The "true cost" of illegal immigration!

• "This country couldn't get along without the work illegal immigrants do..."

Since I am a senior citizen, I have quite a few more memories than the average viewer of this Site. I remember that when I was 10 years old, we didn't have the huge percentage of illegal immigrants in this country as we do today. The kid next door mowed our lawn, your neighbor who wanted to make some extra money for his family would help fix your roof or paint the house and your brother got a job "flipping burgers" during the summer. We also had plenty of fresh produce in our grocery stores as, somehow, the crops managed to be harvested.

No one can tell me that the average American head-of-household wouldn't do anything he was capable of to feed his family and put a roof over their head.Illegal immigrants don't do anything that Americans can't! Everyone knows stories about how these immigrants are exploited but there is one thing that people fail to consider: If these illegal workers weren't in this country working illegally, they couldn't be exploited! There will always be unscrupulous employers willing to take advantage of people any way they can. If this one aspect of the equation were eliminated, the problem would be as well.

"Illegal immigrants contribute to society and our economy..."

The most current statistics I can find, states that illegal immigrants have about $9 billion withheld from their checks annually. It is said that this money cannot be reclaimed by them,but that is not entirely correct. What does that actually mean? There is much abuse of the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number system. First, in order to have Federal taxes withheld by an employer, you need a valid Social Security number. Obviously, these immigrants were using phony identification. In other words, this job, (as all jobs in America,) should be held by a citizen or legally documented worker. You must also consider that illegal immigrants using such false papers, can claim as many dependents as they care to, thus having as little as possible withheld from their checks. You may say that $9 billion is a whole lot of money but, as you read further, you will see how this amount is miniscule in comparison to what the actual economic cost of supporting illegal immigrants really is.

Everyone in America, even an illegal immigrant, is a consumer in one way or another. If you live, or even just visit here, you must eat, buy gas, find shelter, etc. The fact is that illegalimmigrants sent $16.6 billion "back home," (Mexico) in 2004, (and a whopping $45 billion was sent home by all illegal immigrants in 2008!) That number is said to be "the number one form of revenue for the country, (Mexico)" surpassing the amount of money that they make on oil exports..."

So, now we have America and it's citizens financially supporting another country, when we can't even make our own ends meet!

Would you pay your neighbor's mortgage when you are about to be evicted?

"Illegal immigration is a victimless crime..."

The financial toll.....
This is the most untrue statement of all! Even if this Nation had an abundance of revenue and there was no unemployment crisis, the toll that illegal immigrants take on our society is tremendous. We'll get to that later. Let's start with the numbers in black and white: California, a state where the illegal immigrant population is highest, is on the verge of bankruptcy. This is no coincidence.

As of 2007, more than 43% of all Food Stamps issued were to illegal immigrants. More than 41% of all unemployment checks issued in this country were to illegal aliens. 58% of Welfare payments were issued to illegal aliens. Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD* properties, which our tax dollars subsidize, were illegal immigrants.
*On a personal note, I have a lady friend who was in great need of Section 8 Housing after she lost her husband. She was told that there was a two year wait just to get on the waiting list, which had an additional two year wait.

When you translate these figures to actual dollars, the amount is staggering! As American taxpayers, how can you not call us all victims? We did not ask these people to come here. We are not responsible for supporting them. Every human being is entitled to their civil rights, but reaching into our pockets to earn their living is not a civil right!

The numbers in black and white.....
The data supplied below represents the cost to American taxpayers for the support of illegal immigrants and their dependents. These statistics are for just one year, as of 2008!

Public Assistance: (Welfare)...............................................................$11-22 Billion Food assistance programs:..............................................................$2.2 Billion Medicaid:..........................................................................................$2.5 Billion Education for illegal children:.......................................................$12 Billion Education for American-born children of illegal immigants.......$17 Billion Incarceration of illegal immigrant prisoners:................................$1.6 Billion Social welfare services:...................................................................$90 Billion Lost wages for American citizens:...................................................$200 Billion

Even if you don't include the last item, what American workers lose in wages, the total is about $150 billion each and every year; and the actual amount is almost $350 billion each and every year, since what illegal immigrants take out of the American workers' pocket is surely a very big cost to us!

The numbers don't simply end there! It is estimated that 1,880,000* Americans are displaced from their jobs every year by illegal immigrants. The figures above show an amount representing Americans' lost wages. However, the cost for providing welfare and assistance to these out-of-work Americans is over $15 billion a year!*
As of 2003

Many of these Americans* will go into bankruptcy or foreclosure, thus putting an even greater strain on banks, etc. That cost will be passed on to you, by way of higher prices, interest, taxes... Our insurance costs will rise due to accidents caused by illegal immigrants driving drunk or simply, without a license, not to mention the amount of actual property damage to Americans!
*Again, on a personal note: A very nice online chat friend cannot find a job where she lives in California because she cannot speak Spanish!

The human cost.....
There are some things that cannot be measured in dollars and cents! What is the worth of a human life? As of 2006, if we had no illegal immigrants in this country, 25 lives would be saved! One million Americans wouldn't have been sexually assaulted and almost 3,000 children wouldn't have been molested! We would also have reduced drug smuggling by 80%!

You must also consider that these are just the ones we know about. How many more crimes are committed by unknown assailants who could very well be illegal immigrants?

I don't think a lot more needs to be said on the topic of the human cost. I could mention how many Americans are robbed, had their homes invaded or were attacked to the point of bodily harm. I could mention our overcrowded prisons.* I could mention the impact of lower educational and living standards on society.
*29% of all the inmates in all state and federal prisons are illegal aliens.

Florida's mental health facilitiesare so overcrowded with illegal immigrants, that American Citizens have to be put on a waiting list? There is absolutely no excuse for this! Further, a great many of the terrorists captured in this country are illegal immigrants.

Solutions.....?
It is easy to find proposed answers to the illegal immigration problem all over the Internet. Everyone has an opinion. The current Administration is trying to push the proposed Amnesty down our throats. This is so wrong on so many levels!

Aside from the fact that we are insulting all the legal immigrants who worked hard to come here without breaking the law, these millions could receive Medicare and Social Security. This Bill, as written, actually allows 100 million new legal immigrants into this country within the next 20 years! That number is one-third of today's population. Can you imagine the problems your kids or grandchildren will face?

The estimated cost for deportation of all the illegal aliens in this country is $215 billion, spread out over 5 years.* Compare this with the cost of supporting them. This would be quite an undertaking! I believe that there is a very simple solution and something most Americans would agree with: Enforce our laws!
*It is also noted that an estimated one-fourth to one-third would leave voluntarily, thus reducing this amount accordingly.

It is illegal to hire an undocumented worker. So why then, is anything rarely done about this? Illegal immigrants can't get a driver's license in most states, but people continue to sell them vehicles. They are also required to have insurance which, of course, they don't. I often wonder why illegal immigrants receive financial assistance (Welfare) and food stamps, which is funded by the American taxpayer, and is meant to help American Citizens. If you don't pay into the system, you have no right to benefit from the system!

If we didn't allow our laws to be broken...if no one would hire them...if they weren't given the benefits that belong to American Citizens...that alone would be enough to force illegal immigrants to leave the country! This is just one thing, (enforce our laws!) that could make such a huge difference in America!

What you can do.....
You are the voice of the people! You elected representatives to speak on your behalf. Now, you must insist that they do so. You can call...you can write...you can send e-mail...but one thing you can't do is just sit there and complain.

You can bring up this topic for conversation the next time a group of your family or friends get together. You can make signs and march peacefully in the street. You can join together with other small groups and become one larger group. For now, put aside your partisanship and remember that we are all Americans first! It's not about helping the Democrats or Republicans; It's about saving America!