According to Steve King (R-IA), twelve Americans are murdered every day by illegal aliens. Doing the math that comes to 4,380 Americans that might well still be alive this Christmas if not for illegal aliens. Those Americans left behind include mothers, fathers, siblings, spouses, and children who now are being raised by single parents.
A congressional study recently found that eight children are sexually assaulted every day in America by legal and illegal immigrants? Even though that number falls below their murder rate, that's eight too many for me. They are either caught, which means I get to support them for the next X amount of years, they are released on bail (and disappear into the populace), or they are not caught, allowing them to assault more children. Advocates for amnesty claim that only 1% engage in criminal activities, but 29% of our prison population is comprised of legal and illegal immigrants. (The federal government deliberately does not distinguish between legal/illegal aliens in the system.) Many of them have dependents here, so we not only support the convicts, but also their families, including their anchor babies.
Illegal aliens contribute $144 billion into our economy each year, but use $approximately $250 in services, according to economist Donald Huddle, Rice University, who estimates the net cost of legal and illegal immigration will be $108 billion dollars this year. It seems logical to deduce that removal of the 12-20 billion illegals now estimated to be in the United States would reduce that amount significantly.
Diseases that doctors thought had been eradicated - measles, hepatitis, tuberculosis, leprosy, polio, malaria, dengue fever, and mumps - are being brought into the country, into our schools where our children are infected. Treatment in most cases is paid for by American taxpayers. Education resources are being diverted to pay for everything from bi-lingual education to free breakfast/lunch programs for their children, along with free immunizations and in-school health care. Between 300,000 and 350,000 anchor babies are born annually on the taxpayer's dime; they and their parents are immediately eligible for social services. They depress wages for low-income Americans and compete for their jobs. For decades, African-American single mothers worked in the hotel industry in Atlanta as housekeepers. They are being driven out of those jobs, replaced, by illegal aliens who are willing to work for less. They are creating an environmental disaster across our southern border illegal entry points with their plastic water bottles, discarded clothing, garbage, and exrement. In some places, it is measured in tonnage.
They lower housing prices in neighborhoods where they congregate to live in large numbers. And they suck up social services faster than Americans can be taxed to replace the funds. Case in point: I'm disabled, on SS disability and food stamps. The county commissioners decided some months ago to accept matricula cards as valid ID; one month later, I received a notice that my food stamps had been reduced from $110 per month to $10. Yes, you read that right; I'm expected to live on ten dollars worth of food for thirty days. We've got to feed their children, ya know, and if that means Americans have to get along with less, oh well and sorry about our luck.
Most of us who support closing the border and internally enforcing our immigration laws realize that mass deportation will not work; it would probably only force the illegals underground. However, we can go after the employers and landlords who enable them to remain, raising the fines to prohibitive levels. We can deny them social services and convert one's Social security card into an optional national ID; those who feel uncomfortable in registering for one could use alternatives such as a birth certificate or voter registration card. We can end the use of matricula cards, bilingual education, and the everyone-must-be-treated policies for our health care system.
Our government, aka our two political parties, are enabling illegals to flagrantly violate our laws, allowing them to roam freely within our borders once they are here. They appear to be more concerned about protecting the so-called and non-existent rights of illegals than fulfilling their Constitutional oaths, fighting over who can claim a larger share of Hispanic votes once they ram amnesty down our throats. They claim we need the labor, but illegals do not dominate any field of employment in this country, which means a majority of those jobs "that Americans do not want" are being filled by Americans. And if the minimum wage is raised, those jobs will become more attractive to those who are legally here.
As to a guest worker program, I'd approve of one that allowed those who have legally applied for work visas and have waited patiently outside our borders to enter. But I refuse to support any program that rewards criminal behavior, including illegal entry into the country. Even now, illegals are flooding across our borders, hoping to get in before the anticipated amnesty program is passed by the next Congress. That amnesty will probably leave the anchor baby and extended family rules in place, guaranteeing that every Juan, Jesus, and Maria will be able to import anyone and everyone with a blood claim, even to the Nth degree. Their aging parents/grandparents will be eligible for Social Security retirement/disability programs and their nieces/nephews, the full range of social services, including financial aid and in-state tuition. That's right? I don't think so.
I believe that American taxpayer dollars allocated for domestic programs should be spent on her citizens and those who are here legally. In fact, if a strong enforcement bill were to pass Congress, along with a legal-only guest worker program (but NO amnesty!), I would support offering new immigrants the full range of services available to Americans to help them to assimilate. But illegals? No, I want them out of my country: they really do not have any right to be here.