• HAS THE SPLC MENTIONED THE 'T' WORD YET, AS IN $2.5 TRILLION? - Fix immigration system to benefit Americans


    Illegal immigrants already cost U.S. taxpayers billions annually and it will cost at least $2.5 trillion in retirement expenditures, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income if they are granted amnesty.

    But because immigrants admitted to the United States today are generally lower-skilled than American workers, they compete with low-skilled natives for scarce jobs and drive down wages.

    Fix immigration system to benefit Americans

    By The Washington Times
    Friday, May 25, 2012
    Texas Rep. Lamar Smith

    A Harvard economist has estimated that immigration in recent decades has reduced the wages of native-born workers without a high school degree by nearly 9 percent. These vulnerable American workers have been especially hard hit by the ongoing recession. The unemployment rate for those with less than a high school diploma is more than 12 percent, about 4 percent higher than the national rate.

    Low-skilled immigrants without a high school education very often pay little in taxes but receive huge amounts of taxpayer-funded benefits. In fact, the Heritage Foundation found that the average household headed by an immigrant without a high school degree receives more than $19,000 more in total government benefits each year than it pays in federal, state and local taxes. And the nonpartisan National Research Council found that an illegal immigrant without a high school degree will, over the course of his lifetime, impose a net cost on taxpayers of $89,000.

    Granting amnesty to illegal immigrants will only cost taxpayers more money. Illegal immigrants already cost U.S. taxpayers billions annually and the Heritage Foundation reports that it will cost at least $2.5 trillion in retirement expenditures, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income if they are granted amnesty. With so many of our entitlement programs on the verge of insolvency, it makes no sense to further jeopardize them.

    We have the most generous immigration system in the world, admitting more than 1 million legal immigrants each year. This generosity should continue - but we must ensure our immigration system benefits American taxpayers and workers.

    REP. LAMAR SMITH

    Texas Republican

    Chairman, House Judiciary Committee

    Washington
    This article was originally published in forum thread: Fix immigration system to benefit Americans started by HAPPY2BME View original post