Illegal immigration worries
By MATT BRENNAN

(Original publication: September 23, 2005)


Illegal Immigration is the No. 1 problem facing our society today. Although this situation transcends party lines, it seems on the national level that both major parties have turned their backs upon the disenfranchised middle class of America who must bear the brunt of this situation.

Anyone interested in seeing how their representatives in Congress have voted with regard to immigration should visit NumbersUsa.com, along with other numerous Web sites on the topic. For people without computers, their local public libraries have many set aside exclusively for internet service.

In 1970, our nation's population was 200 million. In 2000, despite skipping a generation, the Census Bureau puts the American population at 300 million. At this rate, by 2050, the population is projected to be 420 million. This makes America the fastest growing country in the world.

With an American labor force on the payroll at a declining 130 million, a total of 159 million paying Social Security taxes and 48 million people receiving benefits, the current population is grossly under reported at 300 million. We must not forget the fact that constitutionally mandated 10-year census taking procedures involve voluntary compliance.

The Border Patrol alone catches and releases one million illegal immigrants per year along the 2,000-mile Mexican border. We can only guesstimate how many millions of people in this country have also overstaying tourist, student and work visas.

The thought of 100 million people illegally in this country is realistic.

Even though America likes to pride itself upon being a nation of immigrants, what is occurring today is not the regulated immigration of our grandparents.

Our middle class is being disenfranchised at an increasingly exponential rate while paying tremendous taxes. Undocumented aliens are the beneficiary of too much of this tax dollar, stretching resources for housing, education, health care and other public services. This population explosion has also wreaked havoc upon the housing market which prices are increasing at an exponential rate.

The North American Free Trade Agreement, outsourcing, insourcing and favored nation trading status granted for nations such as China would never had been allowed to occur.

Manufacturing is now done abroad under Draconian circumstances right out of the Charles Dickens scenarios of the Industrial Revolution. With "cheaper is better" becoming the mantra, we are nickel and diming ourselves into oblivion.

As an NYPD sergeant, one of the situations I found difficult was how a person's immigration status doesn't matter. Apparently once a person makes it into this country they are home free. There is no immigration control because the resources are not there.

We must build real borders to our north and south. For decades our troops (myself included in the USMC) have performed long overseas tours guarding foreign borders all over the world, while our own borders remain a disgrace.

Nationally, police officers across the nation could be used for immigration control simply with the federal government providing a basis of support.

To accomplish the goal of correcting our illegal immigration problem, we need to supplement our Homeland Security forces.

This could be done by utilizing an annual class of non-rated military personal who would perform a 26-month enlistment. With training beginning in July, the enlistment would end in August after an orientation period for the incoming class. Following discharge, these participants would be able to start college under a G.I. Bill.

In addition to immigration, illegal drugs are still out of control and destroying lives in all neighborhoods.

As teenagers we used to get summer and part-time jobs cutting lawns and painting houses. Today's teenagers can't get these jobs because they are filled by an illegal immigrant work force.

We cannot be an industrious society when our children are denied the opportunity to learn responsible work habits.

Is it also unconscionable that we make our own citizens who are members of the unskilled labor market compete with illegal immigrants in their quest for a living wage.



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