Posted on 12/28/2003 10:49:51 AM PST by mrustow
Legend has long held that illegal aliens give American citizens cheap lettuce and cheap child care. Excepting for agribusiness and the upper classes, that legend is, in reality, a nightmare, in which the American middle and working classes pay and pay and pay for illegal immigration, and get nothing but grief in return.
In states with heavy illegal alien populations, the budget of a middle-class family is full of hidden illegal alien surcharges. As a result, today’s middle-class American family with two full-time working parents has less discretionary income than its traditional forebear, in which the father alone was breadwinner. (Conditions are that much worse for families torn apart by divorce or the death of a parent.) And things are only getting worse. In California, for example, immigration writer Ed Rubenstein estimates that legal and illegal immigration combine to cost American-born California taxpayers $21.7 billion per year, for a 6.6% annual surcharge. And as Rubenstein points out, legal immigrants also have a voracious appetite for social services: “California immigrant households received a net subsidy from combined federal, state, and local programs averaging $6,145 in 1996.”
Compared to previous generations, middle-class Americans today pay outrageous prices, as a proportion of their incomes, for homes, in order to be able to protect their children from “bad schools.” So say the mother-daughter writing team of Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi, and journalist Steve Sailer.
In Warren and Tyagi’s new book, The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers are Going Broke, they write that "The brunt of the price increases has fallen on families with children. Data from the Federal Reserve show that [after inflation] the median home value for the average childless individual increased by 23 percent between 1983 and 1998 … For married couples with children, however, housing prices shot up 79 percent—more than three times faster."
And yet, the white American working class can only dream of such headaches. For its members, home ownership - in any neighborhood - is increasingly an impossible dream. And when economists talk about what illegal immigration costs the typical American worker, the averages (see below) include millions of workers who have been locked out of entire industries by employers who refuse to hire Americans, or by illegal immigrant workers who will not tolerate Americans in their midst. This is the ugly truth behind the propaganda of immigration enthusiasts, who insist that illegal aliens are doing "Jobs that Americans won't do."
In 1968, Congress passed the Bilingual Education Act (aka Title VII), which mandated teaching Hispanic children in Spanish and English, which in practice has meant in Spanish only. (The BEA was officially “eliminated” by the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act, yet NCLB did not eliminate bilingual education, which radical U.S. Department of Education officials force more aggressively than ever on the public schools.)
In states buffeted by high levels of illegal immigration, including the entire American Southwest, Florida, New York, and Illinois, the public schools are being inundated by unassimilable, illegal immigrants and the children of illegal immigrants, including foreign street gangs. Such schools are typically dominated by incompetent, racist, Hispanic (in Florida, often by Haitian) nationalists at the staff, faculty, and administrative level, who increasingly dispense with the teaching of English. And the foreign nationalist “educators” get paid more than do their English-speaking counterparts!
In California, which has approximately four million illegal immigrants (out of 9 million-13 million nationally), illegal immigrants have destroyed a public school system that for generations was the envy of the nation. For middle-class, American parents to leave their children in such hostile environments would constitute neglect. And so, while some parents have placed their children in often expensive private schools, others have sought safe public school districts. Realtors have cashed in. Thus must middle-class Americans pay exorbitant taxes to maintain public schools from which they have been disenfranchised, or buy overpriced homes, while people who are here illegally use the schools for free.
Throughout the American Southwest, public and private hospitals alike face the prospect of shutting down, because of the onslaught of illegal immigrants. State and local laws prohibit hospital emergency rooms from turning away any patient, based on his inability to pay, or from inquiring into a patient’s citizenship status. Exploiting such laws, illegal immigrants use emergency rooms for primary medical care, including for the common cold, so as to get out of paying for their care. Meanwhile, American patients with real medical emergencies, whose taxes maintain those hospitals and who pay for their own medical care, are turned away.
News reports tell of Californians with medical emergencies who are forced to drive from hospital to hospital, since facilities close their emergency rooms to new patients as early as noontime. Bizarrely, such reports never mention the role of illegal immigration in causing the medical crisis. Instead, one hears only of “uninsured” patients, amid suggestions that the system needs massive transfusions of tax dollars, and that America needs European or Canadian-style socialized (“universal”) health care. None of the stories this reporter has seen, has told of illegal aliens ever being turned away from medical facilities, no matter how trivial their complaint. Thus are Americans disenfranchised by the very medical system they pay so much to maintain.
And Americans pay higher auto insurance rates, to make up for illegal aliens who drive illegally and without insurance, and cause accidents.
Illegal immigrants’ defrauding of California’s generous welfare system has long been a scandal. Such welfare fraud is now a national scandal, as state and local governments operating stealth amnesty programs violate the Constitution, in negotiating directly with Mexico and other foreign governments, to accept the “matricula consular,” an insecure form of ID used exclusively by illegal aliens, and in issuing driver’s licenses to illegal aliens. Illegals may then use either the matricula consular or state driver’s licence to receive welfare benefits from officials who are not permitted to ask an applicant his citizenship status. Meanwhile, a driver’s license can be used to illegally register to vote.
Increasing numbers of states are following New York’s example, and granting in-state tuition to illegal aliens, at the same time that they charge law-abiding, American citizens from other states two and three times the in-state rate. And as illegal aliens are taking the initiative, suing colleges in Virginia for the right to break the law, illegals in the other states will surely follow suit. Thus do those who, as a matter of law, have no civil rights, demand and receive such rights at the expense of Americans, who are robbed of theirs. Meanwhile, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Ut.) seeks to make the lawsuits moot, as his DREAM Act would repeal the federal law prohibiting the granting of in-state tuition to illegals.
Again, it is the citizens who must pay for the illegals. And via affirmative action, unqualified, illegal college applicants are admitted ahead of qualified Americans, foreclosing on the already limited opportunities for the children of the white, working poor to improve their lot. (A multitude of programs exist for such children's black and Hispanic counterparts.)
But that isn’t the half of it. As columnist Paul Craig Roberts has pointed out, unqualified immigrants – including illegals – enjoy affirmative action privileges, in getting jobs in place of qualified, American citizens.
It is no wonder that for years, Americans have been fleeing California, whose population has been buoyed exclusively through incoming illegal immigrants.
But flight is just a stopgap. Today, California; tomorrow, Idaho.
As economist George Borjas has shown, America’s immigration policy costs every American worker an average of $2,578 in annual income, in the form of depressed wages, in addition to all the hidden surcharges I listed above. And with every stealth amnesty, more illegals stream across America’s borders to all her states. And as the unfortunate American residents of far-flung Lewiston, Maine have learned, the federal government is inviting foreigners to come here LEGALLY, to partake of welfare programs that disenfranchised Americans must pay for.
Finally, as Steve Sailer has reported, illegal immigration is disenfranchising Americans through the unconstitutional creation of “rotten boroughs,” in which only a small portion of the populace may legally vote. Rotten boroughs arise because congressional districts are created based on numbers of “residents,” rather than citizens.
Unlike the wealthy liberals who support every sort of handout for immigrants, Middle Americans who actually have to work for a living, cannot afford an unlimited number of hidden, illegal immigration taxes and surcharges. Like the classic science fiction movie, the current situation could be called, Invasion of the Citizen Snatchers. Or simply, as in the title of Michelle Malkin’s book, Invasion.
Well how about the fact that these immigrants are voting democratic/socialist.
The dems game plan is to dilute the conservative vote with new arrivals.
Read this
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Clinton’s Subtle, but Historic, Redefinition of U.S. Immigration Policy
January 10, 2001
Commentary by Ira Mehlman Federation for American Immigration Reform Spokesman
The Clinton Administration is now a part of history, and historians are just getting started assessing the Clinton legacy. There will be plenty to keep them busy.
Among the records set during the Clinton years was the largest sustained wave of immigration in America’s history. Some 10 million new immigrants arrived in the U.S. during his presidency, and by the time he left offices there were nearly 30 million foreign born residents, accounting for more than 10 percent of the population.
But perhaps more significant than the sheer numbers of people who settled here during the Clinton years, was the dramatic redefinition of the purpose of immigration policy and the relationship between immigrants and their adopted country. Two subtle, but significant shifts occurred during the last eight years that are worth noting: U.S. citizenship was turned into a political commodity, and immigrants became America’s “customers.”
After losing control of both houses of Congress in the 1994 election to the Republicans, Clinton embarked on a program to reshape the electorate in a way that was more to his liking. In addition to using his considerable powers of persuasion to win back public support, he set about creating a new American public. The administration directed the Immigration and Naturalization Service to mint new citizens in time to vote in the 1996 elections. Under the direct control of Vice President Gore, the Citizenship USA program was tasked with naturalizing as many noncitizens as they could possibly find in time to participate in the next election.
The plan succeeded. Democrats have eliminated the Republicans’ majority in the Senate and have significantly eroded their advantage in the House. An analysis of voting patterns across the country shows that voting by new citizens has been the deciding factor in numerous elections, and in nearly every case, has broken to the Democrats’ advantage.
That immigrants are playing a significant role in American politics is nothing new. What changed during the Clinton years is that altering the political landscape became an objective of immigration policy. In much the same way as employers have used immigrants to change labor market conditions to their advantage, the Clinton Administration used them to create an electorate more to their liking.
The second subtle, but important, change that occurred under Clinton was a redefinition of the relationship between immigrants and the American nation. One of the priorities set forth by Clinton’s INS commissioner, Doris Meissner, was to improve the agency’s “customer service.”
Certainly no one who has ever dealt with INS would dispute the need for improvements in the way the agency treats those who are going through the immigration process. But Meissner’s repeated description of immigrants as “customers” was more than a matter of semantics. The choice of words reflected a very significant change in attitude.
In the past, immigration was seen as policy designed to serve the interests of the nation. As such, there was a general belief that it was the responsibility of the immigrants to go the extra mile to accommodate themselves to the social, cultural and linguistic norms of the country. As customers, that relationship is reversed. It is the nation that must bend over backwards to accommodate the “customers,” and provide whatever services and programs they need.
Under the customer model, if immigration creates overcrowded schools, or exceeds the capacity of public health care system, you don’t reduce immigration. Instead you build as many schools and emergency rooms as the “customers” require. Under the customer model, it doesn’t matter whether immigrants have marketable skills, or that more than one-third have less than a high school education. It becomes the nation’s obligation to deal with the needs of the immigrants.
Very often it is the subtle policy changes of a presidential administration that define its legacy. Clinton’s subtle manipulation of immigration policy could prove to be among the most long lasting imprints he leaves on America.
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We had the rats on the ropes in 1994 but Slick Willie pulled a rabbit out of his hat and got back in the game.
Its all about votes. Why do you think the democrats are for maintaining a high legal immigration rate and granting amnesty to illegals ?
We'll never get a handle on this situation unless we ... get tough with people who violate our laws.
WOULD this be your solution to the so-called 'drug war' as well?
FUNNY how SO many people see the LEGALISATION of DRUGS as the solution the the problem they perceive as the 'drug war' but OVERLOOK this as a possible solution for the immigration problem ...
Just more facts, reason, and logic from you txdoda
You have to check this out. It was waiting for me this morning.
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To: Missouri
Hey racists,
Without immigrants (legal or ilegal) in this country, only the very rich will be able to afford to eat out, get their hair cut at a decent price or have their office restrooms cleaned every day. This is a country of 290,000,000 people - so what if we let in 50,000 people every year? Even if we did 500,000 a year, that is nothing compared to the god knows how many people who are on welfare in this country.
33 posted on 12/28/2003 5:00:11 AM CST by leavesofgrass [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]
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The last post on this thread was on Dec.14. Two weeks ago. leavesofgrass just sign up today. Do you think he/she's a troll ? (sarcasm)
I got news for this stuped troll. We're letting in alot more than 50,000.
Please stop with the Jesse Jackson playbook, it's not going to work here.
It's fairly easy to show that the costs of the WOD are greater than the benefits. If you have evidence that the same is true for attempts to reduce illegal immigration, I'll listen.
Geez....... I mis-spelled stupid. If been looking for my glasses for the last hour, I better find them soon.
Check the bottom of the article, not the upstairs line. It says:
Originally published in the December, 2000, Middle American News.
Now that is an original idea, we tried that in 1986, it sure stopped illegal immigration didn't it?
Amen! This single issue is the main reason I am so disenchanted with President Bush. He has been so great for our country in other areas, why can't he "get" the fact that illegals - of ALL stripes - are a major concern of many voters.
My wife is a L&D Nurse, and at least once a day she relates some story about a patient who came in via an ambulance (paid for by the taxpayer), to the ER (paid for by the taxpayer), to have an emergency C-Section (paid for by the taxpayer), only to have the baby, a new US citizen end up in a neonatal intensive care unit at about $100K+ (paid for by the taxpayer) because the illegal didn't have any prenatal care. Last week it was an illegal with twins that fit this exact profile - the estimated bill (paid for by the taxpayer) will be in excess of $500K for the entire process. And what just frosts her butt if whenever she goes over the admission paperwork with the illegal she gets a little smile when she asks about her social security number.
Now the really bad part is that even though this would be the ideal place to have INS come in a catch the illegal and her 20+ relatives (all illegal) no hospital allows it, nor would the Feds respond to it.....
One here seems to think my ancestors were 'taxed to death' to support all the Irish immigrants.
No way do I accept the arguement from the open-borders crowd that we're a nation of immigrants. The first people who arrived here had to tame the wilderness, clear the land, feed themselves. There were no hospitals, railroads, or police. They are the creators of this country. Even immigrants from 100 years ago had it alot tougher than today. No welfare, no free medical, no ACLU suing for ballots in different languages.
Pick a few strawberrys, put up a couple of roofs, or babysit rich peoples kids and they tell you that they're the ones who keep this country going. Todays immigrants have it made compared to those older immigrants and its a slap in their face when that comparison is made.
Check the bottom of the article, not the upstairs line. It says:
Originally published in the December, 2000, Middle American News.
Thanks for the heads-up; I'll alert the author immediately, if you haven't already.
I have a friend who flew planes all over the world during WWII. He noticed one thing about the very poor countries, they all had too many people, that is what you are proposing for our children, and grandchildren.
I feel the same as you do. Pres. Bush is a great patriot and a good man, doing what it takes to defend the nation, and yet while going off to fight outlaws, he leaves the farm unprotected, and the baryard door wide open. (Except in this case, the varmints go IN, instead of OUT!) Many of the crazy notions he supports seem to come from this nut Karl Rove, but the President is still responsible for choosing his advisors. If he gets the credit for Rumsfeld and Rice, he gets the blame for Rove. (I'm not sure what to say about Powell.)
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