I'm all for it. If they can become legal citizens, then that's great. Otherwise, they have no business being here.

Oh, for starters, do a search of Cost - Illegal Immigrants and see what you come up with...I found an article about hospitals closing due to being unable to take on the burden of uninsured immigrants (http://www.usvisanews.com/memo886.html) and the cost of educating these people (http://sophorist.com/archives/000201.html). I'm sure there is more, and you can find both sides of the argument if you look hard enough. But the first five pages where pretty negative for the illegals... maybe someone else can find the pros and how illegals help reduce the costs.

I say send them home. I am currently interning at a middle school, and we have new illegal students arrive almost daily. We sign them in, assign dummy social security numbers, give them books etc. The school is overcrowded. So instead of having 20 students per class, a teacher has 30 - 35. The children whose parents are paying the taxes deserve to be there, and deserve the attention of the teacher. Unfortunately, the teacher is unable to give any extra attention or do anything beyond the norm because she has too many students in her classes.

My car insurance is high because lots of immigrants come from a country where there are no driving laws. So I pay the higher premiums for those people who don't follow our laws on the highways. Recently a child was killed when here when the driver of a car did not follow the laws and did not stop for a stopped school bus. Of course they had no license and no insurance.

Everyone complains because there are no jobs here and that we are sending everything overseas. There are jobs here, but Americans are too good for them. It makes me sick that people would rather get the handouts then get out there and work as a janitor or farm laborer. I'm with Rudey, let's build a dairy farm outside the US and send all these illegals to work there. We'll get our milk for less, and the illegals will be gone from the country. Instead of spending 7.4 billion a year on education for illegals, we can spend that money on our own kids and our own healthcare needs.

Thanks, but I am looking for something that isn't so "slanted" or based on personal opinions. The article about the immigrant in the accident is really no different that a US citizen who does not have health insurance. Speaking of personal experience, I can't began ti tell you how many cases come across my desk of US citizens involved in serious car accidents that have no health insurance.

I'm looking for something a little more netural. Maybe something from a federal (dept. of labor and stats) website. I'll keep searching though.....

ETA:

Ok, I found some research from the Bureau of Labor and Stats. http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2003/04/art2full.pdf .

Here is what they found:

The 1989–99 analysis shows that the conventional wisdom regarding immigrants’ contribution to poverty has some merit in that the increased share of immigrants did place upward pressure on poverty rates. None of the preceding discussion should be taken to imply
that immigration plays no role in the economic trends of the
1990s, but, thus far, immigration’s role appears to have been
overstated at the expense of other, more fundamentally economic
factors. Both New York and California, for example, saw larger than average increases in inequality over the decade, and the
incomes of the wealthy pulled far ahead of those at the middle
and the bottom of the income scale.8 In many States, the increase in inequality meant that the growth that did occur went
disproportionately to those at the top of the income scale, leaving
those at the lower end more vulnerable to poverty, regardless of
their status as natives or immigrants.

So if there are no naturalization programs for those that are here illegally (meaning that would allow to become US citizens, pay taxes, etc.), maybe this is something that we should be considering.

Not only do they do the work that many of us won't do, but big business knows that its causes minimal impact to their bottom line (low wages, no health benefit cost, etc.). Emotions and stereotypes aside, US companies are not going to allow us to deport illegal immigrants. Sadly, moretimes than not, profit wins out over anything else. If it didn't, we wouldn't so many lobbyist running around Washington.:p

I agree the articles I posted might be slanted. However, even for the uninsured people who enter the hospitals, at least they are citizens of the US and are hopefully contributing taxes somewhere.
The article posted above appears to be reporting on immigrants, not illegal immigrants. Let's keep looking though, you've got my curiousity up! I think you are right about big business - these people are not going anywhere anytime soon.

Here's an interesting site that discusses both legal and illegal immigrants...
http://www.fairus.org/

Here's the trouble: Shipping them home would just mean that they'd be coming back accross the border.

Through what means could the US protect its borders? The only way I can even think of to even semi-secure that area would be to establish a perimeter and shoot to kill anyone that enters it. I don't think they'll do it. I wouldn't be in favor of it. But I can't think of any other way to get people to stop coming accross illegally.

I'm 100% for legal immigration. I'm even in favor of the sytsem giving benefits to legal immigrants. I just don't understand why we are giving any benefits to illegals.

It blows my mind that Mexicans are actually wanting to sue the US government for not making their illegal trip to the US safe by not putting water out, etc..

Thanks again. I'll peruse that website.

This issue is interesting to me as well. On the BLS's site, they even stated that it is hard to really come up with accurate figures because - well, their illegal, so how do you track them or the resources that their using (aside from tracking the children who are enrolled in school)? :confused:

A complex issue indeed!

If they're illegal, why should they received from a system they didn't contribute to in the first place? I agree with ktsnake, the current immigration policy is pretty much a mess and need reforms. But I also think that industry which hires illegals should be penalized, at the same time, give them temporary or season visas so they can be taxed contribute to the system that needs that much extra funding. And that is from a bleeding heart liberal.

I am a liberal but, on this issue, I think of myself as being a conservative. Send them home!

Yes, the work many of the jobs that many Americans would not do. But, they do not pay taxes all the while using our tax money at hospitals and other places.

Many do not feel the need to learn English. There's places in South Florida that you go to that have become a foreign country.

First-no links or studies to back this up, just MHO>

Jobs-If I were in need of money for my family, there are very few jobs I wouldn't take. To make a blanket statement that they fill jobs no one else will is simply hard to understand. MOST of us have had some really horrid jobs, but money is money. Take the number of teens who can't find work or adults who CAN work getting unemployment, I think we could find a way to benefit our own people/system if those jobs opened up.

IF we didn't have to give free lunches and breakfasts to illegals,
our schools might be able to upgrade. All over, there are schools literally falling apart-asbestos hanging from ceilings, lead in the pipes and on the playgrounds.

Charity hospitals-someone HAS to pay for the care. There have been news stories where people are dying or critically ill so they sneak in through friends and relatives because our quality of healthcare is superior. There was one report recently where the illegal's family sued the hospital!

Driving! :eek: :eek: :eek:

This business where the INS turns a deaf ear on cops who arrest illegals is SCREWED!

Do "they" think I believe illegals spend their money here??? Sure, some of it, but a LOT goes back home to their family.

NO politician wants to turn them away because the greatest % come from Mexico. Mexican Americans are a growing voting block and THAT'S why DEMOCRATS as well as REPUBLICANS refuse to let this become a party issue. (One reason I really like Arnold!)

I also blame NAFTA for some of this. You think we have an abundance of jobs here with opportunity and great pay? So many of our jobs are overseas. Eventually WE may be the people who need those "subhuman" jobs...they will all be filled.



OK- links!
http://www.cestim.org/14clandestino_usa.htm
Illegals make up close to 2% of the US population!!! The population was estimated to be growing by about 275,000 each year

http://are.berkeley.edu/APMP/pubs/i9...raids3900.html
Last fall, Unite negotiated contracts that recognized the illegal status of some workers, and shielded them. One clause requires an employer to bar an I.N.S. raid unless the agents have a search warrant. And a company must notify the union if it gets wind of a coming raid.

Here is the search link by GOOGLE where you can see the mountain of research/articles/opinions on this subject.http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&i...=Google+Search

The amount of taxes not paid by illegals is DWARFED by the amount of taxes not paid by legals in the upper income brackets. If this is really an issue of taxes then solve that problem first.

-Rudey

Re: Deport the Illegals!!
 

My thoughts on it all are a little different.


I think we should deport all the people from places like Columbia, Venzuela, and most Latin American countries....as well as the Hatians, Jamaicans, Cubans and people from most carribean islands. We should keep the Mexicans, Canadians and actually try to make NAFTA work.

To expound on the job issue:

So two years ago, it was ok for us (Americans) to turn our nose up at jobs that illegals typically take (i.e. construction, field workers, seamtress, etc.) because we thought we were better than that.

Now that some of us are financially hurting, unemployment running out, etc., these same jobs that we once thought of as "degrading" now belong to us? :confused:

Humbling, to say the least!


What do you guys think will happen once the economy turns around? Do you seriously think that we (American) will keep the job as a field worker once Target or Boeing (for the corporate folks) start hiring again?

Seriously why don't we go after rich people who evade taxes if that's the issue?

-Rudey