Why Illegal Immigration Is Everyone's Problem

I write quite a bit about the dangers of illegal immigration and often in comments and email I am bluntly told that illegal immigration is a problem of the Southwest United States. Well I beg to differ, illegal immigration is a problem for every citizen of this country and frankly it’s only going to get worse before it gets better. Illegal immigration eats away at the security of this nation everyday in many ways. Some illegal immigrates come to America only to “milk the system” or commit crimes against American citizens. Granted the majority come to America to seek a better life for themselves and their families, I don’t have any argument with anyone who comes to America for that purpose. As the saying goes, “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.”

News has started to filter out via the MSM about illegal immigration issues outside the American southwest. Many states and cities are now passing laws that enable local law enforcement to actually assist the border patrol by actually detaining, charging, and holding illegal immigrates. Seems the folks in Danbury, Connecticut have some cause for concern since the latest estimates have 10,000 to 15,000 illegal immigrates within the city limits. Folks, the city of Danbury only have a population of 77,000. That means that 12% to 19% of the cities population is here illegally. Now in the southwest United States there are many cities that have a much larger percentage of illegal residents and that is sad in itself but we are talking about Danbury Freaking Connecticut. I can certainly understand how the lily white are getting nervous about the illegal immigrates in their community but in many ways they have brought it upon themselves. It started with a few illegals getting hired here and there as servants and landscapers since Americans won’t do those jobs, another myth of illegal immigration, and has spread to those few bringing friends and family to the country illegally. The problem is not one of race but of simply illegal immigration, recently 13 people of Eastern European and Eastern Asian descent were caught in Vail, Colorado. Illegal immigration is simply illegal and wrong.

In many ways, we are all to blame because we have become as complacent as every politician and every business that looks the other way while the system feds on itself and further fuels the cycle of illegal immigration. Mexico does not even bother to hide the fact that they encourage their citizens to come to the United States illegally so that they might send money back to Mexico, in fact as far as Mexican television is concerned Los Angeles is already part of Mexico. Money flowing south from illegals in the United States now is set to surpass the Mexico oil industry as the number one contributor to the pathetic Mexican economy, recent reports place the number at 16.6 BILLION in 2004 and it is expected that this year’s amount will be even greater.

The spread of illegal immigrates is costing Americans billions of dollars and after you take a look at the numbers below, think about what it’s going to cost you and your community.

Cost of Illegal Immigration to Texas: 4.7 billion a year or an extra $725 to each resident in the form of taxes, higher education costs, higher law enforcement costs, and higher health care costs.

Cost of Illegal Immigration to California: 10.5 billion a year or an extra $1,183 to each resident in the form of taxes, higher education costs, higher law enforcement costs, and higher health care costs.

Cost of Illegal Immigration to Arizona: 1.3 billion a year or an extra $700.00 to each resident in the form of taxes, higher education costs, higher law enforcement costs, and higher health care costs.

A couple of good sites for real information on illegal immigration are the Federation for the American Immigration Reform and the Center for Immigration Studies. Currently there is a movement to force the government to address illegal immigration; you can read about it here and here. The “Hold Their Feet to the Fire” event runs from April 23^rd thru the 28^th in Washington D.C. and aims to “educate” lawmakers as to how unhappy many Americans are with their lack of progress towards reforming immigration laws. One bit of good news on the illegal immigration front, the Sierra Club has decided not to enter the immigration debate. It seems that nearly 84% of Sierra Club members voted against a change in policy that would have called for a reduction in all immigration as a way to lessen the environmental consequences of population growth. So sad, too bad. I am glad that they did not throw their hat in the ring; we do not need the help of fringe groups in this battle to secure our borders and save our country. They only serve to marginalize our legitimate efforts.

Folks, this issue is not going away and if you care at all about this country I urge you to educate yourself and others to the issue and then help us hold the government accountable for their lack of border security and immigration reform. Have a great day everyone.