At Last! All Illegal Immigrants to be expelled.

[BillSears]

I'm just thankful that America didn't do this years ago - or my/DH's ancestors would still be in Ireland, England, Germany, Poland, Russia, etc.

I know that my ancestors came over legally, I've got a copy of the Elis Island paperwork. I suspect yours did too. If you crack down on illegal immigration you then have more spots open for legal immigration.

 

[barkley]

i don't see it happening if only by virtue of those that have children born in the united states. those u.s. born children will have legal advocates lining up to argue that they cannot be forced from their "home country" nor can they be forced from their parent's custody based on their parent's lack of legality status.

and just to put one issue straight-illegal aliens (or as they are referred to in government regulations "non-documented") are not eligible to any form of cash assistance, food stamps or medical assitance that is funding with tax dollars. they cannot, as with all u.s. citizens, be turned away from a hospital when emergency treatment is needed (this is why many undocs seek no prenatal treatment and wait until labor is well underway to go to an e.r.). privatly funded clinics, health centers and the like are not mandated regarding who they treat so they can chose the population they serve).

someone asked about how low wage earning individuals manage to make it-in my experience (worked in "welfare" and supervised a unit that carried all the undoc parent/u.s. citizen kid cases) the multi-member household concept kicked in big time. several families in one home with members working multiple low paying jobs, providing childcare for eachother, pooling monies, sharing resources...

this is a real hot topic here in california. voters overwhelmingly voted a few years back to stave off school cuts by limiting/stopping educational access and services to non u.s. citizen kids but it got overthrown on appeal. but we live in a state that is reliant on non u.s. citizen labor...so i don't see much changing anytime soon.

 

[Honu]

I wouldn't really have anything against illegals if they weren't costing us taxpayers tons of money. They're getting benefits-- they can use our hospitals. I don't think that's right.

The State of California would grind to a halt if all the undocumented workers were ejected. Some do receive free care, but many of them pay taxes under false identities and never receive any benefits. I do have a problem with people that immigrate here just to partake in our social services, however I see a lot more eastern european immigrants abusing the system in California than Hispanics. We need the help, they do the work. We just need a system to regulate it, so we aren't exploiting anyone.

 

[dennis99ss]

Ah yes, Ellis Island. Where anyone could come, sign in, take a medical test, and be allowed in. Today, we don't do that.


To those who say the child should be sent back....Just throw that constitution out the window, huh?

To you who say I'll pay a few dollars more....Probably more than a few. Look at housing costs between the south, and the midwest or east.

Look at the work force, etc. There is a substantial difference. In the south, there is a lack of desire of white, or black, to take lower paying jobs that are labor intensive. Without the immigrants, the economy would fail.

But, it sure makes everybody feel good about themselves in these days where the over riding concern is for me, me and me, to come out and state that all illegals should be thrown back across the border. I am doing ok, so, I don't want to have to deal with those lower classes of people.

 

[lyeag]

Ah yes, Ellis Island. Where anyone could come, sign in, take a medical test, and be allowed in. Today, we don't do that.


To those who say the child should be sent back....Just throw that constitution out the window, huh?

To you who say I'll pay a few dollars more....Probably more than a few. Look at housing costs between the south, and the midwest or east.

Look at the work force, etc. There is a substantial difference. In the south, there is a lack of desire of white, or black, to take lower paying jobs that are labor intensive. Without the immigrants, the economy would fail.

But, it sure makes everybody feel good about themselves in these days where the over riding concern is for me, me and me, to come out and state that all illegals should be thrown back across the border. I am doing ok, so, I don't want to have to deal with those lower classes of people.

Really? You think that is what it is? We don't want to deal with a lower class of people? How about we don't want to deal with people breaking the law? If they want to come so badly, fine. Do it the right way. As for people lacking the drive to take those kinds of jobs, tough. Take a job or get off welfare. (if medically possible) I have done PLENTY of crap jobs in my life before I got where I am today. I have worked for minimum wage, and worked in plenty of service type jobs. I have always told my kids I would hang off the back of a garbage truck if meant putting food on the table. I have no sympathy for people who believe jobs are beneath them. And yes, as I posted earlier, I would work in a sewer if I absolutely had to. I didn't say I would like it. I am sure it would motivate me to try to find something else as quickly as I could.

 

[Simba's Mom]

They get about $100 cash for a 8-10 hour day where I live. I can't see how this can be enforced when we make it so enticing for them to come here. They get cash to send back home, medical care if they get hurt, easy to get booze and drugs if they are so inclined, and since Spanish is rapidly becoming our second language, no language barriers anywhere. Not only will the illegal problem not be stopped, I think it will get worse.

Right on! I live in an area with a major illegal immigration problem. It's not unusual when I'm sitting in my car at a train crossing to have the illegals waving from the box cars as the train goes by. Medical care around here is outrageously expensive. Why? We have to supplement all the illegals who show up at hospitals and can't pay. Schools are overcrowded and underfunded. Yes, illegals usually get paid in cash, because they don't have social security cards (well, most of them. Sometimes they use identity theft and get one, so don't leave your mail in your mail box, but I digress). Then where does that cash go? Back to the families in Mexico. People say immigrants do jobs Americans won't. So why is unemployment so high around here? Because why hire someone you have to pay minimum wage and taxes when you can pay cash to an illegal. And if you say "But then the employer gets in trouble." Maybe when someone gets round tuit. And don't get into an auto accident. Chances are the other person doesn't have insurance or a driver's liscence. So he can't be found even if the accident's his fault. Sorry, climbing off my soapbox now. I so hope someone's going to do something about illegal immigration.

 

[CheshireVal]

I think a lot of people are missing the point of the word "illegal" here. Illegal is illegal. I've said it a thousand times on this board, and I'll say it again: my father came here from Germany *legally.* My Aussie husband and I just spent $800 to file paperwork with the immigration bureau so that he can be here *legally*. Until he gets his green card, he's got major restrictions on how he's allowed to work, so we're really struggling financially. (He is currently on a student visa and can only work on campus for a maximum of 20 hours a week).

Turning a blind eye to the thousands of illegal immigrants already here and letting them work wherever they want to is a slap in the face to those who are really making an effort to go about living here via legal channels.

You can go to any gas station at 7am here in Atlanta and see dozens of Hispanic males waiting around for work. Do you really think they're all here legally? Right. After seeing exactly how hard it was for my husband to make it to the US, I seriously doubt it. Meanwhile, we count up DH's hours at work obsessively because he can't work more than 20 hours for fear of violating his visa conditions and being deported.

The government has to know all these people are here illegally and they don't care. No one does anything about it, and I'm sick of it.

 

[DawnCt1]

How am I part of the problem might I ask? And how are you part of the cure?

What I'm asking is this - the jobs that nobody else wants but have to be done, who is going to do them? I'm not condoning illegals, but what I'm saying is it's just not that easy of wiping them all out of the US. There are repurcussions. If someone thinks you can take these workers out of the US, fill in w/ willing legal workers then you're not living the reality of the service industry of the US.

They can enter the country legally on work visas. We have many Jamaicans that do so every year in Ct.

 

[DawnCt1]

So how are we going to support all of these people that come swarming in here if we allowed open immigration? Where are they going to live? Who's going to pay for their medical care or pay for the uninsured Americans who come down with any illness the new arrivals might have brought in with them? Perhaps Mr Big Bucks earning sewage wader?

Not to mention the fact that opening our borders or being less than vigilant with illegal immigrants is putting a big Welcome sign on our foreheads for more terrorist attacks.

Who is going to be paying their medical bills? The same people who have been paying their medical bills. The tax payer. Since hospitals can turn no one away, illegals are draining medical assets, they are a burden on the schools and responsible for a lot of the debt that California has incurred.

 

[DawnCt1]

And U.S. citizens will work the jobs left by the illegals if the pay is right. Yeah, we'll pay a bit more for goods and services, but I'm willing to pay a few more bucks for a tree or bush or to build a house if illegals are not working those jobs.

I.

Hopefully the absence of so many illegal aliens will help to mitigate the costs that the local, state and federal governments incurr due to their presencel the increase use of unpaid hospital bills, the drain on public schools, the increase in crime,etc It may well be a zero sum game.

 

[DawnCt1]

I am curious....I see alot of the immigrant work force...does anyone know what they make? Is it by the day or hour or job? Really would like to know this!

In Ct. in the shade tobacco farms, the immigrant farmers make more than the teens that are hired to supplement the work force because they are more productive. The kids around here make $8.75 per hour.

 

[DawnCt1]

Ah, I see. So, even though these children are legal US citizens, you would deny them their rights to an education, and make them pay for the "sins of the father"?


I'm all for legal immigration too. It's just that expulsion of all illegals is not as simple as you think.

I think the policy of children who were born here of illegal immigrant parents who crossed the boarder in order to have a child who was a citizen, clearly needs to be revisited. It is a ridiculous policy that no longer makes sense.

 

[diznygirl]

Ah yes, Ellis Island. Where anyone could come, sign in, take a medical test, and be allowed in. Today, we don't do that.


To those who say the child should be sent back....Just throw that constitution out the window, huh?

To you who say I'll pay a few dollars more....Probably more than a few. Look at housing costs between the south, and the midwest or east.

Look at the work force, etc. There is a substantial difference. In the south, there is a lack of desire of white, or black, to take lower paying jobs that are labor intensive. Without the immigrants, the economy would fail.

But, it sure makes everybody feel good about themselves in these days where the over riding concern is for me, me and me, to come out and state that all illegals should be thrown back across the border. I am doing ok, so, I don't want to have to deal with those lower classes of people.

It's a little more complicated than this. Simba's Mom is right about the financial stress that the undocumented illegal immigrants have on the area in which they live. The biggest problem is that "undocumented" THEY DO NOT PAY TAXES. I emphasize that part because it seems to get missed in the rush to wrap our arms around the poor and downtrodden immigrant who just wants to make an honest day's wages. The whole system centers around the needs of the people - healthcare and education - that the people are not paying for. Documented Americans who also work for an honest day's wages are paying taxes for their children to go to school, and for the illegal's children to go to school. Economically, the system CANNOT support this.

 

[DawnCt1]

I'm just thankful that America didn't do this years ago - or my/DH's ancestors would still be in Ireland, England, Germany, Poland, Russia, etc.

Like your ancestors, mine got to this country legally. That's the operative word.

 

[DawnCt1]

however I see a lot more eastern european immigrants abusing the system in California than Hispanics. .

The pattern of Eastern Europeans abusing the system has been noted here as well. There are towns in Western Mass. where they tend to settle. They absorb a lot of the local resources and have problems that consume a lot of social services.

 

[DawnCt1]

But, it sure makes everybody feel good about themselves in these days where the over riding concern is for me, me and me, to come out and state that all illegals should be thrown back across the border. I am doing ok, so, I don't want to have to deal with those lower classes of people.

It would certainly make sense for Mexico to enhance their own economy and keep their productive workers in the Mexico instead of relying on the underground economy to feed its citizens. It has nothing to do with not wanting to be around "lower class people", The USA has its share of "lower class people" regardless of income. It has to do with allowing free access to people who are unidentified, carry no auto or health insurance, and use our resources without any cost to them. If Mexicans can cross the boarder easily and without identification, than that leaves the boarders open to all kinds of people who wish to do us harm.

 

[Sparx]

Economically, the system CANNOT support this.

The system can't support it any way you slice it. If they are all deported and the jobs they work are lost, we have no one to work those jobs. These people are working the jobs that other people don't want to work. No matter what happens, the system can't support this.

 

[barkley]

o.k. i'm going to be a s*** disturber and add more fuel to the fire...

napa (california) unified school district has a large population of u.s. citizen kids with undoc. parents (most work in the wine industry) but these kids are in no way the majority of attending students. the school district notices a several year trend wherein these kids miss the entire week of school following christmas vacation, they reasearch and find out it is because their families have a tradition of traveling to mexico for an extended holiday visit. the school district loses out on funding for these unauthroized absences so they devise the "solution"....extend the school year by a week and increase christmas vacation to 3 weeks.

the parents of the majority of the students are agast-many take no vacation days during the year in order to have supervision for their kids during the christmas and spring breaks. childcare for limited time placements cost immense amounts of money (not even counting the registration fees to sign kids up for them) and the demand for childcare far exceeds the availablity. the parents show the district the hard numbers on the financial hardship this change in policy will cause to the majority of families. the school board sticks to it's guns and sez "deal with it".

p.s. as far as i am aware the district has not created any type of vacation programing that these kids can attend "not cost effective".

 

[septbride2002]

It's all so easy for Mr. Chertoff to talk about taking action (finally!) on illegal immigration -- a problem that's been ignored for way too many years by too many administrations. But actually doing something is completely different. I have a sad feeling this is just a lot of "smoke and mirrors" because of the mounting criticism on this issue from a number of conservative talking heads.

ITA!

 

[Annam26]

The State of California would grind to a halt if all the undocumented workers were ejected. Some do receive free care, but many of them pay taxes under false identities and never receive any benefits. I do have a problem with people that immigrate here just to partake in our social services, however I see a lot more eastern european immigrants abusing the system in California than Hispanics. We need the help, they do the work. We just need a system to regulate it, so we aren't exploiting anyone.

You are correct. It's really unfair -not to mention false- to say that undocumented immigrants "receive benefits without giving anything in return", when in fact they are the ones who may keep SS going for the foreseeable future.

http://www.civilrights.org/issues/immigration/details.cfm?id=29800

Illegal Immigrants Are Bolstering Social Security With Billions
April 5, 2005



Eduardo Porter
The New York Times


Since illegally crossing the Mexican border into the United States six years ago, Ángel Martínez has done backbreaking work, harvesting asparagus, pruning grapevines and picking the ripe fruit. More recently, he has also washed trucks, often working as much as 70 hours a week, earning $8.50 to $12.75 an hour.

Not surprisingly, Mr. Martínez, 28, has not given much thought to Social Security's long-term financial problems. But Mr. Martínez - who comes from the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico and hiked for two days through the desert to enter the United States near Tecate, some 20 miles east of Tijuana - contributes more than most Americans to the solvency of the nation's public retirement system.

Last year, Mr. Martínez paid about $2,000 toward Social Security and $450 for Medicare through payroll taxes withheld from his wages. Yet unlike most Americans, who will receive some form of a public pension in retirement and will be eligible for Medicare as soon as they turn 65, Mr. Martínez is not entitled to benefits.

He belongs to a big club. As the debate over Social Security heats up, the estimated seven million or so illegal immigrant workers in the United States are now providing the system with a subsidy of as much as $7 billion a year.