Society must stop giving benefits to illegal immigrants
BY DIMITRIJ KRYNSKY
Saturday, Jan 26, 2008 - 12:48:55 am CST

Several bills to target illegal immigration were introduced in the Nebraska Legislature this session. One bill would bar benefits for people who are here illegally; another would prohibit tax breaks for employers who hire illegal immigrants.

Some people believe we should have compassion and give illegal immigrants the same benefits as legal residents, because they are good and hardworking people who are only trying to escape horrible poverty.

Compassion is a virtue. However, in this case the problems outweigh that sentiment.

First: There are so many poor people in the world it is impossible for our society to care for everyone. Therefore, we should take care of our poor; other societies should take care of theirs.

The second problem is that giving benefits to people who are here because they broke the law to immigrate means to reward bad behavior.

This is a very dangerous and slippery slope. By doing this, we will jeopardize the foundation of our civilization. No civilization can survive when a bad behavior is tolerated, not to mention rewarded.

Third, we should keep in mind that our social services system already is in trouble. Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security systems are forecast to become insolvent in the foreseeable future. People who are here illegally are already a burden to our social services system.

On top of it, should illegal immigrants get legal status, they would be able to bring their relatives into the United States. They would become a huge additional burden to our social services system.

Who will pay for it? How will we then finance Social Security and health care for our citizens? How will we take care of our poor?

Advocates for illegal immigrants say such people are essential to our economy because we are short of workers.

I don’t believe it. I believe many job positions are not filled only because wages are too low; therefore, only people who are here illegally are willing to take those jobs. This is shameful exploitation!

My fourth problem with compassion toward illegal immigrants is that if an economy stands on exploitation, it is a moral disaster.

When one group — illegal immigrants — is exploited, another group — shameless employers — flourishes. The third group — average taxpayers — subsidizes it. This is a sick economy. It is time to stop it.

If we really need more people for some jobs, many millions around the world are waiting for permission to come. They also want to have a better life and escape poverty. Let them in — and expel people here illegally!

The fifth problem with compassion toward illegal immigrants is the presumption that such people are only trying to escape poverty; it is suspicious at best.

These people lately have been paying $3,000 per person to “coyotesâ€