ILLEGAL ALIENS CAUSE A MYRIAD OF PROBLEMS IN AMERICA



By Michael Cutler
June 6, 2008
NewsWithViews.com

An AP article titled "Immigration raid spurs calls for action vs. owners" is important for a number of reasons. First of all it clearly illustrates the outrageous conditions under which illegal aliens often toil. Illegal aliens are perceived as being easy to exploit because of their illegal status in our country. Exploitation takes many forms. It includes the payment of substandard wages, it may also include working conditions that are so substandard that they are flat out illegal. The working conditions for illegal aliens often imperil their lives. Consider the serious injuries that have been suffered by the employees of the Agriprocessors plant that where noted in the AP news article.

While not discussed in the news article, it is significant to also consider another component of the employment of illegal aliens. Often payroll withholding taxes are not taken out and the employer often does not pay any fringe benefits for illegal aliens or make the required payroll deductions to Social Security. This means that not only are the illegal aliens being exploited, but our government, and hence the citizens of this nation, is not being paid the taxes that a company that operates "on the level" would be paying into the system and our nation's economy. This is also true of taxes not paid to states and municipalities by unscrupulous employers.

Another factor that must be considered is that generally when United States citizens and resident aliens receive their pay checks, they often make purchases and through the circulation of money through the economy, we all benefit. That is the theory behind the "Economic Stimulus" program that was implemented this year to provide Americans with relatively minor amounts of cash to hopefully make purchases and help to jumpstart our nation's faltering economy.

Illegal aliens make little enough money to start with, but further exacerbating the economic side of the equation is the fact that most illegal aliens invested hefty amounts of money to smugglers to get them into our country so that they could send money back home. Last year it has been estimated some 45 billion dollars was wired from the United States to Latin America and the Caribbean by illegal aliens. Still more money was sent from our country to other countries covertly. Latin America and the Caribbean were not the only regions of the world to receive remittances and other sources of American dollars. This money is money that is permanently lost to our economy. This money does not circulate within the United States, spurring economic growth and growing our nation's economy.

Meanwhile, the fastest growing white collar crime is identity theft. It would be interesting to find out how many illegal aliens are responsible for committing this crime in order to secure a job or hide "in plain sight." Of those aliens it would be perhaps even more interesting to find out how many criminals and terrorists have engaged in identity theft.

The Agriprocessors case is particularly egregious. I have highlighted several key sentences to deal with the horrific conditions under which the illegal aliens worked and as you read the accounts of the injuries that the illegal employees suffered, I want you to think about the advocates for open borders who always like to raise the issue of the "dignity of the undocumented!"

What is amazing is that to quote from the article:
"James Carstensen, a spokesman for Rep. Tom Latham, said he views the raid as a blow to families seeking a better life and for the community, which is suffering economically.

"It's a tragedy of an immigration system that is absolutely broken and the tragedy of an enforcement system that is probably not working as effectively as promised by the Bush administration," Carstensen said."

That statement nearly takes my breath away! Of course Representative Latham is a Republican and, I suppose, is trying to be supportive of the President, however, after the abysmal track record established by the Bush Administration over the last 7 years, how could anyone possibly express any surprise that the "...enforcement system is probably not working as effectively as promised by the Bush administration" as is stated by Representative Latham's staffer?

The enforcement and the administration of our nation's immigration laws have been little more than a charade for the past several decades and the current administration has arguably the absolute worst track record of any administration in the history of our nation!

I have generally disagreed with Frank Sharry, however I find myself agreeing with at least half of his quote in his article.

Such raids are designed to get headlines and make it appear that the federal government is cracking down on illegal immigration, said Frank Sharry, executive director of the immigration reform group America's Voice. But he says even those who think enforcement is the answer can't seriously believe the 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. can be arrested and deported.

As for the arrest of the 12 million illegal aliens- I would suggest that by now there are probably twice as many illegal aliens in our country since each and every day thousands of illegal aliens manage to enter our country in violation of law or, violate the immigration laws since they entered our country via the lawful process. The open borders advocates have been using the 12 million number for quite some time.

While I agree that it would not be a good idea to attempt to apprehend all of the illegal aliens who are present in our country today, the solution is simple. As I stated a number of years ago when I was on Lou Dobbs Tonight and then repeated it when I testified at a hearing before the Congressional Homeland Security Committee, "No one would break into an amusement park if they could not get to go on the rides and, at the end of the day when they shut down the rides and turn off the lights, everyone heads for the exits!" Mark Krikorian, the director of the Center for Immigration Studies, the Washington-based "think tank" with which I have been proud to have been affiliated with for the past 5 years, has simply referred to this concept as the "attrition" way of dealing with the huge numbers of illegal aliens who are presenly in our country. Make it difficult if not impossible for illegal aliens to obtain a job, secure a driver's license, open a bank account or own property in our country and they will understand the futility of violating our nation's borders and immigration laws. Many will leave and many will be deterred from entering our country illegally.

I have written a couple of commentaries about this particular food processing plant. If the management of this corporation is not held accountable for the violations of law committed by the company and their employees, the message to all employers will be crystal clear. Even with the high profile field operations that have been conducted to create the appearance of a renewed interest in the enforcement of the immigration laws, employers of illegal aliens have little, if anything to fear.

I had the pleasure of participating in a conference this past weekend in Santa Barbara, California that was sponsored by the David Horowitz Freedom Center. The panel discussion in which I participated included Chris Burgard, the producer of the documentary, "Border," in which I have a very small role, Chris Simcox of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, and Congressman Tom Tancredo.



As I am certain you must all know, Tom had mounted what would ultimately prove to be an unsuccessful bid for the Presidency. He was accused of being a "singe issue candidate."

I wish that Tom had responded to that criticism by saying, "No candidate for the Presidency of this nation, nor any candidate who seeks a seat in the House of Representatives or the United States Senate could seek such elected office without being deeply concerned about national security, criminal justice, the economy, the environment, health care or education and a number of other issues. The common thread that runs through each and every one of these highly important issues is the impact that our nation's failure to secure its borders and create a secure immigration system has on these important areas of concern."



Immigration is not a single issue but is, in reality, an issue that impacts nearly every other issue that challenges our nation today.

Between now and Election Day, We the People must accept the challenge and the responsibility of communicating our concerns to each and every politician who seeks our votes. This issue transcends political party affiliations. This is not a Liberal issue nor is it a Conservative issue, it is an American issue!

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