal foreign labor help or hurt the U.S. economy?

About the only thing the experts agree on is...