Why we oppose credit cards for illegal aliens

[Jean]

Why we oppose credit cards for illegal aliens
Tuesday, March 20, 2007

By GAYLE KESSELMAN


"These people do the jobs that Americans won't do. Without them our economy would collapse."

The above words could be spoken by any one of a number of pro-illegal-immigration advocates in their quest to obliterate our nation's borders and, ultimately, its sovereignty.

The fact is that these were the exact same arguments used by senators in the antebellum South in trying to defend their "peculiar institution" of slavery in the years prior to the American Civil War. They claimed that Southerners needed African slaves to work their plantations and that, without slave labor, their economy and society would collapse.

Is it too far-fetched to compare illegal immigration to slavery? I don't think so. The fact is that in both cases the pursuit of profits has made people turn a blind eye to the immorality of their economic system and the destructive effects it has on their society. Illegal immigration is a national crisis that threatens to destroy our unity as a nation.

And now, in the midst of this crisis, along comes Bank of America with its program to offer credit cards to individuals without Social Security numbers, the vast majority of whom are illegal immigrants.

By providing banking services to people who are here illegally, Bank of America has shown that it cares more about the almighty dollar than about the economic and social welfare of our nation as a whole. It is contributing to our modern-day version of slave labor. Maybe it should be called the Bank of Un-America.

Toll on New Jersey

Many people instinctively disapprove of illegal immigration but are only dimly aware of the enormous social and economic costs to our nation and to New Jersey in particular. According to a recent study by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, the illegal immigrant population residing in New Jersey is costing the state's taxpayers $2.1 billion per year in education, medical care and incarceration. That amounts to an annual burden of about $800 per year for a New Jersey household headed by a legal resident.

The nearly $2.1 billion spent by New Jersey results from outlays in the following areas:

Education: An estimated 11.7 percent of Grades K-12 students in New Jersey are children of illegal immigrants. New Jerseyans spend more than $1.85 billion annually on education for children of illegal immigrants.

Health care: The cost of health care provided to the state's illegal alien population amounts to an estimated $200 million a year.

Incarceration: The cost of incarcerating deportable illegal immigrants in New Jersey jails and prisons amounts to about $50 million a year.

The above estimates do not even take into account many of the "soft costs" of illegal immigration. These would include such things as programs for children with limited English, preventive health care programs, interpretation services in courts and hospitals, and welfare programs used by U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants.

Moreover, it does not include the welfare benefits used by American workers who have been displaced by illegal immigrant workers or the monetary costs of crimes committed by the criminal segment of the illegal immigrant population.

'Savings account in disguise'

Bank of America's policy of giving credit cards to illegal immigrants could well end up further damaging New Jersey's economy. Let's remember that Bank of America's proposed credit card is no more than a "savings account in disguise," the only difference being that the cardholder does not have to give the bank a Social Security number.

Is it fair to allow accounts where money will be saved that will not face the same scrutiny and tax requirements as accounts held by American citizens and legal residents?

According to a recent study by the Inter-American Development Bank, more than $1 billion left New Jersey in 2004 in the form of remittances sent home to Latin American countries by illegal immigrants working in our state. This is $1 billion that could have been spent on bolstering our economy and repairing our infrastructure. With Bank of America giving our credit card/savings accounts to illegal immigrants, how do we know that even more money will not be leaving New Jersey tax-free?

Bank of America is now showing commercials on television calling itself the "Bank of Opportunity." But opportunity for whom?

Bank of America's policies condone, aid and abet illegal immigration. Their policies do not provide opportunity for working-class Americans who work hard, pay their taxes and respect the law.

The average working-class American must compete for jobs with illegal immigrant workers who are willing to work below minimum wage and who pay no payroll taxes. At the same time, the average working-class American is paying higher taxes for social services for these workers, their spouses and their children.

Squeezed between a rock and a hard place, working-class Americans are finding it harder and harder to keep up a decent lifestyle for themselves and their families. For them illegal immigration is the beginning of the end of opportunity and the twilight of the American dream.

Gayle Kesselman, a physician based in Carlstadt, is co-chairwoman of New Jersey Citizens for Immigration Control.

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qst ... FlZUVFeXky

[April]

Squeezed between a rock and a hard place, working-class Americans are finding it harder and harder to keep up a decent lifestyle for themselves and their families. For them illegal immigration is the beginning of the end of opportunity and the twilight of the American dream.

So True!

[had_enuf]

Great article, Jean. Thanks for posting.

If I can find Lewis's email anywhere, I'll send it to him.

[SOSADFORUS]

And our congress and President just plain don't care what is happening to the middle class in this country. They are going to drive down wages and take away benefits from everyone they can, while Corp. America gets richer. If Americans will even be able to get a job at all soon!!