The Right State

Even though the issue of illegal immigration has been off the front pages for some time, the proponents of illegal immigration are still making arguments for their continued existence in this country.  The Dallas Morning News has joined the crowd of those who are willing to heap scorn on everything and anyone in order to allow the immigrants to stay in this country.

Illegal immigration is draining hundreds of millions of dollars from local governments but bolstering the Texas economy by $17.7 billion a year, the state comptroller estimates in a new report.

And when it comes to taxes, illegal immigrants are a boon. They cost the state $1.16 billion in services, such as public health services and education, but they pay $1.58 billion every year in taxes and fees, according to the report, released Thursday.

That’s a net profit to the state of $420 million. (snip)

The report says the absence of the illegal immigrants would decrease the gross state product by $17.7 billion a year.

I don’t know who researched this report, but it is obviously and seriously flawed from the very beginning.  The Texas Economy is not a zero sum game.  The report assumes if the illegal aliens do not spend the money, no one will.  This report continues the flawed assumption that illegals hold jobs no citizen living in the United States wants.  This also assumes that the illegals spend all of their money here in the US.  There are plenty of Americans who need work and would spend their money here in the US.

The newspaper does include some of the financial pitfalls of illegal immigrants on the local economies, but intermix it with argument that illegals are good for Texas.

But counties pay the price: They’re taking in $513 million in local taxes and revenues – but spending $1.44 billion in indigent care and law-enforcement costs. Cities and school districts suffer as well, the report said.

There is also the problem of national taxes.  Many illegals are paid in cash allowing the employer to pay less and keep the immigrants off the books.  Since they are paid in cash, these illegal immigrants pay no income taxes.  They pay no social security, they do not have insurance, etc.  They are a drain on the national and the local economies, they are a drain on law enforcement, they are a drain on hospitalization, and they are a drain on social services.

No amount of apologizing by the Dallas Morning News will change that.  They had a good opportunity to set the record straight, but missed badly.  The one thing they missed in this discussion is that illegal immigrants are here illegally.  Therefore, they are criminals, they broke the law to be here.  So any discussion about them should be done from that standpoint.

Tags: Texas, Bias, Immigration by Chuck
No Comments »

President Bush signed the Secure Fence Act of 2006 today which authorizes the building of over 700 miles of fence between the United States and Mexico.  In his signing speech the President once again discussed the need to do something about the 12 million illegal aliens already living in this country.  Only this time instead of asking for a bill that is tantamount to amnesty, he says he is willing to work with Congress that focuses on some obscure middle ground between deporting 12 million illegals and giving them a free pass. It sounds very much like Bush is obfuscating.  This country either accepts the illegals or doesn’t.  They are sent back home or they are welcomed.  I am just not sure where the middle ground is on this issue, but at least he has dropped his demand for a comprehensive immigration bill.  The House Republicans rightfully blocked all attempts at giving amnesty to the 12 million illegal aliens.

The MSM view the President’s signing of this bill as another political stunt by Republicans.

President Bush signed a bill Thursday authorizing 700 miles of new fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border, hoping to give Republican candidates a pre-election platform for asserting they’re tough on illegal immigration.

“Unfortunately the United States has not been in complete control of its borders for decades and therefore illegal immigration has been on the rise,” Bush said at a signing ceremony.

“We have a responsibility to enforce our laws,” he said. “We have a responsibility to secure our borders. We take this responsibility serious.”

He called the fence bill “an important step in our nation’s efforts to secure our borders.”

The centerpiece of Bush’s immigration policy, a guest worker program, remains stalled in Congress.

And a handful of House Republican are at the brakes, blocking negotiations with the Senate for a bill that includes the president’s proposal. (emphasis by TRS)

The AP in telling this story ignores years and years of illegal immigration into the United States by millions from Mexico.  The South has been begging for help for years.  The issue of illegal immigration has been a pressing issue of the South for many years.  President Bush has talked about a comprehensive immigration bill for years.  This is not an election year ploy by the Republicans to ensure the House and Senate remains in conservative hands.  The border will continue to be a problem until illegal immigration is halted or at least greatly curtailed.

When President Bush proposed his bill, the Senate led by Democrats and several liberal Republicans, passed the President’s bill.  The House led by a majority of the Republicans defeated the bill insisting on one step at a time approach wanting to focus on border security first and rightfully so.  The 1986 amnesty plan during the Reagan administration was supposed to be comprehensive.  The only problem is the plan stopped at amnesty.  Knowing this history, Republicans in the house insisted on securing the border and then work on other issues.

As far as a being a political issue, border security is a platform of the Republicans and not the Democrats.  The Republicans want to secure our borders and allow legal immigration.  The Democrats want open borders seeing potential votes and want to ignore the law which makes illegal immigration a crime.  But if the Republicans want to use this issue for political gain, more power to them.  Most Democrats do not want to secure the border and that is a political issue.

Tags: Democrats, President Bush, Immigration, Politics by Chuck
No Comments »

It seems Congress is never far from politics as usual, but at least they took the time to pass legislation which would give funds towards building a fence along the southern border.

Republicans will go into the elections with a message that they’ve made great strides fighting illegal immigration, including authorizing a fence along one-third of the U.S.-Mexico border and making a $1.2 billion down payment on it.

Among its final tasks before leaving to campaign, the Senate on Friday night passed and sent to President Bush a bill authorizing 700 new miles of fencing on the southern border. No one knows how much it will cost, but a separate bill also on the way to the White House makes a $1.2 billion down payment on it. A 14-mile segment of fence under construction in San Diego is costing $126.5 million.

The fence bill was passed by the House two weeks ago. The Senate vote on it Friday night was 80-19.

In addition to money for starting work on the fence, a homeland security bill passed Friday by the House and later by the Senate includes $380 million to hire 1,500 more Border Patrol agents and money to build detention facilities to hold 6,700 more illegal immigrants until they can be deported.

This is all great news.  The Senate has finally seen the light and realized a ‘comprehensive’ immigration bill had zero chance of passing the House.  Instead of digging in their heels and doing nothing, the Senators chose to focus on what the House of Representatives had passed which was a fence only measure.  By passing this legislation, they correctly decided to protect America first, and then work on other things.

Even though the vote was 80-19, Nancy Pelosi could not celebrate the achievements of Congress to protect the US.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the border security achievements trumpeted by Republicans don’t measure up to the more comprehensive reforms her party backed. What the GOP calls achievements fall “very far short of what Democrats have proposed over and over and over again,” she said.

If Pelosi did not like the bill which came through the Senate, maybe she should have used her position to influence more of her colleagues in the Senate to vote against this bill.  But the bill passed overwhelmingly.  The House Minority Speaker seems to think the GOP voted against a comprehensive plan because the Democrats supported it.  This is far from the truth.  Most of the House voted against Senate plan because it gave amnesty to illegal aliens.  Pelosi is looking at all the new voters who would immediately become voters.  She isn’t stupid.  Considering the voting history of Hispanics in the US, this would constitute boon for the Democrats.  John Zogby says Hispanics vote Democratic two to one over Republicans—advantage Democrats.  And this is what the Democratic plan was all about: increasing the number of voters who tend to vote for the Democratic Party.

Thank goodness, the House was able to see through this charade.  The politicians in Washington have a job to do—protecting the American people.  Everything else, including scheming for more votes, should be a distant second.

Tagworld has more on the issue of illegal immigration and the actions of Congress.

Tags: Immigration, Politics by Chuck
No Comments »

I don’t know what Mexican President Vicente Fox is smoking, but I want some.  The man is obviously delusional about the relationship between the United States and Mexico.

Mexico warned Thursday that the U.S. proposal to build miles of border fence will damage relations between the two countries.

What about the constant flow of illegal aliens into the United States from Mexico?  Is that hurting our relationship?  Fox openly supports the illegal migration of Mexicans into this country which is costing US taxpayers and hospitals billions.  According to the Center for Immigrations Studies, after taking into account how much in taxes illegals pay, the final cost to the federal government was $10 billion in 2002.

Among the largest costs are Medicaid ($2.5 billion); treatment for the uninsured ($2.2 billion); food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches ($1.9 billion); the federal prison and court systems ($1.6 billion); and federal aid to schools ($1.4 billion).

Giving amnesty to these illegal aliens only exacerbates the problem with the cost of illegal aliens almost tripling to $29 billion.  Vicente Fox is now saying he is concerned about the relationship between our two countries?  What about how much his people is costing the people of the United States?  If he is not concerned about the flow of illegals into this country, then why should the US be concerned about his problem with our fence?

While most of the citizens of the US could care less about how Mexico feels about the US protecting itself, the State Department with its share of Mexican sympathizers is worried about how Mexico feels.

The Foreign Relations Department said it was “deeply worried” about the proposal, which is working its way through the Senate, adding it will “increase tension in border communities.”

Oh, give me a break!  If Vicente Fox stops the flow of Mexican citizens into this country, we would not feel the need to build this wall.  Tension between our two countries is coming from the unending flow of illegal immigrants through the border towns and its cost on social services.  Tension has increased because people living on the border are afraid to go out at night.  Tension has increased because of the illegal drugs and other illegal activity these people bring to the US.

But we can rest easy.  Mexico already has a solution.  All the United States has to do is to implement the plan.

Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department said that only a comprehensive immigration reform would stop millions of Mexicans sneaking across its northern desert and swimming over the Rio Grande into the United States.

Let me translate.  ‘If all Mexicans became American citizens, they would not feel the need to sneak across the border into the US.’  Mexico’s economy is in shambles.  Until they can fix their problems, illegals will still want to come into the US seeking higher paying jobs.

I have to give kudos to the Mexican President.  He sure knows how to activate liberals in the US into supporting his cause.

President Vicente Fox has rallied against the wall, calling it “shameful” and comparing it to the Berlin Wall, which divided Germany.

I hope most Americans understand there is absolutely no relationship between why the Berlin Wall was built and why the US wants to build its southern border wall.  East Germany along with the help of the Soviet Union built the wall not to keep West Berliners out, but to keep East Berliners from fleeing into the West.  If the Southern Border Wall was like the Berlin Wall, Mexico would be building it instead of the United States for the purpose to keep their citizens from coming into America.

There is a reason why Vicente Fox is so adamant about this wall.  He knows what building the wall will cost Mexico.

There are an estimated 11 million Mexicans in the United States, about half of whom are illegal. Last year, Mexican migrants sent home more than $20 billion in remittances, providing Mexico with its second biggest source of foreign income after oil.

The United States shares the border with their third-world neighbor to the south.  Mexico has only two sources of income: oil and remittances from the US.  They have tremendous potential for their economy.  There is just one problem, corruption.  Until Mexico can end government corruption, their economy will never turn around.  Their people will always want to come to a better life inside the United States.  They will continue to lose some of their best and brightest through immigration to other countries.  In the end this unrelenting flow of people out of Mexico will ensure the country stays in the third-world.  Pointing their finger and blaming the US will solve none of their problems.  In fact, blaming America only postpones Mexico from having to deal with their problems.

But Mexico’s problems have become our problems.  The United States can no longer afford to accept Mexico’s poor, tired and down-trodden.  Until they can fix their economy, the US has to do something to stop this drain on our economy and social services.  Building a wall is just a part of that solution.

Tags: Immigration by Chuck
No Comments »

When most people think of illegal aliens, they think about someone fleeing from the economically depressed economy of Mexico and coming to the United States for a better life.  But more is involved than just sneaking across the border.  More is involved than these same illegals sending their children to school which is being financed by American taxpayers.  More is involved than these illegals depressing the wages of the lower wage earners.  These people many times do more than just illegally come into the United States; they also break laws to stay and work here.  To gain employment, the worker needs a social security number which for these illegal aliens can be bought in either the immigrant communities in the United States or in Mexico.  Unfortunately this opens a whole new world to the illegal alien, allowing them not only to gain employment, but to borrow money and obtain a credit card.  The New York Times has an article in which the author, John Leland, tries to ride the fence on this issue, justifying illegal aliens using these illegally obtained social security cards on one hand while admitting the problems on the other.

Camber Lybbert thought it was a mistake when her bank told her that her daughter’s Social Security number was on its files for two credit cards and two auto loans, with an outstanding balance of more than $25,000. Her daughter is 3 years old.

The Lybberts go on to say they only spent 30 hours a week for three or four months to clear the debt from their three year old daughter’s credit.  Only!  Thirty hours a week is a good part-time job.

The three year old girl is no longer responsible for the debt, but what they do not mention is that the entire episode is not cleared from her record, only explained.  Their daughter at the tender age of three already has a credit history, all because of an illegally obtain social security card by an illegal alien.

As far as I know, I have never had my social security card stolen, but I have had checks stolen from three different accounts.  I took more than two years to clear up that mess.  My daughter has had credit cards issued in her name to three different addresses all in the Hispanic area of my hometown.  That was four months ago and we are still fighting that battle including idiotic collection agencies who really think I should make payments on these delinquent accounts until the matter is resolved.  The police act is if they have better things to do than to chase down illegal aliens using fraudulently obtained social security cards. Social security theft is NOT a victimless crime.  Lives and credit histories can be ruined.

“It’s clear that it is a different intent or purpose than trying to get someone’s MasterCard and charge it up, knowing they’re going to get the bill,” said Richard Hamp, an assistant attorney general in Utah. “But it has some similarities. It goes on the other person’s credit record. Illegals are filing for bankruptcy, using someone else’s number. I had one 78-year-old with three defaults on houses she never owned.”

The Federal Trade Commission, which estimates that 10 million Americans have their identities stolen each year, does not distinguish between people who steal Social Security numbers so they can work and those who are out to steal money. Illegal immigrants make up nearly one of every 20 workers in America, according to estimates by the Pew Hispanic Center, and most are working under fraudulent Social Security numbers, which can be bought in any immigrant community or in Mexico.

These are huge numbers.  If the illegal aliens were content to just use these cards to obtain employment would be one thing, but to use them to borrow money and obtain credit cards is another thing entirely.  Lost in this discussion is that using an illegally obtained social security card is a felony and for good reason.  Lives can be destroyed by the improper use of these cards.

“We’ve had this ridiculous situation where, theoretically, this information could be shared and we could identify these people and repair the situation,” said Marti Dinerstein, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonprofit organization that supports tighter restrictions on immigration. “Falsely using a Social Security number is a felony. Our own federal agencies are working against those laws. The I.R.S. says privacy laws prevent them from sharing information. So we know who the guilty employers are. The I.R.S. knows who the guilty employees are. And nothing’s being done about it.”

The law which disallows the IRS from sharing this information with the proper authorities needs to change.  As the following paragraph shows, people’s lives are being damaged by the illegal use of social security numbers.

When the numbers belong to children, the problems can start when they turn 18, said Jay Foley, a founder and director of the Identity Theft Resource Center in San Diego, a nonprofit organization that helps victims and proposes legislation. “Now the child goes for student loans or jobs, and the companies say, ‘You’ve got a problem of bad credit. We aren’t going to touch you.’ ”

From now on, my daughter will have these falsely obtained credit cards and debt on her credit history and there is not a thing she can do about it.

Without going into the issue of how the illegal aliens broke the law to enter this country, what does all of this mean?  It means that illegal aliens are not just depressing wages, they are not just absorbing social funds intended for Americans for welfare, for hospitalization and to educate their children.  Illegal aliens are also using illegally obtained social security cards and are ruining lives by borrowing money with an assumed identity with no intention of paying the debt.  When most illegal aliens are using these illegally obtained social security numbers, this is not a victimless crime.  This is yet another reason to oppose illegal immigration.

Tags: Immigration by Chuck
No Comments »

This is good.  A man from Maryland writes to his Senator, Sarbanes, in the hopes of becoming an illegal alien to avoid paying income taxes for two years.  I like it!

Tags: Immigration by Chuck
No Comments »

ICE official rounded up approximately 2100 illegal aliens with 75 of them coming from Illinois. So what do these same illegal ingrates do, they take to the streets demanding our law enforcement officers ignore the law and leave them alone. Where else but the US is such actions tolerated? Nowhere but here.

Thousands of people supporting more lenient treatment of illegal immigrants marched through downtown Chicago and rallied at the lakefront Wednesday, calling for a moratorium on deportations.

The marchers passed through downtown in waves, some chanting “We are Americans!” and others hoisting U.S. flags and signs with messages such as “Deportation equals broken families” and “We build your American dream.”

If these illegal aliens were Americans, they would not face deportation, would they?

An interesting side note is what Mexico has to do to accommodate these illegals deported back. I can not say I am surprized at the results. US citizens have had to endure the same kind of problems because of the influx of illegal aliens.

Up to a dozen times a day, a white bus pulls up across the border from Nogales and unloads migrants the Border Patrol in Arizona has caught trying to enter the U.S. illegally. The deportees flood the city’s shelters and strain public services as they try to raise money for another illegal crossing. Increasing numbers of them have come from southern Mexico and Central America, drawn by rumors of amnesty.

Last month, the deployment of the U.S. National Guard on the border made it even tougher to cross illegally, compounding problems for the city. The deportees engender suspicion and resentment from longtime residents.

“Our crime rate has been going up because the only thing they’ve got is the clothes on their back,” said Mayor Lorenzo de la Fuente. The cost of illegal immigration “keeps going up and up…. We can’t handle it. (snip)

Most migrants deported here arrive penniless. While staying at shelters, they depend on food provided by the city. If they’re injured, the city pays for their medical care. They clog the emergency room at the public hospital. And when they pry hubcaps off cars to trade for food, the city’s police arrest them and the city’s jail houses them.

Wow. If I had not read where this occurred, I would have been sure this had occurred in one of the towns in the US being overrun by illegals. The issue of illegal immigration is not just a US problem, it is also a Mexican problem. There is a reason why so many people are wanting to leave their home country, fix those problems, build up the economy, discourage corruption and the people will stay.

Tags: Immigration by Chuck
No Comments »

England marked the anniversary of the 7/7 attacks with two minutes of silence.  Only problem is countries like Great Britain have been silent for way too long.  People in the US had to deal with 9/11.  Australia had the Bali bombings.  On and on I could go.  There is one, I repeat one, common denominator in all these attacks: the perpetrators were all Muslim extremists.

Britain had dealt with Irish Republican Army attacks for decades and had endured the bombing of a U.S. airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 that killed 270 people. But last summer’s bombings plunged Britons into the new era of terrorism that began with the Sept. 11 attacks — an act that had led Britain to become the strongest ally in the U.S.-led fight against terror.

Britain also was forced to examine the implications of its multiculturalism: All four suicide bombers were young British Muslims — three born in Britain of Pakistani origin and one a Jamaica-born convert who grew up in central England.

One of the London bombers was shown in a video released Friday on the Internet, saying that non-Muslims in Britain had declared war on Islam.

Terrorism committed in the name of Islam has led many to wonder whether, in the post-Cold War era, the world is gripped by another clash of civilizations — one in which the values of Western liberal democracies are in irreconcilable conflict with those of Muslims, whose numbers are growing across Europe.

We are in a war of survival for our nation and our way of life.  If these people had their way, sharia law would be instituted immediately.  Then we could forget about freedom of religion, there would only be one religion—Islam.  We could forget about freedom of the press, Imams would determine what was worthy of print.  You could forget about a fair trial, the Second Amendment, and all the other rights we hold so dear.  They will be a thing of history and soon forgotten since historians could only study Islam.

What do Muslims who are enjoying the freedoms of Great Britain have to think?  Take a look at this.  After the 7/7 bombings, a significant percentage of the Muslims living in Great Britain feel the terrorist acts were justified.

Just in time for the one-year anniversary of 7/7, a poll conducted for The Times of London indicates that 13 percent of British Muslims believe that the four Islamic suicide bombers who murdered 52 people in London last July should be regarded as “martyrs.”

With a Muslim population in Britain estimated at 1.6 million, this means that some 208,000 British Muslims regard these killers with what can only be described as a worshipful attitude, which is despicable. But Mother England, it seems, is home to an awful lot of despicable people.

England will not get serious about those who espouse violence.  Take for example a recent protest march by these same violence advocators who led a march to the Danish embassy in London carrying signs.

“Behead Those Who Insult Islam,” said one placard. “Slay Those Who Insult Islam,” said another. “Kill Those Who Insult Islam” and, for variety, “Butcher Those Who Mock Islam,” said others. Hundreds of demonstrators marched through London, praising the 7/7 killers or calling for the murder of journalists who publish Mohammed cartoons. And the police stood by.

More accurately, they [the London Police] made sure the protest went off smoothly, as the Times Online reported. “People who tried to snatch away [the placards] were held back by police,” the newspaper reported. “Several members of the public tackled senior police officers guarding the protesters, demanding to know why they allowed banners that praised the ‘Magnificent 19′ — the terrorists who hijacked the aircrafts used on September 11, 2001 — and others threatening further attacks on London.”

And to believe there are people on the left who advocate the position that the US is the greatest threat to peace and world stability in the world.  These people with the tin hats had better realize real quick who the enemy really is.  While I fault the extremist Islamists for the terrorist acts, I also fault those on the left who fail to realize we as a nation are in extreme danger due to the terrorists.  As more and more Muslims stream into our country so do those who would love to see the US crippled.  These extremists will just as readily saw off the head of a flower carrying liberal as they would an American soldier.

Make no mistake about it, we are at war.  Those who advocate violence need to be jailed if they are an American citizen or deported if they are not.  Either way, we must start protecting ourselves against extreme Islam.  Otherwise this country may be unrecognizable in the few short years it takes to institute sharia law.

Tags: Democracy, Moonbats, Immigration, War by Chuck
No Comments »

Shhhhhh, don’t tell anybody the National Guard troops stationed along the border between Mexico and the US are not armed.

The U.S. Border Patrol in Arizona saw a significant decrease in illegal immigrant apprehensions in June, with news of the deployment of National Guard troops credited with driving immigrants into other regions and more remote areas.

Alright!  With National Guard troops stationed on the border there are less illegal immigrants crossing the border.  Not quite.  Turns out the illegals are crossing in less traveled areas.  Which means less apprehensions and more of them dying.

At the same time, rescues of migrants and deaths increased or remained unchanged compared with the same period a year earlier, and immigrant rights groups blamed the increased border security for riskier behavior by migrants.

Let me get this right.  Because we want to guard our borders against those who try to immigrate here illegally, it is our fault if they die while trying to cross in a remote area.  Seems to me, if these people are taking a chance with their own lives if they try to cross is a remote desert region.

Frankly, I don’t see how the illegal aliens don’t make it across into the US.  After all, they are given a lot of help.

To make sure their citizens avoid captured, Mexican aurthorities are give these illegals a lot of help including money, intelligence data on where sheriffs deputies patrol, and who to call if they get into trouble.  Witnesses say it is someone from the Mexican Consulate who is helping out.  Interestingly the one who these invaders are supposed to call if they get into trouble is John McCain.

Don’t know if this information is true of not, but the author claims he interviewed more than 50 illegals for this story.

Tags: Immigration by Chuck
2 Comments »

The Minutemen on the border have been getting a bad rap lately.  They have been accused of everything from being vigilantes to killing these poor Mexican whose only crime was wanting a better life.  This is part of this story which is not receiving enough exposure.

“Our wide-open borders present an attractive nuisance to those wishing to enter this country illegally. It is not physically possible to carry enough water to cross the vast expanse of desert between Arizona and Mexico, which causes death by dehydration for many who attempt to cross. The Minutemen have provided hundreds of gallons of water to those illegally entering this country each time we perform a stationary border watch operation and unfortunately we have found numerous dead bodies in the desert. Due to the forecasts of 110+ degree heat this weekend, we will have mobile units scouting trails where illegal entrants traverse and the lay-up sites where they assemble awaiting transportation into the interior of the United States. We will actively patrol these routes to render life-saving aid while reporting these illegal activities to the proper authorities.

“Not unlike someone who builds a fence to prohibit neighbors from the attractive nuisance presented by an unprotected swimming pool in their backyard, our vulnerable borders offer a lure to those wishing to enter this country illegally, who are not informed by their human smugglers of the jeopardy to their lives posed by an extended trip across the desert, especially in 110+ degree heat. As our government has thus far refused to do the humane thing and secure our borders, the Minutemen will use mobile search and rescue patrols to offer life-saving aid while reporting illegal entrants to the Border Patrol.”

The Minutemen are engaging in life-saving measures to those who dare to cross an extremely hot and dry border area.  I guess they do have a humane side despite what Vicente Fox says.  Once our border with Mexico is secure, Mexicans will not try to attempt this dangerous crossing knowing they can not cross into the United States.

Tags: Immigration by Chuck
No Comments »