August 8, 2013
By Jim Sykes
Crossville-chronicle.com

Our politicians claim that the immigration laws cannot be enforced because the illegals are “in the shadows” but when it comes to giving them benefits, the IRS knows exactly where to send the checks and the IRS refuses to cooperate with the United States Customs and Immigration Service (USCIS).

No matter how you define the current illegal aliens, they are NOT the same as our ancestors who immigrated to this country to start a new life, assimilate into American culture and reap the benefits of our free society.

Today’s illegal aliens are more interested in reaping the benefits of the welfare society created by others and assimilating — not so much. The USCIS issued a report showing 60% of the people amnestied in 1986 have never filed to become naturalized, content with just having legal status and reaping the benefits of our welfare society.

That fact was recently confirmed by a report by the Treasury Inspector General For Tax Administration (TIGTA) showing that the IRS sent more that $46 million in tax refunds to 23,994 “unauthorized” alien workers with the same Atlanta, Georgia address. It wasn’t even the only Atlanta address where aliens received tax refunds. The report revealed four other addresses in Atlanta where the IRS issued tax refunds to multiple aliens.

In the same report, other top ten addresses receiving multiple tax refunds were shown in Oxnard, CA, Raleigh, NC, Phoenix, AZ, San Jose, CA, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and Arvin, CA, where the IRS sent refunds of more than $34 million in tax refunds.

The TIGTA report explains that the IRS has been issuing what it calls Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) since 1996 to both non-resident aliens and illegal aliens living in the U.S. but who are “not authorized to work in this country” and Congress has been aware of the problem and done nothing to correct it for years.

The IG said, "the payment of federal funds through this tax benefit appears to provide an additional incentive for aliens to enter, reside and work in the U.S. without authorization, which contradicts federal law and policy to remove such incentives."

The IG report released in 2011 shows that in 2008, the IRS paid $2.14 billion to 1.53 million illegal aliens; in 2009, it paid $2.86 billion to 1.85 million illegal aliens; and in 2010, it paid $4 billion to 2.18 million illegal aliens. Over all nine years the IG audited, the IRS paid $14.228 billion to illegal aliens.

No one doubts that we have an illegal alien problem but Washington is not doing anything to correct the problem. The current administration refuses to cooperate with the border states and, in fact, fights against these states that could help and are showing a desire to help. These border states know more about the problem than Washington and are in a better position to help seal the border.

More importantly, many people who have studied the problem think that it could easily be solved within a few years. They think that the issues surrounding the problems revolve around welfare, food stamps, unemployment compensation, law-enforcement logistics and even workers comp. First, secure the border with the help of the border states! Second, stop government handouts by the IRS! With those two simple steps, the illegal immigration issue would unravel over a few years and would never again require the massive energy and federal government funding as it does now. We should start enforcing the laws currently on the books and acting to actually solve the problem.

Both political parties and the companies and individuals who take advantage of the current situation are all guilty because citizens are not aware that the causes of the problems are human nature and the failure of our federal government to enforce current laws. Human nature shows that if illegal aliens can “game” the system, they will. If companies can hire workers at lower wages, they will. If the politicians can get votes by pandering to the people who are paying for these problems, they will. Congress seems unable or unwilling to even attempt to identify the real problem. If the current laws are enforced, the problem could be resolved rather quickly. As long as we allow the politicians to take advantage of the public’s refusal to force them to identify the problem and demand that they correct it, the “immigration problem” will continue.

Citizens should demand that Congress, the Administration and our national media do a better job of informing the public about the causes of the immigration problems.

http://crossville-chronicle.com/opin...ration-Scandal