The Farmer File: Illegal aliens, here unlawfully, are criminals
DON FARMER

A few extremists on both sides of the impact-fees-for-charities issue have turned it ugly. It doesn’t have to be.

The Collier County Commission is debating whether to end impact fee deferrals to charities that may serve illegal aliens. At stake is a simple, patriotic, humane principle — one too often ignored by the federal government and others.

The principle: Foreigners who come here illegally are, by definition, criminals. If they accept services of value from government-sponsored programs, they are committing another crime, stealing from the taxpayers.

Illegals who take goods and services from private agencies are thieves as well, but that’s between them and the charities involved. My focus is on illegals who are indirectly subsidized by the taxpayers when charities serving them get impact fee exemptions. Some illegal aliens pay taxes but that’s irrelevant to this controversy.

Extremists are clouding the clarity this issue deserves. Some are on the far left, blubbering do-gooders who think U.S. borders should be mere suggestions, not boundaries. They pray for the day America becomes the world’s nanny.

On the far right are the bigots who say things like, “We should put ID chips in every American baby at birth, so police can always tell who’s legal.â€