Immigration--A Source for Entrepreneurial Innovation

American voter

Are we talking about immigrants or "undocumented" illegal aliens? The US already generously admits over 1 million immigrants a year. If companies have a legitimate need for scientists or engineers from India or China etc., we can talk about this (although we already have many guest worker and visa programs).

But by shilling for an "easy, transparent path to legal citizenship in this country" for the estimated and generally low skilled 12 million + illegal aliens (who have not respected our laws and waited in line like immigrants have), this author is downplaying and ignoring the negative impacts that such a mass amnesty would have (one study estimates the cost of another amnesty at $2.6 trillion) and the costs that Americans have to pay so some groups can profit from mass illegal immigration and cheap labor.

For example, a CIS study found that "households headed by illegal aliens imposed more than $26.3 billion in costs on the federal government in 2002 and paid only $16 billion in taxes, creating a net fiscal deficit of almost $10.4 billion, or $2,700 per illegal household."

And in March 2008, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich noted that with "$220 million for public safety, $400 million for healthcare, and $420 million in welfare allocations, the total cost for illegal immigrants to County taxpayers far exceeds $1 billion a year – not including the millions of dollars for education."

These are just two of many examples that show the high cost of cheap labor.

In our current state of fiscal disarray, record deficits, and with 10 million Americans out of work, this is NOT the time to be talking about another amnesty -- "pathway" or otherwise. Our government must fulfill its obligations promised in the 1986 amnesty and finally start to consistently enforce immigration laws.

Taxpaying American of CO @ Nov 19, 2008 17:44:52 PM