Posted on 08/08/2005 8:20:26 PM PDT by Happy2BMe
Illegal Immigration Costs Florida $4.3 Billion a Year, Report Says
By Melanie Hunter
CNSNews.com Senior Editor
August 08, 2005
(CNSNews.com) - A report by an immigration reform group shows that illegal immigration costs the state of Florida at least $4.3 billion a year in health care, education and incarceration costs.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) predicts the state's costs of illegal immigration will increase to nearly $8 billion a year within 10 years unless it is controlled.
"Average Floridians are being asked to pay dearly for the failure of the federal government to control illegal immigration, and for a small number of business interests in the state addicted to low-wage illegal alien labor," said Dan Stein, president of FAIR, in a statement.
"The $4.3 billion being spent on illegal immigrants and their families means those resources are not available to improve and upgrade Florida's woefully overcrowded schools and overburdened public hospitals," said Stein.
"Nor are those funds available for urgent infrastructure repairs needed as a result of the succession of devastating hurricanes that ravaged the state in the last several years," Stein added.
FAIR used Census and other data to estimate the size of Florida's illegal immigrant population to be 630,000, which is larger than the populations of Tampa and St. Petersburg combined.
The costs to Floridians, according to the report, is more than $4 billion a year in providing public education to the children of illegal immigrants, about $165 million a year in non-reimbursed costs for health care, and about $155 million a year to jail illegal aliens in county and state correctional facilities.
"In reality, low-wage illegal alien labor is prohibitively expensive, when the costs of vital public services are factored into the equation," Stein saidd. "Average Floridians are being forced to subsidize illegal immigration and the burden will increase rapidly unless federal, state and local governments begin working together to stem the massive influx."
(Certainly not the government.)
A report by an immigration reform group shows that illegal immigration costs the state of Florida at least $4.3 billion a year in health care, education and incarceration costs.
I guess we're the only ones counting....and they keep telling us they help improve the economy!
"In fact, CIS, FAIR, NumbersUSA, Project-USA and more than a half-dozen similar groups that Republicans have become disturbingly comfy with, were founded or funded (or both) by John Tanton, a retired doctor in Michigan. In addition to trying to stop immigration to the U.S., appropriate population-control measures for Dr. Tanton and his network include promoting China's one-child policy, sterilizing Third World women and wider use of RU-486.
FAIR, where Mr. Krikorian once worked, is run by Dan Stein and shares advisers and personnel with CIS and other members of the Tanton nexus. As our Jason Riley noted in a March op-ed, "By Dr. Tanton's own reckoning, FAIR has received more than $1.5 million from the Pioneer Fund, a white-supremacist outfit devoted to racial purity through eugenics."
Representative Cannon says, "Tanton set up groups like CIS and FAIR to take an analytical approach to immigration from a Republican point of view so that they can give cover to Republicans who oppose immigration for other reasons." "
Damn! that's alot of money that the politicians could be wasting on something else....
Interesting . .
There will be no questions. It will be completely bipartisan.
The lines will be clearly marked with the Open Border Lobbyists (Underground Economy Advocates) and the "Restrictionists" as your source points out - those making a stand against illegal alien immigration.
It will definitely be interesting.
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To date at least, restrictionism hasn't been a political winner.Earlier this year in California, GOP state Senator Rico Oller ran for Congress by passing out fliers depicting Mexican aliens as turbaned terrorists. He lost the March primary to Dan Lungren, the pro-immigrant opponent he was attacking in the fliers.
Nor did immigrant-bashing help Jim Oberweis of Illinois in his recent Senate bid. In radio spots Mr. Oberweis suggested that the immigrants not here to steal U.S. jobs are only here to collect welfare.
Voters rejected such rhetoric and awarded the primary to Jack Ryan, a vocal supporter of the President's immigration reform.
oh, but immigration is a net benefit [/sarcasm off]
"But whose counting? (Certainly not the government.)"
Hillary might be counting in 2008. And she may be doing it with ads every night on the 11pm news.
Without illegal laborers a lot of people in Florida still wouldn't have roofs. With another Hurricane headed their way, I bet the citizens of Florida aren't complaining at all about their illegal laborers.
I doubt it. It wasn't nine months ago when almost all of the anti-illegals on FR claim that they voted for President Bush. If even the most rabid Antis on FR voted for, gave money to and worked phone banks for the Republican candidates last year, they will again next year.
Nothing has changed.
"I don't see any mention of the $800 Billion that illegal laborers contribute to the GDP."
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Link please?
B.S., Barbara Streisand. What a bunch of BS liberal tripe!
What did people do 50 years ago before the was a massive influx of illegals? How did lawns get mowed, houses get built, toilets get cleaned, fields get harvested? I'm not willing to clean toilets for $3/hr, but I would do it if I was paid enough.
Almost every single illegal receives free health care, free dental care, WIC for their girlfriends and kids, foodstamps, get their kids educated all courtesy of the taxpayer. By the time all that is added, they are making prolly around $20/hr. Instead of giving away all the free $hiznit, why not pay a real american a decent wage to do the job?
Bottom line is that illegal alien labor is subsidized labor. If illegals were deported, then the market would take care of the illegal labor that has left. The price will go up to what it should be. In fact, subsidizing anything is worse than just letting the market take care of it. Anytime you subsize something, tax something, put a quota on something, or put a tariff on something you create a distortion in the market and create deadweight loss.
Ping me when you find that $800B link please.
From the pro-illegal immigration Wall Street Journal
Q: How is the undocumented immigrant community affecting the U.S. economy?
A: First and foremost, it's a source of value added. The total goods and services that they consume through their paycheck, plus all that they produce for their employers, is close to about $800 billion.
Business Week is a "New Democrat" MSM publication that I trust as much as the NY Times.
Paul Krugman publishes a lot of statistics, as well, but I don't believe them.
What I do see is my taxes going up to pay for schools, emergency rooms, and prisons being overrun by illegals. I see illegals moving into suburban communities, and somehow MS-13 always seems to follow. I can see the cause-and-effect with my own eyes. That I believe.
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