Thread: Flood of immigrants becoming a crisis

They should change the title of the article to "Flood of immigrants have become a crisis" to more accurately describe the problem.

http://www.mdjonline.com/89/10185494.txt

Flood of immigrants becoming a crisis

It's been almost two months since U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson took to the floor of the Senate and urged action "sooner rather than later" on immigration reform.

The time had come, he said, for the Senate to recognize the crisis of illegal immigration, "the single largest domestic issue to the people of the United States."

Isakson spoke in the wake of the Pew Hispanic Center's report that illegal immigrants climbed above 10 million in 2004, an increase of 23 percent over 2003.

Last month, Congress approved an immigration reform amendment to the appropriations bill for the war on terrorism. On May 11, President Bush signed the law providing new national standards for drivers' licenses and ID cards - but not effective for three years - plus tougher asylum requirements and completion of a security fence along the U.S.-Mexican border.

Now comes another report on the massive impact of illegal immigration on public schools.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform last week said:

"The total K-12 school expenditure for illegal immigrants costs the states nearly $12 billion annually, and when the children born here to illegal aliens are added, the costs more than double to $28.6 billion."

The costs do not include dual language programs, an additional expense of $290 to $879 per pupil, said FAIR. Of course, there are also noneducational costs for health care, housing assistance, incarceration of criminals, etc.

Calculations from per-pupil expenditures indicate more than five percent of students in Georgia's public schools are children of illegal immigrants - the same as Florida, North Carolina and eight other states.

Georgia ranks sixth in state expenditures for children of illegal immigrants with an estimated $952 million spent annually, according to FAIR. That's right behind Florida at $1.2 billion. The other states in order are California, highest at $7.7 billion, Texas, New York, Illinois and New Jersey.

In the 1990s, Georgia's foreign-born population jumped 233 percent, the second-highest percentage increase in the nation. About 541,000 residents, or 7 percent of the state's population, are immigrants or children of immigrants.

In 2000, there were 228,000 illegal immigrants in Georgia, an increase of 777 percent since 1992, FAIR said, citing data from the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

The figures "should provide further impetus for states to demand that the federal government finally take effective and decisive action to restore integrity to our nation's immigration laws," the organization said. And so they should.

The flood of illegal immigrants from south of our border is at the crisis stage.

Granted, Hispanic immigrants are generally known for their hard work and skills, and they are to be applauded for trying to better their lives.

But the issue is not the character of immigrants. It is the crisis of illegal immigration.

As Johnny Isakson told the Senate:

"Our States, our school systems, our hospitals, our farm workers, and our people no longer have the luxury or the patience for us to delay any longer."

It is long past time to deal with this crisis.

The time had come, he said, for the Senate to recognize the crisis of illegal immigration, "the single largest domestic issue to the people of the United States."

Senator, YOU'VE GOT THAT RIGHT!!!

It is long past time to deal with this crisis.

Senator, IT"S TIME TO END THIS CRISIS!!

1. Get Troops to the Borders Now

2. Enforce US Immigration Law

3. Prosecute Violators

4. Moratorium on All New Immigration

DO IT NOW!!