So what then?

After reading this article about the impact of illegal immigrants on the economy of the US, I am confused as to why politicians still use the old "they take our jobs and drain government spending!" as their primary reason for wanting illegals out. Well, if the overall impact of illegals on the average American is that they increase our total wealth by slightly less than 1%, wtf? Could this be a socially acceptable way for old white politicians to express their racist views, but be deemed patriots and real Americans instead of bigots and xenophobes?