One of Howard Dean’s primary goals in Congress is to raise the national minimum wage so it is easier for the least skilled workers to feed their families. While the idea sounds appealing, increasing the minimum wage to reduce poverty is an ineffective response. A rise in the minimum wage would only exacerbate the nation’s problems with illegal immigration and outsourcing.

While raising minimum wage may give more money to documented workers, it is important to remember who many of these lowly paid workers are illegal workers. An estimated 11 million people in the United States are violating U.S. law by even being here.

With so many undocumented workers looking for a job, more employers of minimum wage workers will decide they cannot afford to spend so much money on the new higher wages and hire illegal immigrants instead. As a result, this increase would encourage more illegal immigrants to enter the United States with more jobs open to them. After all, if workers from Mexico hear that jobs for them are flowing here, they are more likely to come to the United States. Also, employers may pay illegal immigrants less than minimum wage because they can get away with it. With unbearably low salaries, these workers will rely on government support them, and the minimum wage would fail to meet its purpose.

Employers also have other ways to counteract the rising minimum wage. Factory jobs can be replaced by people who actually live in developing countries. Outsourcing will continue to drive money outside the US. If employers decide to continue hiring legal workers, they will simply pass the cost of higher wages onto consumers. These consumers will choose to buy the cheaper product, forcing companies that are abiding by U.S. law and not hiring illegal workers to go out of business.

Every American wants to reduce poverty, but we must rethink whether or not raising minimum wage will combat this issue. Minimum wage is a necessity in our economy, but it so far is unsuccessful in giving workers livable wages. But now is not the time to raise it.