By Karl-Erik Stromsta

True or false: 1. Illegal immigrants take jobs from native workers, 2. drive down wages, and 3. impose a heavy cost on society.

The answer to this question is, unfortunately, highly nuanced. More specifically, the answer is sometimes, sometimes and sometimes.

There is no doubt that to some segments of native-born U.S. workers, illegal immigrants are pure competition when it comes to finding jobs. The economic platitude that “immigrants take jobs no American would do” – expressed recently even by Mexican President Vicente Fox – is only partly true. Many Americans still wait tables, wash dishes and lay bricks for a living. More than 80 percent of the jobs in the farming, cleaning, construction and food preparation sectors are held by native-born Americans. At the same time, there are many sectors in which there is lots of room for more immigrant workers. Last year $1 billion worth of lettuce went unpicked in Arizona because farmers could marshal a big enough workforce. Moreover, illegal immigrants often fill jobs that would otherwise be outsourced. For example, without immigrants filling the ranks of the U.S. garment industry Americans would undoubtedly be importing even more clothing and textiles from countries like China.

In terms of real wages, many experts have long held that illegal immigration acts as a zero-sum game: Their presence is economically fortuitous for some Americans and undeniably bad for others. Several recent studies have demonstrated that one segment of workers – again, the lowest-paid, lowest-skilled Americans – find their wages depressed across the board by illegal immigrants. (The decrease is 5 percent in one study, 7.2 percent in the other.) But if you consider that illegal immigrants drive down the cost of many goods and services, their true impact on the spending power of Americans is opaque.

The question of whether or not illegal immigrants impose a “heavy cost on society” is by definition vague and difficult to answer authoritatively. Illegal immigration produces a net fiscal deficit for many states and communities, including California. But there is a net economic benefit for the country as a whole, to the tune of $20 billion a year, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. In other words, the presence of illegal immigrants is a boon for some (factory owners and the federal government), while others (like low-skilled American workers and some state governments) lose money.

Healthcare is one of the hardest hit – and most controversial – areas. Businesses that hire illegals tend not to offer health insurance, and illegal immigrants don’t qualify for most government programs. So when they become sick or injured they take the only route available to them, and head to the nearest emergency room. Hospitals are required by federal law to provide emergency care regardless of patients’ visa status or ability to pay, and thus there is a net drain in healthcare resources ($2.5 billion a year, according to Census Bureau data). Prisons and schools are also foundering under their weight.

At the same time, other governmental programs actually benefit from the presence of illegal immigrants – particularly Social Security and Medicare. Because most immigrants are young and able to work (and thus pay taxes), they pour far more into these programs than they will likely ever get out.

Ultimately, the true cost-benefit ratio behind illegal immigration is so complex that determining it is nearly impossible. But one thing is certain: Not determining it will prove most costly of all.