The Impact of Illegal Immigration on the US
Caution – Immigrants Crossing
Without a doubt illegal immigration is one of the biggest problems the US has faced in recent history. Until just a few years ago virtually nothing had been done about the millions of people coming over the border from Mexico. Once on US soil phony I.D.’s and jobs were easy to come by. The government was well aware of it and did nothing for decades. Why? – Cheap fruit? Loyal janitors? Surely the past governments could see a problem brewing. Obviously they missed that one. Now the problem is so big and out of control that no one really has a good solution.
Illegal immigration has contributed substantially to the bankruptcy of several states with heavy illegal populations. The baffling thing about the situation is the selective law enforcement. In many situations when a person who has no proper ID and is stopped for a minor infraction and is obviously from a foreign country (cannot speak English) they are let go after being briefly detained. Often they are arrested later for a more serious crime.
In San Francisco there was the case of the illegal immigrant who was arrested for a minor offense. He was released on bail and committed a triple murder that same day. Why wasn’t this person taken immediately to a detention facility and deported when he was initially arrested? The taxpayers paid for a trial and put him in jail for about the next 50 years at roughly $20K a year. By the way, San Francisco is a self designated ‘sanctuary’ city where illegal immigrants are not scrutinized, are free to operate as they wish and are even encouraged to migrate there.
On the other hand a born and raised US citizen is subject to being prosecuted to the full extent of the law for minor traffic offenses. Those who pay taxes, are educated, have insurance, and have never been in jail or even been convicted of a misdemeanor are not happy that they don’t get to select the laws they must obey. It is little wonder that many US citizens feel they only exist to contribute to the government’s tax coffers. It creates resentment when it is obvious that their tax dollars are supporting illegal people that shouldn’t be on US soil in the first place. When they voice opposition to this financing of illegal immigration they are labeled a racist, insensitive to the poor or mean spirited.
There are really no accurate figures on how many illegal people are in the US. You see numbers of anywhere from 12 to 35 million. To be objective and to not lump all illegal immigrants into one category it would be fair to say the vast majority are law abiding (except for being in the country illegally) and just want a better life.
They contribute to the economy by consuming goods and services. They wouldn’t come to the US if there weren’t jobs. Of course the big justification is that they do all of the jobs no one else will do. In a way it helps the employer who pays them low and doesn’t report them to the IRS. By employing illegal aliens the employer reduces his expenses like health care and unemployment insurance. The employer usually gets a dedicated person to do a menial job by someone who actually values it instead of resents it. But by dodging employment laws the employer becomes an outlaw also.
That has been true but what about now that the economy is down? Maybe a seasonal work program where the immigrants come to work and then return home would be a good idea. This would have to be based on trust that the illegal immigrant would return home out of season. That would be very difficult to enforce.
Perhaps the solution lies in a program where illegal immigrants who can prove they have been in the country a certain amount of time, have paid taxes, speak English and not committed crimes could become citizens. At the same time a crack down on the drug cartels and other illicit activity should be enforced. Stiffer penalties for employers who give work to illegal immigrants would halt a lot of them coming.
Then you have people like Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona. You may know him as the hardnosed Sheriff who makes his incarcerated personnel know they are in jail not in a luxury hotel. They sleep in tents in the hot Arizona desert. When they complained he told them that US Marines sleep like this and they didn’t commit any crimes. His prisoners sued in federal court and won the right to have cable TV in jail. The sheriff responded by limiting it to the weather channel and Disney cartoons. He has aggressively gone after the flood of illegal visitors from Mexico. When his officers see what are obvious illegal immigrants he stops them and asks for ID. If they can’t produce it they are detained. If it is proven they are illegal they are sent back to their home country pronto.
Now the Obama Administration is attempting to curtail Sheriff Arpaio’s aggressive policies. The Obama staff has caved into political posturing and the same old, racial profiling argument of the ACLU. They use the Constitution when it’s convenient to allow the flood to continue. President Obama’s attorney general’s office has issued an order to the Sheriff to stop detaining people to check for citizenship. The Sheriff has cited States Rights. He refused the federal order and said that he will take them back to Mexico in his own car if he has to. This issue is currently in the courts. Hmmm, Obama says you can’t stop someone just inside the Arizona/Mexico border fence in the middle of a desert to investigate suspicious activity. However it’s ok to put up a road block and stop me to see if I’m drunk. Many see this as a political maneuver to gain favor with Hispanic voters.
Now, more than ever, the illegal immigration situation is in transition. Many illegals are returning to Mexico because of limited job prospects. Others are turning to crime and staying in the US. Now that jobs are scarce US citizens are eyeballing jobs that illegal Mexicans have. This is creating resentment and the cry of foul is getting louder. In these hard times the federal and state funds going to illegals are under more scrutiny. The fact that illegals have contributed to state bankruptcies and continue to receive welfare has some Americans outraged.
Something effective needs to be done to lessen the negative impact of illegal immigration and it needs to be done soon. What is being done now is too little too late.
Many Americans are fearful that the US is being ruined by lack of control of immigration and cite it as one of the major reasons they want to flee. Are you one of them or do you think immigration, legal or otherwise is beneficial to the American social structure and economy? Please let us have your comments.
My feeling is that if you are here then you should be contributing to society, right now that means paying taxes. If you aren’t paying taxes but you are using all the government programs then you are a drain on the system.
If there are too many of those types of parasites then the system will simply collapse as it will be paying out more than it is bringing in. I wish our country would eliminate income tax and just have a federal sales tax, then everyone who purchases goods and services will be paying into the system.
We could cut a lot of cost by making a requirement that you must be a citizen in order to get government benefits. No citizenship, no benefits. Period. I am not heartless but the problem is if you have too many people taking advantage of the system without contributing something back then it hurts everyone who is contributing and in the end the whole system could collapse. I don’t really think there is any easy answer, but I think eliminating federal income tax and moving to a sales tax would help.
First off let me state that im am a tax paying former u.s army veteran black male 46 yo. im kind of sitting on the fence on this issue and yes i did vote for President Obama just in case, yes it was a sentimental vote for me i can somewhat recall based on my research that black people in this HORRIBLE PAST AND CURRENT DAILY HISTORY with White Racist peoples that there were once a time when we couldnt even travel or work or live in certain areas without getting stopped,harrassed, humiliated,and Killed for just being in the skin youre in, just wanting to just provide for their families since We have given so much to this Piece of Shit of a Country in way more ways than ANY OTHER FORCED IMMIGRANT TO THE SO CALLED LAND OF THE CROOKS AND SLAVES.Laws are made by People Actions are done by People and those People just happen to be Caucasian peoples we can blame the Government but the last time ive check the Congress and the Senate for centuries have been Occupied by backward ass Inept White Males so you can blame the President but look around in the room duh. I dont hold my tongue at all so if you become friends of mine get ready for my truth and intelligence i encourage intelligent conversation if you can keep your little ego at the door Princess.Ilegalls need to go and help their country and the states need to enforce their own laws,i have associates from other countries who contribute just ass much as the illegals but have they go through more bullshit than illegals.We also need to STOP BEING IS IT REAL (isareal) bitch cause we give them way to much government Welfare so they can bomb the Hell out of their cousins the Palentines and Make God into a Real Estate Agent. Just my 2 cents thanks for Reading.
I for one am all for Legal migration.
but i had one last comment, for those who say americans are a dying breed.
I beg to differ.We are evolving.
I am an American through and through. born and raised here in the god ol’ U.S.of A
and the fact is that immigration is a problem only where it becomes troublesome and when it becomes an eye sore when we dont want to share our ball with the other boys on the schoolyard…
we dont have a problem with russian mafia comming here illegally and introducing slave trade.Yes slave trade, or apperantly none of you good christian bigots have been to any strip club in ny, where the girls can only say”dance you wanna dance” or so they say, i dont frequent those dens of iniquities. wink
Im sorry, since its a subject nobody speaks about , i guess its not important.
How about the chinese and their illegal gambling rings in basements of little china.
Use your brains you dumb hicks how do you think walmart seems to sell all that stuff you love on deep deep discounts. Because i bet you didnt know wallmart was the ony store to actually benefit from the recession and unemployment in this great country of ours.
Dont believe me? Test me i dare you. Wal-Marts revenue for the year was $408 billion.How much of that is based on stores abroad?
Dont know?Ask me ill be glad to enlighten you.
Whatever cannot be produced cheaply,(with the use of “mexicans”) here in the us is going to be outsourced then imported in.
http://www.usmoneytalk.com/business/business-wal-mart-now-leads-the-pack-on-fortune-500-list-904/
America cant you see you can not have your cake and eat it too???
Just like i posted on the comment to the teacher from oragon look on the tag from the back of your shirt and you should be ashaimed of yourself cause you know it doesnt say USA.
There is a reason why Carlos Slim is the richest man in the world.(im sorry to break the news to you idiots who werent informed about the loss of spot by gates and the oracle)
you know what it is?
Unlike most people think, its called purchase power. And the strength that latino brings because of it.
As for the point of evolution i was making in the begining, the reason why we are going to be the majority rather than the minority is simply because of duality.Cause and effect.
America is one, latin american nations are the many. And together we make a network and a mesh of a community the likes only seen in europe. eventually we will be equal reguardless of documentation.
We are going the way of the red hed or better put, the way of the dodo.
The onlything left to do is to sit there and comment on the nonsence you hear from some other…id call them an ass but the fact is i would be insulting the animal.
sounds to me like some one drowning in the middle of the ocean and all they can do is yelp because no one is coming.
May the lord have pity on your merciless souls. correction you dont have souls right? cause we evolved from apes.explain that one too when youre up there.
P.S.
Just fyi
I am an american citizen as mentioned before i have been a financial planner for over two decades and an economist for just shy of 18 yrs.
i feel i am one who should be able to comment on the impact of latinos.
my youngest brother is a luitenant for the core and is doing more of the typical work you embarresing americans dont wanna do.
service.
embrace the change, or just up and go to one of our beautiful countries to retire and live like a king like you should be treated.
Hell thats what we all have in common anyway coming to this website no?
pigs filthy pigs .
God bless America
How about this for a stimulas program, lets send 25 million or so people to canada and have them send the money they make back home to the US
Of course having millions of people in the country who are using every available goverment (socialist) program available is a drain. The bottom 40% of wage earners (which include 30+/-million illegals) use an average of $31,000 a year ea. in government services. This is the reason it is said it is better to be unemployed in the US than employed in central america.
I cant tell you how many people each week come into my business that are coming back to buy when they get their “check”. If we will start drug testing before govt services are rendered (handing over free money) and eliminate much of the welfare / entitlement attitute in this country we will see a reduction of anti american illegal immagrate coming here for all the freebies.
We as americans are entitled to Not have an oppressive govt taking our property or fruits of our labor or other wise harrasig us. We are not entitled to free money if we are too lazy to work. Everyone deserves a hand if they are down but this entitlement attitude will destroy the spirit that made this country great