Looking At Immigration Beyond The Border States

Read Time:4 Minute, 41 Second

By Jim Pepper, Contributor to US Daily Review.

Too many individuals believe that illegal immigration only affects ourborder states. While all of the publicity concerning the illegal immigrants continues to focus on Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California and Florida, illegal migrant workers continue to fan out all over this country.

O’Fallon, Missouri is taking steps to declare the city a “Rule of Law” city, hoping other cities in the area will follow suit. In addition, they are proceeding with writing and adopting an ordinance that will require any business within the city to insure their employees and independent contractors have the legal right to work in the U.S.  Not complying would jeopardize their business license.

This is just the first step in building support for immigration reform in this country. The first step is to force the Feds to ENFORCE the laws we currently have, not giving amnesty to those that have broken the law to enter the U.S.

The second step is to stop the support through the use of tax dollars, in order to provide services or favors to the illegal individuals which we do not provide to our own citizens, such as special scholarships to undocumented individuals.

What is this concept of a fast track to citizenship? My wife of 43 years is a foreign born Armenian, but she is a citizen of the U.S.after complying with all of the laws to become a citizen. Since the time she arrived here, she has been a taxpaying, Social Security contributor, and continues both to this day! She didn’t get any special breaks or get any support from the government or anyone else other than myself. She did everything legally and followed all of the rules. Isn’t that a novel concept?

With unemployment above 9% nationally, and a little less locally, the focus should be on job creation. Until that happens, those jobs that do exist and need to be filled, should be with workers that are here legally, and therefore legally employable.

One of the largest areas of concern is the building trades.  From The Springfield (Missouri) News-Leader:

“I think in construction in general, not just here but all over the United States, that’s one of the issues that we have, illegal immigrants getting into the construction trades,” said Kevin Long, the Kansas City-based business manager for Roofers Union Local 20.

Dave Wilson, a spokesman for the Carpenters’ District Council in St. Louis, said “absolutely there’s a problem.”

But he, like Long, said employment of illegal immigrants is part of a larger problem of “mis-classification of employees as independent contractors.”

“That’s really the bigger problem in construction,” Wilson said. By classifying workers as independent contractors, an employer avoids a number of requirements — including the label of “employer” — that normally apply to hiring.

Between 12 and 20 million illegal immigrants live in the United States, the exact number is unknown.

A study released by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimates that illegal immigration now costs federal and local taxpayers $113 billion a year. The report, The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on U.S. Taxpayers, is the most comprehensive analysis of how much the estimated 13 million plus illegal aliens and their U.S.-born children cost federal, state and local governments.

$113,000,000,000 – This year’s cost of US illegal immigration. Approximately 75% of that cost is absorbed by the states. 

$1,117 – The average amount you and your family paid in taxes this year to support illegals. 

$52,000,000,000 – The cost of educating the children of illegals. This is by far the single largest cost to the American taxpayer.

$2,700 – The average dollar amount a single illegal household costs the US federal government. 

51% – The percentage of Mexican immigrant households that use at least one major welfare program. 28% use more than one.

1,400,000- The number of illegal immigrant households that use at least one major welfare program. (food stamps, WIC, school lunch, Medicaid, TANF, SSI, and public/rent-subsidized housing)

This short video, from Illegal Immigration Statistics The High Cost of Illegal Iimmigration also indicates many of the problems associated with the border problems.

A few other statistics you might consider in evaluating the situation:

12 Americans are murdered every day by illegal aliens. (that’s more than 21,900 murders by illegal aliens sinceSeptember 11, 2001)

13 people per day are killed by illegal immigrants who drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol. An additional 4,745 premature deaths per year.

62% of all “undocumented immigrants” in theUnited Statesare working for cash and not paying taxes, predominantly illegal aliens, working without a green card.

And then on top of that, some illegals even get tax refunds.

Finally, this video Illegal Workers Used Tax Credit to Pocket $4.2 Billion, Audit Shows is pretty eye opening, and it shows there are many levels to our immigration problems.

This issue is no longer a problem just for theborder states.  It is a problem for our nation.  This is a blight for our nation that we cannot get this issue solved in a reasonable and efficient manner.  Until we do, this solvable issue will continue to be a big cost to our states and to our nation, and in more than just monetary terms.

Jim Pepper is a former Mayor and City Councilman in St. Louis County, MO. Jim is currently a Councilman in O’Fallon, MO, a city of approx. 80,000. Jim also spent 35 years in the corporate world of Xerox.

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