Oklahomans in huge support
By Staff Reports
11/11/2007

For weeks, readers of the Tulsa World have been treated to a barrage of propaganda by La Raza and Catholic officials disseminating misinformation to the public and creating hysteria among the 40,000-plus illegal alien population of Tulsa. This is in reaction to Oklahoma House Bill 1804 dealing with the various aspects of illegal immigration.

The fear mongers have succeeded in frightening these paranoid folks into fear of massive raids and deportation, with continual assertions that "the children" would be left behind in homeless conditions. There is no doubt that many illegals will voluntarily return to Mexico if jobs are lost in crackdowns on employers, or if preference is given to legal citizens in employment opportunities.

Oklahomans are sympathetic to the plight of poverty-stricken Mexicans who desperately want better lives for themselves and their families. But this sympathy is tempered by taxpayer resentment toward illegals who use hospital emergency rooms as free clinics and who place huge burdens on local taxpayers for the ballooning expenses of educating the very large illegal school population.

The resentment is compounded by the steady downward pressure on wages, especially in the construction industry. Tens of thousands of Oklahoma painters, carpenters, masons, etc., have been displaced by aliens willing to work for $3 to $5 lower hourly wages. Most of the aliens in construction, landscaping and lawn care are paid in cash, which means that no income or Social Security taxes are paid.

Finally, there is appropriate taxpayer concern for the probable lifelong support of the 42 percent out-of-wedlock births of "anchor babies" to illegal mothers who instantly qualify for Medicaid and every form of welfare. For all of these reasons, a huge majority of Oklahomans support House Bill 1804.

Jack Ward, Broken Arrow
http://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/artic ... spanc21461