Thread: Securing Our Borders(O'Reilly Talking Points 4/27)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,154765,00.html

Securing Our Borders
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
By Bill O'Reilly

About 200,000 Americans have already signed a petition asking the federal government to secure the borders. Information on that available on billoreilly.com.

Now, I want to be very clear about one thing. I'm not asking you to sign the petition. That's entirely up to you. We're just bringing the vehicle to your attention. Now, I did sign the petition because I believe we're all in danger and the government must fulfill its duty to protect us.

"Talking Points" has uncovered some stats that illustrate the problem. According to research done at Columbia University, illegal immigration is now costing the USA $68 billion every year. So the next time you hear somebody mention the deficit, hit him with that.

California alone loses $10 billion a year from its treasury because of the illegal problems. Spending on illegals in Arizona costs every household in that state $700 each. Last year, about 7 million illegals worked inside the USA, comprising 5 percent of the work force. The U.S. Justice Department estimates that almost 300,000 illegals served some jail time in the year 2003, most for crimes other than legal entry.

Last year, almost 1.5 million pounds of illegal drugs were seized at the borders, most coming in from Mexico. And as we reported earlier, more than 11 million illegals are living in the USA right now.

Now, faced with that information, it's simply stunning that our government will not secure the borders. There are about 280 million Americans right now. But how many of us really care about this problem? Even if three million Americans sign the petition, which would be an enormous number for an enterprise like that, that's only 1 percent of the population.

The old saying is people get the government they deserve and the old saying is true. At this point in our history, Congress and the president simply will not enforce the immigration laws, period. And the only force on this Earth that can make them do it is the American people. Will they?

And that's "The Memo."

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