Illegal Immigration
Illegal immigration is costing American citizens tens of billions of dollars a year in medical care, education, and incarceration. This is another critical issue that Barack Obama promised to address during the campaign but hasn’t. Like health care reform, he’s left it to Congress, and nothing has gotten done.
An email arrived the other day that underscored the problem. Though incorrectly attributed to the Los Angeles Times, the numbers, according to Snopes, are mostly correct. And they are frightening. Three-quarters of the most-wanted by LA authorities are illegals, as are 95% of the warrants for murder. A third of all inmates in California jails and prisons are Mexican illegals. More than 70% of births are to illegals.
What’s to be done? First, understand that while a great many Republicans clamor for the borders to be closed, a great many Republican business interests rely on illegal immigrant labor. The Democrats speak mightily about protecting the weak and the downtrodden but mostly they are playing for Hispanic votes. That has produced a stalemate on Capitol Hill.
Building a wall on the Mexican border isn’t the answer. It’s already cost a ton of money and it won’t work. Our borders are porous, and much of the problem is legal entry from all over the world and illegal staying.
Congress could start by reversing a law that makes children born in the United States to illegal immigrants citizens. That should be a no-brainer, and there are few brains on Capitol Hill.
But the bottom line is the bottom line. People immigrate for better economics. The federal government needs to make it too expensive to try to cheat the system, both by those coming across the border and those hiring them. For goodness sakes, if we stop li’l old ladies at airports, we can stop illegals from getting jobs.
This isn’t about racism. It’s about our national community, about fairness and the rule of law. And ultimately about national security.
©2010 SetonnoteS
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