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For the record, I am a legal immigrant. I arrived in U.S.A in 1955 and in 1960 became a citizen.

I am sure you heard many, many stories about how demanding the illegals are.

How some hungry-for-votes politicians use some lame excuses to legalize them. The same politicians, including that fellow in Washington, forgot Social Security is very close to bankruptcy. Baby boomers will be lucky to collect their first Social Security check at the age of 75. Our grandchildren? God better be with them.

They allow companies to list ingredients and instructions in English and Spanish. Home Depot and Lowe's have bilingual signs all over their stores. English is the official language in Florida and in many other states. Gov. Bush does not enforce the law. I guess he does not want to break his brother's heart or be chastised by his wife.

Let me assure you Gov. Crist will follow the same path. I do not remember he ever said anything against the illegals.

Now please keep your calculator handy. I will talk about some numbers that will give you the shock of your life. Allow me to take you to an imaginary trip and visit our neighbor up north, beautiful Canada. For over 40 years I lived right across from Fort Erie, Ontario, and I am very familiar with that country.

Canada is a nation of about 28 million people. Most of the provinces (states to us) speak English, except Quebec, a province of 7 to 8 million people, where the vast majority speak French. A few years ago Quebec succeeded in making French the second official language of Canada. That created a major hiccup. A hiccup of $14-$15 billion dollars to the annual budget. Overnight, all official documents and discussions had to be bilingual. Schools in English one day, French the next for the same subject. They still do it to a lesser degree.

Airports, train stations, bus terminals, street signs, maps, money, etc., had to be bilingual. Even "Oh Canada," the national anthem, did not escape the change. Starts in English and ends in French. That bilingual bonus is costing every Canadian young or old an extra $650 to $700 annually. Hidden cost. But dutifully they pay their very high taxes and grumble.

We are back in the good U.S.A. Illegals get paid under the table to avoid paying taxes. Their kids overburden our school system, and the whole family cries poor and get free food and clothing from charitable organizations, plus medical and hospital care. Some poor American citizens get a lot less.

The illegals send back to Mexico around $25 billion (yes, Virginia, billion dollars) to Mexico creating a No. 1 industry. No wonder their elected president was spitting out threats to take us to the U.N. What a blankety-blank idiot.

A few days ago I read in the newspaper an illegal was standing on the corner hoping to get a job, otherwise he would go hungry. I felt sorry for him but we did not invite him in our country.

Ladies and gentlemen, I do apologize forgetting their last freebie: driving without a license and insurance, and getting into an accident. And who pays for the damages? Guess what. We do, with that cute clause in our auto policy, "Uninsured driver." Every one of the 300 million Americans is paying $1,500 annually through hidden costs, and that is a very conservative estimate.

Now please get your calculators and do your math. Ready? Multiply the number of Americans mentioned above with the $1,500 and you will be looking to a few hundred billion dollars. Compliments of the hidden costs. I hope you did not burn your calculator. I named that total: "THE REAL SCARY NUMBER."

—Mario D. Kyriakidis lives in Cape Coral.