From the December 2006 Idaho Observer:

Immigration and what it’s costing America

The immigration issue through the lens of political dialectics: Conservatives are racists who hate Mexicans and want to build a wall to keep them out. Liberals are socialists who want open borders with Mexico so millions of needy people will help justify the expansion of government through the administration of entitlement programs.

Regardless of where you to stand on this issue, it is dramatically changing America and the American people are being divided along lines that are emotional, not logical, for political rather than practical reasons.

The immigration issue through the lens of practicality: What conditions in Mexico are so bad that millions are compelled to leave their homes for a foreign land? What problems are this influx of illegally-entering, baby-making, foreign language-speaking poor people causing the legal, English-speaking citizens of our country?

And now the $64,000 question: Qui bono?

It is our intent, here, to establish an intelligent platform upon which this important topic may be considered so that decisions may be reached that are fair, lawful, humane and serve the immediate needs and future interests of those involved—on both sides of the border.

by Neal Ross

Every time you hear about illegal immigration you hear a few themes repeated over and over. These people come from poor impoverished countries and they are only looking for the American Dream. They are hard working people looking for a better life. You can’t deport all the illegal immigrants in this country, so why don’t we give them guest worker status (grant them amnesty for breaking our laws)? They are a vital part of our economy. Or my favorite, they do the jobs that Americans won’t.

First off, what is the American Dream? That is a vague concept that has no clear definition, but to me it would mean to be an American, have a good paying job, have my own home and family. To me that is what constitutes the American Dream.

Well, how are these illegal immigrants going to achieve that with the wages they earn doing menial tasks like picking farm produce or cleaning hotel rooms? Those types of jobs don’t pay enough to buy a home. The American Dream is not achievable at minimum wage, or under minimum wage in some cases. These jobs do not provide the salary or offer the medical benefits that would give these immigrants the American Dream.

Also the American Dream by its very name would mean becoming an American. That means learning the language and assimilating into our society. I do not wish that anyone from any country forsake their heritage. It is perfectly fine to retain your cultural heritage, but if you want to live in this country you need to honor our customs and, most importantly, our laws. By the very act of entering this country illegally you have shown us you care nothing for American law. That leads me to question whether or not the American Dream is an issue for many of these people who enter this country illegally.

Another part of the American Dream means supporting your country in all aspects, including the economy. Did you know that approximately $24 billion a year is wired back to Mexico by immigrants? I cannot make the claim all that comes from illegal immigrants. Nevertheless, that is a staggering sum of money that is leaving this country annually, and it does nothing to stimulate the American economy.

Another thing you hear is that these people are hard working. I do not disagree with that; many of them are. The simple fact is that if you are here illegally you are; 1) breaking our laws by just being here, 2) breaking our laws by working here illegally, 3) quite possibly breaking our laws by using a stolen or forged social security number, and finally 4) taking a job that a born or naturalized American could hold, thereby adding numbers to the ranks of our own unemployed.

You also hear that you can’t deport anywhere from 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants. You don’t have to. If you take away the incentive for them to be here, they will stop coming and those already here will leave.

Also, these immigrants claim that they do the jobs that no one else will. That is a partial truth that I will also go into in greater detail in a moment.

Now that I have covered the things you hear and see in the news I would like to tell you some things you may or may not have heard.

First off, what do these immigrants actually contribute to this country? They contribute to the profits of corporations that hire them at cheap wages for one thing. These immigrants come here and, for the most part, take low paying jobs. Low paying because the employers know that they can pay them small salaries without benefits because if the immigrants complain they could face deportation and also because there are so many of them willing to work that those who complain would lose their job.

So we have big businesses hiring these workers to make a profit and, in the process, are hurting American workers. If these companies hired American workers they would have to pay decent wages and provide benefits. It would hurt their profit margin, and that is what it is all about for them.

Secondly, illegal immigration contributes to a huge government bureaucracy. Article 14 of the Constitution guarantees that every child born to an illegal immigrant is automatically an American citizen and, therefore, entitled to all the benefits and privileges you and I are. These "anchor babies" grant their parents the right to participate in programs like Food Stamps, Medicare and public education for their children. All this is at your expense.

As I said, these low-paid illegal immigrants are most often not paid medical benefits. When they go to the hospital to have their baby, the hospital emergency rooms cannot turn them away. Who pays for the birth of a child that opens the doorway to the true American Dream for these immigrants? We do with higher medical expenses and insurance costs. Two million and counting of these births so far this year, all paid for by you.

Not only do these immigrants now qualify for benefits, they can also demand that government forms be printed in their native language. Thanks go to President Clinton on that one for signing Executive Order 13166. Just think how many tax dollars are spent annually printing forms in the language of a multitude of nationalities.

Finally, since they are now here with legal U.S. dependents, they can file taxes, and if immigrants file using a stolen SSN, then they can claim the Earned Income Credit per child and actually get a huge refund without ever paying anything in the first place.

Even with all that, you still hear that these are honest hardworking people only looking for a better life, albeit at our expense. What about the riff raff that flows in with the tide of those seeking a better life?

There are over 320,000 illegal immigrants incarcerated in our prisons, at a cost of $1.6 billion per year. There are over 600,000 illegal immigrant fugitives from justice. That means almost a million known criminals who are illegal immigrants.

Some statistics on crimes committed by illegal immigrants might open your eyes. There are 25 American deaths daily due to illegal immigrants, 13 on our highways by drivers who cannot drive according to our laws, or are drunk and uninsured. Twelve more due to violent crimes. (Source: Government Accounting Office, 2005). There are thousands of illegal immigrants using stolen or forged IDs to obtain work; there are estimated to be 11,000 gang members who entered this country illegally who commit violent crimes and sell drugs.

The government does not want to do anything about this problem. The Republican party, for the most part, is financed by big corporations who wish to keep the supply of cheap labor coming. The Democrats depend upon keeping these programs to employ them. The more people entitled to benefits, the more government employees needed.

Though "treason" is a strong word, that is what I call it. Let me explain.

Article 1, Section 8 states that "Congress shall have the power to...establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization..." What is uniform about having immigration policies applied to some and then allowing approximately 20 million others to enter illegally?

Secondly, in Article 4, Section 4 "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence."

Again, I would say that approximately 20 million illegals entering this country could be called an invasion of unheralded proportions and reports from government agencies cite widespread incidents of "domestic Violence."Illegal

Our contribution to

constructive dialogue

There are bills before Congress to grant amnesty to illegals and a bill authorizing funds to build a wall along the border was passed by Congress earlier this year. The bipolar nature of these legislative "solutions" demonstrates that Congress is a schizophrenic body with no plan to solve this serious breach of national security and ongoing threat to domestic prosperity and tranquility. If Congress hasn’t developed a plan to effectively address illegal immigration—when it has had over 20 years to do so—then we can infer that: Either Congress has been tacitly aiding and abetting a treasonous invasion plan that has been in place for at least 20 years or Congress is a collection of incompetents who are as incapable of solving the illegal immigration problem today as they were during and since the Reagan era.

That means the illegals will continue crossing the border and the problems they are causing in America will continue to worsen. It is my opinion that Congress has been able to justify inaction because the American people are dialectically preoccupied with the emotional aspects of the topic and, therefore, not qualified to demand their representatives develop intelligent solutions to the problem.

Should Americans rise to the level where they deserve appropriate representation in Congress, they would demand that:

1. Congress establish (and enforce) a uniform Rule of Naturalization.

2. Congress protect every State against Invasion and protect them against domestic Violence.

3. Congress suspend entitlements to non-citizens.

4. Congress pressure Mexico to either treat its poor people better or declare diplomatic relations between the two nations suspended pending the cessation of the flow of illegals and other contraband into the U.S. ~The IO