Illegal at any cost
The politicizing of illegal aliens is costing America dearly -- in every way imaginable.
Amnesty advocates for the more than 20 million illegal aliens -- Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and Charlie "Flipper" Crist come to mind -- piously intone that amnesty will "save" Social Security. They also contend that our retirement systems will be bolstered by dramatically increasing immigration levels.
Why? Because according to Crist and those of his ilk, we will have more people paying into the system. Ahem. Perhaps Flipper should consider giving up those daily deep tanning sessions.
And perhaps it is time to take a jaunty perambulation down Common Sense Lane. Just how much in payroll taxes are the tens of millions of unskilled, low-wage illegal aliens currently at large within the country now paying? And is it adequate to cover their entire burden on Social Security?
For that matter, après amnesty, just how much in payroll taxes are those same tens of millions of unskilled, low-wage former illegal alien/future amnesty grantees going to pay? How much from the millions of unskilled, low-wage nouveau "legal" immigrants the Obama regime is scheming to bring in to bolster its statist voting bloc?
Please. This line of thought is absurd. When the numbers are crunched, it is clearly evident that illegal aliens are an actual drain on America's Social Security system.
Reality versus rhetoric
Regarding other areas of fiscal concern, if what the amnesty crowd says is true, then Arizona and California would be swimming in tax revenues and everything would be sweetness and light. Unfortunately, just the opposite is true. Let's look at one state that has, for some reason or another, recently been making news:
According to the State of Arizona and the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), Arizona's illegal alien population is costing state taxpayers a staggering $2.7 billion. In fact, FAIR's data focused on several publicly-funded areas which amnesty proponents conveniently ignore -- the judicial system, penal system, education, health, and social welfare.
But it doesn't stop with just one state. If one looks at the national aggregate dollar amounts, the numbers skyrocket into the hundreds of billions.
Real costs, real burden
So who winds up footing the bill for illegal aliens and their American-born offspring? Three guesses, and the first two don't count. Doug Ross of Doug Ross@Journal compiled some costs and factors to help illustrate our burgeoning tax burden directly as a result of illegal aliens. A few are listed below:
- $2.2 Billion: Tax dollars spent on food assistance programs for illegal aliens including food stamps, WIC, free school lunches, etc. each year;
- $2.5 Billion: Amount spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens annually;
- $3.0 Billion: Approximate annual federal spending to house non-U.S. citizens in federal prisons, which represents roughly 30 percent of the prison population according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Most of non-citizen prison population is comprised of illegal aliens;
- $12.0 Billion: Amount spent each year on primary and secondary public education for children in the U.S. illegally, many of whom cannot speak English;
- $17.0 Billion: Amount spent each year on primary and secondary public education for American-born children of illegal aliens, known as 'anchor babies';
- $11.0-22.0 Billion: amount spent on welfare for illegal aliens by state governments each year;
- $50.0 Billion: Amount spent annually on providing welfare and social services to illegal aliens by federal taxpayers each year; and
- $200.0 Billion: Amount of "suppressed American wages" caused by illegal immigration and lax policies such as H-1B programs.
The numbers are sobering, but bear in mind that they continue to grow each year. Clearly, our nation's immigration policies must first be enforced -- then stringently reformed -- to serve the national interest. And any reformation must never include something so wrong-headed as "amnesty."
The Center for Immigration Studies estimates that with an amnesty for illegal aliens, the net fiscal deficit would grow by nearly $30 billion per year. And yet this is what the Obama regime and its enablers are pushing -- all to strengthen the statist stranglehold on political power and nurture a new generation of nanny state voters.
Fence si, amnesty no
This is why Obama and the Democrat Congress have bitterly fought any efforts to continue the border fence to completion or augment our ICE presence with personnel and equipment. This is why the Obama regime orders its representatives overseas to bow, kneel, and apologize for our immigration policies. This is why the Obama regime allows foreign heads of state to ridicule the United States from the White House lawn.
And this is why the regime has all but abandoned illegal alien work-site enforcement efforts. Administrative arrests are down 87%; criminal arrests of employees are down 83%; criminal arrests of employers are down 73%; the number of criminal indictments is down 86%; and the number of criminal convictions is down 83% since 2008.
However, two important numbers are on the rise: More than 16 million Americans are out of work, and about 8 million jobs are held by illegal aliens. By simply enforcing current immigration laws, we could create millions of job opportunities for American citizens and for legal immigrants who played by the rules and properly entered the U.S.
Wouldn't it be nice if the Obama regime valued the interests of American citizens and legal immigrants over those of illegal aliens?
Don't hold your breath in anticipation.
Hype and Chains for 151 more days.