The Root Cause (Illegal Immigration's Apologists Depantsed)

Illegal immigration is recognized by many U.S. Citizens to be a threat to our nation. It's is a balkanizing process. It disrupts communities. It places financial strain on regions of our nation. It costs our nation tens of billions of dollars a year, if not hundreds. It is destroying our health care system. It disrupts the education system financially and in the teaching process due to language problems. It can place English speaking children at a disadvantage, in that spanish children receive elevated resources while English speaking kids take a back seat in the early years. There are problems of serious crime, multiple identities and recidivism.

These are serious issues, but let's ignore them. Remember, the apologists for illegal immigrants do it all the time. For once lets join them. (temporarily)

Right now lets spend a few moments exploring the number one rationalization for allowing the United States to be invaded and over-run by another nation's populace.

And what is that rationalization? Well of course, it's the "fact" that Mexicans only want a chance to earn a living for their families.

Think about that for a moment. You and I are being asked to allow our nation to be over-run, our language replaced, our neighbor's job and possibly your own given to a foreign national. We are being asked to pay their children's education. We are being asked to give them free health care. We are being asked to accept hospitals having to reduce services across the board, in order to recoup the expenditures for which hospitals are not reimbursed. Not only do you pay for illegal aliens health care, your own is being savaged in the process. You may not think so. That's okay. It is. All of this is asked, or more accurately demanded of you and I. We have very little choice.

I have never read an article about starvation in Mexico. I have never read of children being taken to mass orphanages because parents couldn't support them. I have never seen expansive stories about homelessness. Although Tijuana's cardboard city is legendary, people seem to be able to survive over there. I don't like the fact that Mexico's government allows this, but I am powerless to do anything about it. Trashing my own nation is not an option as far as I am concerned.

Look, I don't like homeless people on the streets of Los Angeles, but I'm not going to invite ten of them into my house to fix it. The United States is your and my house.

What I see is a massive number of people who wanted to live a better life, and decided to take that life from us. As your tax dollars go to pay for these people, that is exactly what is happening. They are taking from us. Lets be clear about this. These folks were not dying. They were not in danger of losing their family. They were not in danger of starving. What we are talking about, is a bunch of people who wanted a better life. That's it. That's all it amounted to.

How about you folks? It's all relative. I mean you're not dying. You're not in danger of losing your family. You're not in danger of starving. What we are talking about here is a better life. Do you want a better life? That's it. That's all we're talking about here.

Under the current policy of the United States, foreign nationals are entitled to a better life. Unless we're a racist nation, U.S. Citizens should be entitled to a better life also. As we have seen, breaking laws is an approved method of achieving a better life. It's okay for people to break into our nation. People can work in violation of U.S. laws. People are entitled to free health care for their whole family, and all children are entitled to a free education. That this can be achieved is proof positive that crime does pay, and all it takes to justify this is that you want a better life for you and your family.

This is rather liberating. I've wanted a new home for quite some time. Tomorrow morning I can go outside, take one look at the beautiful day, get in my car and go shopping. By tomorrow evening I'll have picked out a great new house, where I plan to move in. I'll pack up and move in on the following day. The next day I'll pick out a new car on the local dealer's lot and demand the keys. If I show up at the door, they'll have to serve me. Our current health care polices for illegal immigrants have proven that.

If I want more income, I'll just go to the local bank and have one of my kids walk up to the teller and demand $100,000. After all, the children of illegal immigrants are given a $100,000 education for free. When that runs out, I make certain to have had another kid who can walk up to the teller.

You know, this illegal immigration thing is looking better all the time. I take that headline back. I think it's the obstructionists like myself who have been depantsed. Who could argue against what the apologists for illegal immigrant have been backing for decades. I think they may be on the right track after all.

Hey folks, there's going to be a party at my new home on the 17th, I'll post the address, date and time later so all my friends with new homes, new cars and lots of cash can drop by.

Once again, there are the FR facts on crime and there are other, more credible, facts on crime that contradict you.

Let's look at your propaganda talking points. You use the phrase, "As a result of allowing millions of people to break our laws" and the term "invaders". The reality is that illegals are illegal only at the border and once they get in, they are given a defacto legal status and a job. Additionally, society accepts them if they contribute to society. That is hardly an invader. The exception to the legal illegal status is in times of recession, in which public opinion turns against the immigrant(legal and/or illegal) and he is blamed for the recession or for making it worse. This is borne out in today's recovery from recession, as well as the recessions of the early 90s, early 80s, and before.

Now let's look at the FR facts and propaganda on crime. First off, the large rise in illegal migration co-incides with a generalized decrease in the overall crime rate. If your facts/propaganda were true, there would be a generalized increase in the overall crime rate.

Additionally, what you see at FR is a number of individuals whose only job is cherry pick/post news stories on crime in an attempt to turn anecdotal evidence into statistical evidence. There is also the attempt to associate drug crime and other organized crime with illegal crime. You often see psuedo crime stats such as the hispanic crime in Los Angeles or how many mexicans are in jail.

The reality is that, in addition to not knowing how economists measure the economic impact of illegals, you don't know how criminologists measure crime.

Thanks to the internet, and a lttle diligence, I can find extensive data, from highly credible sources, that contradict you and the FR propaganda.

The first thing we see is that crime is measured on a "per 1000 of population" basis. What you use as evidence of criminal aliens, the crimonolgist anticipates because as the hispanic/illegal population rises, the incidence of hispanic/illegal crime will rise. While you see the southern California hispanic/illegal crime incidence as proof of your crack pot thoeries, the crimologists say that you should expect that higer incidence because that is where they have congrgated. OTOH, in Baxter County, there is no hispanic/illegal crime because there are none there.

In addition to crime stats based on ethnicity/race, there are stats based on sex and age. As you would expect, males commit more crime than females. It doesn't make any difference whether they are black, white, brown, or pink, those in 19 to 28 year old bracket commit most of the crime. What you see as evidence of alien crime, the criminolgist will say that this is what you should expect because the illegal population is rising, the illegals are mostly male, and the illegals are mostly in 19 to 28 year old bracket.

Where-as you try to lump drug and other organized crime together with the illegals, crime analysts try to seperate them. The reality is that Domingo the drug courier and Lupe the leafblower or Benito the busboy are seperate. What you do have is that Domingo hides behind Lupe and Benito. Since Lupe and Benito try to stay in the shadows, it makes it easier for Domingo to hide. This fact was determined during the Irish immigration. You and most here get agitated when law enforcement points out that can be most effective in dealing with crime if they don't enforce immigration law. That if they have the trust of Lupe and Benito, it helps them apprehend Domingo. This is covered in Law Enforcement 101. No doubt, based on your poorly informed opinion, you will say this is wrong.

As I pointed out above, illegals have a defacto legal status. Not all of them, but a great many of them realize that if they keep their nose clean, they won't be sent back. Because of this they avoid crime.

I perfectly understand that none of this is going to change your opinion. It is not what you want to hear/believe. Consequently, when the policy makers make their policy based on crime data/facts that are different from your crime data/facts you will complain that they are trying to destroy America.

You will become more embittered and alienated.

I was just informed that 50% of Los Angeles County jail inmates are illegal aliens. For the state's federal prision it's 27%. Your stats simply cannot trump that. Illegal aliens have a significant presense in the state, but they do not in any way approach 50% of LA Country or 27% of the state. At worst, they are somewhere around 5 to 10% of the state's populace. You can't explain that away. I know you'd like to, but it's impossible. That being the case, I find it reprehensible that these jail and prison inmates have perpetrated significant enough crimes to merit their incarceration rather than deportation. If we talking federal prision, these cimes have to have been horrorendous.

With all due respect, from my perspective it is you that are spreading propaganda. You'd like me to buy into studies that seem to show that illegal aliens are no more likely to break our nation's laws than U.S. Citizens, but ignore the disproportionate presense of illegal aliens in our jail and prison populations. You state that illegals are only illegal at the border. Pardon me, but that's like saying a bank robber is only guilty at the teller's window. No, the illegal alien is illegal from the moment he steps on U.S. soil. He/she are not U.S. Citizens. While they remain in the United States, the are illegal aliens, inside our nation by circumventing our sovereignty. There is not defacto legal status. It is against the law for them to obtain employment. It is against the law for an employer to hire them.

Ben, you seem to be having trouble coming to terms with the criminal status of the illegal alien. Just because the laws have not been enforced, it does not mean they are absolved. A person who commits a crime is vulnerable to arrest for that crime. If they are not arrested, they are not absolved. They are still morally guilty of committing a crime and subject to our nation's laws.

There has been an overall drop in crime across the board. In states with illegal aliens and states without illegal aliens, crime has dropped. I have seen some pretty interesting commentaries on the true status of crime. Reporting guidelines may have more to do with this drop than actual drop in crime, but I am willing to buy into the drop for conversation's sake.

Now, you tout FR facts and propaganda on crime. Even though there has been a drop in crime, I must return to the jail and prison population stats. Who is predominantly over-represented in those facilites? Trying to make a point about dropping crime rates and the increase in illegal aliens is pointless. The hard cold fact is that our jails and prisons house an incredible number of illegal aliens. Please don't continue trying to play off this fact. It's simply NOT going to work.

Ben, I'm not even going to address the rest of your comments. They fly in the face of reality. Our jail and prison population mix is a number you can't spin. It's just a hard cold reality.

You talk of people's only job being to denigrate the illegal alien. I'd say the illegal alien has done an excellent job of that on their own.

I talk of people whose only job seems to be absolving the illegal alien perpetrators of violent crime. Try to come to grips with the victims of those illegal alien federal prison inmates. Those are the people you should have been defending.

Once again you are trying to blend the various crimes.

You may not be exactly right in your stats on the LA County Jail. but you are close for discussion.

Where your are grossly incorrect,dishonest, is in trying to say that those in that jail are the common illegal alien. The reality is that a high percentage of these inmates are in the drug trade and other organized crime and have nothing to do with illegal aliens. LA is a major drug market and distribution center. The same is true for those in the federal prison.

This is your propaganda technique.

No doubt, the uninformed will believe your propaganda, especially those that want to hear what they want to hear.

As I said on a previous reply, this is not an issue of my fact versus your fact, it is issue of where Congress gets their facts and what those facts are. I can tell you with 100% certainty that they are not listening your propaganda, they are listenting to the Dept of Justice. The Dept of Justice cotradicts you.

OTOH, if Congress creates legislation or the President creates policy based facts from the Fed Reserve Bank, the Dept of Labor or Justice as well as NGOs such as Pew or Heritage, that legislation/policy would withstand a legal challenge because the court would recognize these organizations as credible sources.

This is exactly the type of thinking that makes the point I'm trying to make.

Politicians are out of touch with reality and the American people they represent and it's because of this type of thinking.

The policy and laws of the United States is supposed to be set by the people of the United States and in accordance with it's Constitution not the Federal Reserve or NGO's or any other special interest group or government department who have their own agenda.

The policy and laws or not even supposed to reflect the will of the congressman, senator or President nor the party they belong to,

When they do then you no longer have a representative government but a dictatorial one one controlled not by the majority of the people but buy wealthy,powerful people or groups with special interests.

When the President and/or Congress try to pass legislation, such as this amnesty legislation [or any legislation for that matter], against the will of the majority of the American people then they are no longer representing the will of the people but their own or their friends will and are not to be trusted but removed as soon as legally possible, period.

BTW when people see and experience something that is real, that is fact, not opinion as you seem to think. When the president or congress act on the wishes of special interests it is they who are acting on the opinion and wishes of them and not the 500,000 facts in the streets of California the other day.

Nor or they acting on the will or wishes, or facts that the American people are having to live with.

I believe that we started by talking about illegal alien perpetrated crime. You denied disproportionate crime in the illegal alien community vs the public at large You tried to get me to buy off on crime stats and I wouldn't bite. I suggested that disproportionate jail and prison population demographics made those other figures meaningless. I still believe they do. I don't think it's dishonest at all to point out that in our state with a 5 to 10% illegal alien presence, LA County jail has a 50% population of illegal aliens, and the federal prison has a 27% presence of illegal aliens.

It is not accurate to state that I said those who are incarcerated are typical of the average illegal alien (not what you said exactly, but more precisely what you inferred). I realize that there are many illegal aliens in our nation that despite breaking out laws to come here, and despite working in violation of our laws, and sapping our healthcare and education resource dry, they do not break other laws. That isn't even germain to the discussion. They do not belong here. They are here in violation of our laws. That alone places them in a status that is continually outside the law of our nation. Outside factors do not mitigate these facts.

Now, returning to the extreme criminal eliment. Your arguement was one that really threw me. You said, "The reality is that a high percentage of these inmates are in the drug trade and other organized crime and have nothing to do with illegal aliens. LA is a major drug market and distribution center. The same is true for those in the federal prison." Yes Ben, they have nothing to do with illegal aliens except that, and I shouldn't have to have to remind you of this, they are illegal aliens Ben. How can you sit there and make the claim that they shouldn't reflect on the overall illegal alien presence?

Basicly you made my case for me. According to you LA is a major drug market and distribution center. And why is that Ben? Who is most involved in that drug trafficing, organized crime et al? Why none other than the very illegal aliens you constantly shill for? Your own admissions back up what I've been trying to get you to agree to. And this you refer to as "your propaganda technique."

Ben, I'm not trying to hoodwink anyone into signing on to anything. I am trying to address an issue in terms that make sense to people. You simply cannot make the claim that illegal aliens are not disproportionately arrested and convicted of violent and serious major crime. Jail and prison population mixes destroy your claims to the contrary.

Now, you have said in a number of replies that the Justice Department disagrees with me. Ben, the Justice Department is free to destroy it's own credibility any time it likes. It won't be the first time and I doubt it will be the last. Yes Ben, the Department of Justice does contradict me. It also contradicts the facts, to the destruction of it's own credibility.

Ask them to explain how 27% of the federal prision population in California came to be illegal aliens, despite the fact that only 5 to 10% of the states' populace were illegal aliens.

While you're at it, ask the Justice Department how they signed off on a plan that wound up burning 80 men women and children to death at Waco. As if the Justice Department had a shred of credibility left to destroy...

I am saying that there is long established data on crime rates, including crime rate among hispanics. The crime rate for Hispanics has not changed. To make sure that you don't think that I am less than forthight, let me say that, generally, the hispanic crime rate is higher than that of whites, but lower than blacks. This relative position has been true thru-out the time that stats have been kept. More inportant, the hispanic crime rate has not changed/risen with the influx of illegal hispanics.

And yes there is a differentiation between illegal aliens who are here to pick peaches and illegal aliens who are here to commit crime. This is not to say that some peach pickers don't commit crime. The peach picker crime rate is no where near the crime rate of illegals who enter the country to commit crime.

There is a move to give legal status to the illegals, though we don't know if or when that will happen. Nor do we know which of the competing proposals might be approved. But none of them will give legal status to those illegals who are here for crime. Anyone who thinks that law abiding illegals should be denied legal status because a certain percentage of the illegals are criminals is spitting in the wind. Anyone who thinks that, since there are criminal illegals, all illegals are criminal is in for a rude awakening.

In fact, it is universally accepted that giving legal status to the illegals will make it much more difficult for the criminal aliens to exist.

Statement Of Tobin Armstrong, Rancher, Kingsville, TX

Mr. ARMSTRONG. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Tobin Armstrong. My residence is at Armstrong, Texas, in the center of Kenedy County. There are 460 people in Kenedy County, three people per square mile. It is 60 miles north of Mexico on the gulf of Mexico and has no cultivated land. It is all native pasture and has a thick cover of thorn trees and live oak trees. I have lived in Kenedy County all my life, have served as a county official since 1948 and presently county commissioner for my precinct. I am the managing partner of the Armstrong ranch, which is a family partnership involving 49,300 acres and 2,500 cattle units.

Since 1993, my home county has experienced an escalation in traffic of illegal aliens resulting in increasing destruction of property, burglary, auto and equipment theft, death by starvation, exposure, disease, auto and train accidents and murder, illegal alien smuggling, narcotics trafficking, forage contamination, massive littering of our pastures, and most distressing of all, the introduction of diseases uncommon to the United States.

Health authorities say there is no way to prevent illegal immigrants from bringing in these diseases. In October 1998, two women, a mother and daughter from El Salvador, were discovered in our pasture by the border patrol. Both had malaria and were at death's door. They were treated in the Kleberg Spohn Memorial Hospital for 10 days and released at a cost to the hospital of $39,000. The mosquito that carries malaria is found as far north as Corpus Christi, Texas, 150 miles north of the Mexican border.

Mary Lee Grant, well-regarded reporter for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, and her coworker contracted tuberculosis while doing investigative reporting on the conditions in the colonias in Nueces County, which is the County of Corpus Christi.

She conservatively estimates that, based on numerous interviews through the colonias, at least 70 percent of the people in the colonias were illegal aliens, which leads us strongly to suspect that the sharp increase in TB in south Texas is due to the influx of these illegal transients.

Other diseases being brought in to the U.S. by illegal immigrants include encephalitis, cholera, rheumatic fever, salmonella, intestinal parasites, smallpox, measles, HIV, and venereal diseases. The threat of introduction of foot and mouth and other devastating livestock diseases is staggering. The toll on the illegals themselves is appalling.

We have found five bodies, and I got a call from the sheriff in our county this morning announcing that he had picked up another body in the county, a 44-year-old Mexican woman from Michoacan, who died last night of dehydration. We found these six bodies in the county since January the 1st and have been averaging 20 per year for the past 4 or 5 years. Who knows how many bodies will never be found in these remote pastures?

Last year, six illegals were run over and killed while sleeping on the railroad adjacent to our pasture. In March, 12 illegal aliens were severely injured, and one of them permanently paralyzed when the Suburban they were being smuggled in turned over and crashed through our ranch fence. Local hospitals and taxpayers must pay the bills for these people.

In April 1999, 123 illegals were found locked in a semi trailer-truck at the Sarita immigration checkpoint six miles north of my home. The driver of the truck was carrying $25,000 in cash. Thirty illegals were found in a truck the week before. This has become a common occurrence along our frontiers. About 2,000 illegals per month are apprehended at the Sarita checkpoint. 1,555,776 were apprehended in the district in the fiscal year ending October the 31st 1998.

It is common opinion that this is but a fraction of the numbers that are getting through. Smuggling organizations are increasingly large, well financed and well connected, with sharp scouts, decoys, guides, and high-tech communications. Smuggling has become big business. Some bus drivers are able to pick up illegals, pocket the fares, and issue no tickets.

Make no mistake about it. The word is out that if you can get to the U.S. interior, you are home free. That is why illegals will continue to come in increasing numbers. The situation is getting worse, not better. Interdiction hasn't significantly deterred illegal entry. It just redirects it.

Mr. Chairman, that is my statement.

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Armstrong.

http://tinyurl.com/qmrw9

Prepared Statement Of Larry Vance, Rancher, Douglas, AZ, Chairman, Cochise County Concerned Citizens

Mr. Chairman and members, thank you for allowing me to speak to you today. My name is Larry Vance. I am the second son of a legally naturalized American of Mexican origin. I live approximately 3 miles west of Douglas, Arizona, and about 1 mile north of the Mexican border. A brother and his family, and my parents are my neighbors on a 20-acre family plot. My wife and I have lived there for 25 years. In that time, we have had some problems with illegal aliens. I've been burglarized, had a truck stolen, and property vandalized.

My brother and parents have had similar problems. We have adapted to this by installing high fences, expensive burglar alarms, mean aggressive dogs, and other measures. However for the past seven years, in particular the last year, we have seen a dramatic increase in illegal border crossing. The occasional illegal alien has grown to literally thousands crossing every night. Men, women and children. I've seen groups where the majority will likely become public charges. With the accompanying noises of dogs barking, people yelling and screaming, babies crying, horns honking, and occasionally gun shots, I haven't had a complete night sleep in more than 10 months. Six months ago, I witnessed some sort of shoot out a mile from my house.

We live in constant fear of being robbed, assaulted, or worse. We must remain armed at all times because border bandits prey upon the helpless within close proximity of our homes, and armed drug smugglers transport drugs past in the night. We are like prisoners in our own homes. My parents or someone must remain on the property at all times to guard against foreign invaders. An 81-year-old neighbor has been burglarized approximately 50 times. Another has had his homeowners insurance canceled.

The area along the Mexican border has become a ''no man's land'' where lawlessness prevails. Criminals strike and flee to freedom in a country where they are coddled, even admired. They rape, rob and beat their own countrymen and others with impunity.

I have been asked, ''Why don't you move?'' The answer is, I can't. Nobody wants to move to an area like I have described. My property values have declined to the point that I owe more than for what it can be sold.

I cannot begin to convey to you the feelings of helplessness, frustration and fear that has overcome border residents. Livelihoods are being threatened and destroyed. Tracts of pristine desert-ecological treasures have been permanently disfigured or lost. Pastures of prime grassland have become the equivalent of landfills littered with clothing, diapers, feces, plastic and other debris. U.S. citizens and legal residents are being deprived of their rights, property and piece of mind by individuals who have sneaked into this country in violation of U.S. laws while the U.S. Government allows it to go on and the Mexican Government encourages its citizens to migrate illegally.

Some illegal aliens rights groups shout ''Racism'' when the issue of establishing control of our border is brought forth. I ask you, What is it about race that entitles a person to sneak across our border, violate our laws, destroy my property and take advantage of the benefits we have set aside for our citizens and legal residents?

It is true that this is a nation established by immigrants. It is also true that our ancestors were LEGAL immigrants. That distinction is lost by those who advocate open borders and that all in the world have a right to come to America.

Through press releases, media interviews and personal observations, I have learned that Doris Meissner regards all immigrants, legal and illegal, as her 'clients. U.S. immigration laws were enacted to protect the American public from criminals, the insane, subversives and those who are likely to become public charges. The Commissioner of INS is mandated by law to act accordingly. I submit to you that the true ''clients'' of Doris Meissner consist of the American public who is entitled to protection. Her obligation is first to the American people and secondly to those who can prove to be bonafide immigrants. Her job is NOT to protect all who come here regardless of their method of entry.

Mr. Chairman, I ask you and the other members here today. Why are the borders of other nations so important that our military can be used to enforce them, but not our own? I beg you to put the priorities of the government back to protecting the public and border area residents as well.

Thank You. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

Mr. SMITH. Let me say to our enthusiastic audience here that it might be better for you to hold your applause until the end of the hearing or perhaps hold it until you have a chance to indicate your support of these individuals on a one-to-one basis, so that we can maintain the decorum of the hearing.

Ms. Morfin, we look forward to your testimony.

http://tinyurl.com/qmrw9

"My name is Angie Morfin, I am a Latino-American woman from Salinas, California. I have come here today to tell you of a personal cost that I have paid for illegal immigration."

"in 1990 I found out how just how bad it could be when an illegal alien gang member from Mexico killed my thirteen year old son, Ruben"

Prepared Statement Of Angie Morfin, Salinas, CA, Mothers Taking Action Against Gang Violence

Thank you Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. My name is Angie Morfin, I am a Latino-American woman from Salinas, California. I have come here today to tell you of a personal cost that I have paid for illegal immigration.

But first I want to describe my community. Salinas is a community of 100,000 in Central California, it is not the big city. That part of California is a big agricultural area and so we have always had migrant farm workers. Years ago they would come and do the harvest and then leave once the work was completed. Now, they don't leave, and each year the number grows.

We have a large community of illegal aliens, mostly Latino, and those numbers are growing, also. I can tell the members of this committee that the Latino-American citizens of our community want the illegals removed. We resent their presence in our community.

At a congressional town hall meeting in Salinas last year, Congressman Sam Farr heard from many people from our community that they wanted more Border Patrol to catch and deport illegal aliens. Two sheriffs from neighboring counties told Congressman Farr that they wanted the Border Patrol to resume the practice of visiting their jails twice a week to remove and deport the illegals.

Illegal immigrant crime is a real problem in my community. Gangs, illegal immigrant gangs, especially. We definitely have a need for increased enforcement. But even though we need it, and citizens have asked for it, the Salinas Border Patrol station has only one agent for a three county area. Just one. That is not the kind of commitment to immigration enforcement that is going to solve the problem in my community.

The price I have paid for non enforcement of our immigration laws, and the presence of illegal aliens in my community was a big one. It is a price that I truly hope that none of you ever has to pay.

I told you that illegal alien gang activity is a problem in my community. Well in 1990 I found out how just how bad it could be when an illegal alien gang member from Mexico killed my thirteen year old son, Ruben. Ruben was not a gang member. He was just a beautiful little boy walking with some friends to his grandmother's house. As he and the others tried to run from the gang members who approached them Ruben was shot in the head and killed. His killer fled the country, running back home to . . . Mexico. He was an illegal alien.

I was paralyzed with grief. I just wanted to die, I couldn't bear to live without my little boy. I cried and prayed to God for the strength to go on with my life. I prayed for justice for Ruben.

In the years that have passed since Ruben was killed I have met other mothers who have lost sons to gang violence, perpetrated by illegal aliens. I have sadly learned that this can happen to anybody. And while it is too late to protect my Ruben, it is not too late to take the measures necessary to make our communities safer and hopeful save someone else's child. Interior enforcement of our immigration laws will make our communities safer.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the committee. It is not enough to talk about fixing the system. We must act, you must act now. And not just Congress, but all Americans need to get involved to solve the illegal immigration problem. I personally believe that more American Latinos should get involved. Together we can make a difference. The time has come for us as American born Latino, and all American citizens to stand up for our rights as citizens.

Now I identified myself as a Latino-American woman at the beginning of this testimony. Actually, I don't like, or approve of hyphenated-Americans. We're Americans. And whether we are Latino-Americans, African-Americans, Asian-Americans or European-Americans, the common denominator is that we are Americans. And it is our citizenship that we have in common. And as citizens we need to encourage you lawmakers to ensure that the laws you make are enforced, and that includes immigration laws.

I thank God that I was born in this country and lived during a time when people are proud to be Americans. I am proud to say I'm an American. We should not be afraid to say how proud we are, or that we want to enforce our immigration laws and stop illegal immigration.

Because, ladies and gentlemen, if we don't act like we care about this country we're not going to have a country.

And, a nation that cannot control its borders won't be a nation for very long.

I care about America and want to protect my country from illegal immigration.

Thank you very much for inviting me to speak to you today.

Mr. SMITH. Ms. Joyal

http://tinyurl.com/qmrw9

Very well said.

For me personally, the worst thing is the ER. I truly fear that one of my sons will die (may G-d forbid) because of shoddy care or too long a wait at an overrun ER. My friends in other parts of the country do not have ER waiting rooms that are filled with illegals awaiting free primary care. Imagine. They see a doctor in less than 6 hours.

The coup de grace is how hard my husband works to pay for our health insurance and costs, and knowing that he is also paying for these people's care too. We give with open hearts to charity. I want to help those in need. But I hate paying taxes to support lawbreakers, all while we have to count our pennies to try and live a middle class life in southern CA.

Ron, your best point, the one that isn't heard often enough, is that these people are not true refugees. They were not hungry in Mexico and their families did not live under threat of pain or death. Huge point. Bless you for making it, even as it makes me that much more angry at our President.

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