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Kalifornia and Illegal Aliens

Posted by Playful Walrus on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 6:00:00 PM
Most of the letters printed in today's Los Angeles Times deal with issues surrounding illegal aliens, prompted by earlier items in the paper.

Haydee Pavia of Laguna Woods wrote:
Our immigration system is not broken, and we don't need immigration reform. It is our government that is broken, and we need government reform.
We need to move away from socialism and towards free markets; away from payroll taxes.

David Eggenschwiler of Los Angeles wrote:
Let us have strong border control,
Yes.
but let us also have legalization of long-term illegal immigrants
Only if they have otherwise been law-abiding or they have served admirably in our armed forces, and only if the border has been secured.

Bob Braley of Bakersfield wrote:
Remittances are a huge drain on the state and federal levels. The amount of money leaving the country is enormous.
Yes.  While we are subsidizing the education, health care, emergency services, legal protections, recreation, housing, meals, transportation, and utilities of illegal aliens and their children, they are sending money out of the country.  If someone has money to send out of the country, they are not in need of taxpayer subsidies and shouldn't be receiving them.

Wendy Velasco of Whittier wrote:
Private charities provide spotty help at best. Taxes are the fairest way to spread the cost around.
Hey, because government programs have worked so well and efficiently and have eliminated want!

Cristina Martinez-Thompson of Signal Hill wrote:
Why is it that during times of economic crisis, the most vulnerable are blamed?
You're right.  We should be focusing on illegal aliens all of the time.
What about those of the legal population committing welfare fraud, Medicare fraud and Social Security fraud?
We should go after them, too.
These vulnerable workers do pay taxes. When they purchase items, they are paying sales tax.
There are many, many other taxes.  On the whole, these people cost a lot of more than they are contributing.
We cannot underestimate the significance of contributions these illegal immigrants make to the farming/agricultural/food processing/packaging business.
I'd gladly pay more for food out of the savings we'd get if we were spending less on prosecuting and incarcerating illegal aliens, educating illegal aliens, infrastructure for illegal aliens, and health care for illegal aliens.

Tim Aaronson of El Cerrito wrote:
The standout in the recitation of costs because of illegal immigration is the portrait of Delia Godinez and her five children. The family receives $650 each month from the state's CalWorks program, $500 in federal food stamps and other vouchers and unmentioned thousands in public schooling benefits. This is for one illegal immigrant family.
The public schooling would be about $60,000 per year.  This means they are getting about $73,800 in tax benefits, not counting other public services.

Tony Stengel of Los Angeles wrote about quality of life:
Even parking becomes impossible when half of my neighbors are living nine people in a one-bedroom place with five cars outside.
Yeah, it's more than just the money.

Congressperson Maxine Waters wrote:
As a member of Congress, I work hard to make sure that federal funding for school districts is maximized so this center and other area schools can best serve our students and communities.
How about keeping the federal government from taking the money out of California in the first place?
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Another Self-Deporting Story

Posted by Playful Walrus on Monday, December 15, 2008 12:57:22 PM
Some illegal aliens from Mexico are going back to Mexico, and some people who are here legally don’t plan on staying here illegally.  It really isn't all that many, especially when you consider the millions who are here illegally.  Yet the Associated Press has a story by Ivan Moreno anyway.
Layoffs, dwindling job opportunities, anti-immigrant sentiment and the crackdown on illegal immigrants are forcing hard choices on many Mexican nationals in Colorado.
Is there really a lot of anti-immigrant sentiment out there?  I don't think so.  There are plenty of people who do not like illegal aliens filling our schools and hospitals and roads and jails using bogus documents.  Illegal aliens are not immigrants.  At least not in the legal defition.
Rico said what is known is that Mexicans are moving to other U.S. states - often places that historically have not seen a large population of Mexicans. They include North Carolina, Georgia, Idaho and Alaska, Rico said.

Whether for economic or anti-immigrant reasons, Rico said, "People are looking for alternatives within the United States."
They are going to follow the gravy.
Nationally, remittances to Mexico are down, as is Mexican emigration to the U.S.
Good.
August remittances totaled $1.9 billion, down 12 percent from August 2007, Mexico's Central Bank says. It's the first drop since the bank began tracking remittances in 1996.
And that’s not counting all of the money sent back by a longshot.

I don’t mind anyone coming to our country and staying, as long as they are here to be productive members of society.  I do not want people coming here and engaging in crime, including identity theft.  I don't want someone coming here and taking more – in the use of public infrastructure and services – than they are contributing via taxes.

We still need effective border control.


(Ooh, I must be insecure in my citizenship, since I am talking about illegal aliens.  At least, that’s according to the claims of some homosexuality advocates who don’t like what I write.)
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On Illegal Aliens

Posted by Playful Walrus on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 12:15:50 AM
We were successful in killing the shamnesty legislation, and then we ended up with two candidates for President who had both supported it, and the issue dropped off of the 2008 election radar.

The experts say shamnesty for illegal aliens is now a certainty.  We will see.  I think more Americans would be willing to consider another amnesty program if we see our borders realistically secured.

We don’t want a repeat of what happened after the 1986 amnesty, where border security was promised but not delivered.

We need to have a reasonably secured international border to the sake of security.  As long as we have taxpayer-funded welfare programs, education, and infrastructure, we also need to control immigration for our fiscal health.  I would be more in favor of libertarian-style wide open borders if we had a libertarian employment, education, infrastructure, and social welfare system.

Dropping this issue in an effort to get Latino votes has proven futile.  Instead of pandering to people by national origin or ethnicity, we should stick to the rule of law being important.  Plenty of Latinos respect that, and the ones who don't won't vote our way anyway.

Here are some of my previous entries on illegal alien issues:

Truly Comprehensive Immigration Reform

How to Get Us to Stop Caring About the Illegal Alien Issue

Three Red Herrings in the Illegal Alien Fight
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Doing the Kidnapping Americans Won’t Do

Posted by Playful Walrus on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 12:16:34 PM
Lizbeth Diaz reports on how our wonderful neighbors to the south are expanding their Culture of Kidnapping into the U.S.  Nope… no border control needed, right?
American businesswoman Veronica was stepping out of her car in California when two men forced her into the passenger seat at gunpoint, pushed her teenage daughter into the back and drove them into Mexico.

Taking advantage of lax Mexican security at the San Diego border, and with U.S. authorities focused mainly on those entering the United States, the kidnappers took the two women to Tijuana in January and held them for a month before their family paid a $100,000 ransom.
Lovely.  The gangs and the corrupt officials are making things scary for Americans in the U.S.  It is bad enough that they send their uneducated poor here to live off of our foolishly socialist system.
"We have seen an increase in the number of kidnappings of U.S. citizens in Tijuana, including cross-border abductions," said FBI special agent Darrell Foxworth in San Diego.

Several Americans have also been kidnapped in Texas this year and held for ransom in Mexico, the FBI said.
Enough is enough.  Boycott Mexico.  And don’t let them export their corruption and gangs to us anymore.
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The Los Angeles Times Cries About Enforced Immigration Laws

Posted by Playful Walrus on Thursday, June 12, 2008 12:32:43 PM
The Los Angeles Times, which fails to distinguish between (legal) immigration and an influx of illegal aliens, and supports both, ran an editorial that makes me want to break out the air violin.
On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it will require federal contractors to ensure the immigration status of employees through its E-Verify system. It's a reasonable step -- and that may be the problem. As immigration hawks have gone from triumph to triumph, the rest of us have had to adjust our views of what reasonable behavior is.
In a country that has countless workplace regulations and where we have a system that relies on payroll taxes, when has  verifying someone is here legally before employing them appeared unreasonable?  Especially when these people will be working on federal projects?
And although Chertoff's claim that E-Verify is "99.5%" accurate seems overstated (a new Government Accountability Office report indicates that the system produces uncertain results 8% of the time, and a 2006 report cited a 4% error rate in Social Security records, which E-Verify relies on),
Perhaps due to identity theft?  Regardless, “uncertain results” 8% of the time is better than uncertainty 100% of the time.
the collateral damage may be less troubling than the damage to the country's sense of itself.
I can sense these people are grasping for straws.  They don’t like enforcing immigration laws, but they can’t explain why exactly.  So they make vague appeals to emotion and our desire to "be nice".
As we hustle to show resolve in the immigration "crisis,"
Yeah, you’re right.  It isn’t a real crisis like our court-created water shortage or melting ice in the arctic.  Overcrowded schools with kids who don't know English, gang warfare, overcrowded jails, overcrowded roads, emergency rooms shutting down... those aren't real problems.
we're getting used to the idea that all private endeavor is subject to Washington's prior approval.
WHAT?!?  Did I just read the Los Angeles Times advocate for free market private enterprise without federal interference?  This may be the only area where they do that.
What kind of country do we want?
One where immigrants and taxpayers aren’t screwed over by illegal aliens.
A few years ago, a border wall would have seemed a relic from medieval China or Central Europe in the totalitarian era.
Maybe on September 10, 2001.
Some codgers may remember when you didn't have to give your "Social" for every purpose under heaven (and for now, E-Verify remains voluntary for strictly private business), but that option is rapidly dying as well.
Yeah, well, some people criticized Social Security from the beginning, but your paper would consider such people extremists.
Should the government cede so much ground to an anti-immigration mob that shows no signs of being appeasable?
Most people who want to clamp down in the influx of illegal aliens are not anti-immigration.  And we ARE appeasable.  Secure the border, deport non-citizens who commit serious crimes, and either do enforcement in the workplace or get out of the payroll tax system and employer/employee relationship entirely.  For the most part, we will be appeased then.
Border crossings are down, conditions for illegal immigrants have worsened and workplaces all over the country have been shut down.
Have any workplaces been shut down for more than a day or two?  Legal workers fill the spots vacated by arrested illegal aliens.  What about prisons?  Hospitals?  Schools?  Traffic?  Utilities usage?
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Want Us To Stop Caring About Illegal Aliens Coming/Staying Here?

Posted by Playful Walrus on Tuesday, May 06, 2008 12:58:42 PM
Some people want us to stop focusing on the illegal alien problem, because they want to keep illegal aliens here.  The Democrats want them to add them (legally) to their voting base, and employers want cheap labor without having to move operations out of the country.  Then there are the illegal aliens themselves, who understandably want to get as much as they can for as little as possible, and have gotten away with staying here for so long.

But we do still care about the illegal alien problem.  We do not want shamnesty because that only made things worse the last time.  We want enforcement.  We demand enforcement.

Do you want us to stop caring so much about this issue?

I would care a lot less about keeping out illegal aliens if:

1. We control the border to keep terrorists, WMD, and communicable diseases out of the country.

2. We stop collecting payroll taxes, and get government out of the relationship between the employer and the employee, except where actual crimes have been committed, such as contract fraud.  Two people voluntarily negotiating compensation and working conditions should not be a crime.

3. We no longer use any income tax or any other tax money that can’t be equally collected from illegal aliens for health care, all forms of financial assistance, schools, government buildings, public works, etc.  User fees, fines, sales taxes, property taxes, gas taxes, and utility taxes are acceptable.

4. We bill an illegal alien's country of citizenship for the cost of their prosecution/incarceration should they commit a crime, and for any civil judgments and fines the individual fails to pay.

5. We verify someone is a citizen before they can register to vote, and we verify their identity when they vote.

Get all that done, I will have little problem with illegal aliens going about their lives here,

We currently have a way of life designed for citizens, immigrants (legal), and visitors such as business professionals, tourists, and students.  It does not work when we are flooded with unskilled, poor, uneducated illegal aliens who need government assistance to do anything outside of the workplace and use stolen identities.

But since my five points are unlikely to be put into place, we need serious border enforcement, workplace verification, and deportation of illegal aliens who commit additional serious crimes.  If those are all done effectively, the illegal alien problem will correct itself.  Either people will self-deport, or they will grow old and die out, and their children will be citizens by birth.  We will not have a massive influx of additional illegal aliens if we hold the line on shamnesty, and there will be no need for it.  Those “living in the shadows”  right now (as they march in the streets, no less) came and stayed here illegally by their choice of their parents’ choice, and we have no obligation to accommodate them.

If employers truly can’t find enough citizens and immigrants to staff their operations, then we can grant more temporary work visas to bring in workers from across the border.

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Truly Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Posted by Playful Walrus on Wednesday, April 04, 2007 10:07:16 AM
I basically agree with the ACSU:
Immigration, Illegal Immigration, and Temporary Worker Programs

Here is my own plan for Truly Comprehensive Border Control and Immigration Reform

Our border and immigration policy should be designed to promote legal immigration and national stability, and fight  human trafficking, importation of contraband and disease, migration of illegal aliens as long as we have public services, infiltration by terrorists, depression of wages, organized crime and gang activity.

With that in mind, the following should be adopted:

First , the National Guard will be immediately deployed to the borders to assist the border patrol.

English will be proclaimed the official common language of the Federal government, with the exception of native tribal interaction.

A fence/wall/security system will be constructed along the borders.

The stay of legal residencies will be monitored to make sure people leave when they are supposed to.

Penalties will be increased and prosecutions will be pursued vigorously for human trafficking, voter fraud, hiring illegal aliens, document forgery, identity theft, and aiding & abetting these other crimes.

Criminal aliens will be deported upon completing their sentences.

There will be no amnesty nor preferential treatment for illegal aliens in gaining legal residency or citizenship unless he or she passes a background check and serves honorably in our armed forces.  General amnesty or giving legal status via anything less than what legal immigrants endure will only encourage more illegal alien migration into the U.S.

Having citizen children will not prevent the deportation of illegal aliens.  Citizens can return once liberated or of adult age, and apply to bring their immediate family members with them.

Home countries of illegal aliens will be billed for costs associated with their citizens here illegally, including but not limited to prosecution, incarceration, education, social welfare, and health care.  Even if we never collect, the principle is still there.  We can take it out of the taxpayer-funded “aid” we send them.

Ceilings will be lifted and processing will be accelerated for legal immigration for refugees and sponsored individuals passing background and health checks to make it easier for those seeking to become assimilated American citizens the legal way.

Should there be an actual labor shortage, temporary alien labor will be permitted.

Furthermore:

Tax reform separating the tax system from payrolls will be studied.

The legalization of illegal narcotics will be studied to see if it what effect it will have on other crimes, drug abuse, and public safety.

A process for confirming voters as legitimate will be studied.

The problem of what to do with the 12-20 million illegal aliens currently living in the U.S. will eventually solve itself.  Those who are not caught and deported due to ongoing criminal activity, or do not voluntarily leave the U.S., or do not become citizens through the same process as those currently residing in their country of citizenship, will eventually die out.  They have made it this far as illegal aliens - they can continue to try to stay here with their illegal status.  They made it here, they can make it back out of the country if they find it too difficult to stay.  Any children of theirs born here are already citizens.
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