Many children of illegal immigrants will start elementary school with poor English skills. That forces teachers to work harder and places an undue burden on schools that are already overcrowded. But those Mexican and Guatemalan schoolchildren will learn to speak English quickly, because language skills are more easily acquired in youth. (The relative youth of illegal immigrants also helps the United States solve a demographic problem: As the U.S. birthrate falls, we are aging as a nation. We need a steady supply of younger workers.)
At the very bottom of the wage scale, illegal immigrants probably take a few jobs away from uneducated and marginalized American laborers. But the effect is minimal, according to researchers. The most comprehensive analysis has found that illegal immigration depresses wages no more than 50 cents to 60 cents an hour - hardly a figure that makes or breaks a budget.
Those subtleties were drowned out by the Know-Nothing demagoguery that dominated the Republican presidential campaign. But with the GOP race largely settled - and with Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton conscientiously courting Latino voters - the rhetoric will likely moderate. That's because voters didn't fall for the scapegoating premise of Tancredoism. It was a bad product, and few voters bought it.
