Tennessee can't afford to ignore illegal immigration
Published March 29th, 2011 | Added March 29th, 2011 10:13 pm

Is Tennessee too poor to keep illegal aliens off the streets? That, in essence, is the argument against implementing various laws in this session of the Legislature that seek to target these criminals.

One measure in particular, HB1380, sponsored by Rep. Joe Carr, R-Lascassas, would allow state and local law enforcement officers to check the legal status of suspected illegal immigrants during stops for traffic violations and other offenses. Those individuals who were here illegally would be turned over to federal authorities. It’s virtually identical to a law passed by the Arizona Legislature last year.

The Fiscal Review Committee notes that additional expenses would come from hiring and training more law enforcement personnel. The committee also estimates that the law would uncover an additional 7,447 illegal aliens each year.

According to the committee, the bill would cost the state $2.96 million the first year and $1.8 million thereafter. The panel estimates that all local governments combined would spend $1.82 million in the first year of implementation and $961,000 per year thereafter. That’s chump change in a unified budget that exceeds $30 billion.

If Tennessee is that hard up for cash, let’s start looking everywhere for savings. The mind boggles at the possibilities: Only a fraction of Tennesseans attends college, and the ones we have are chronically underfunded. Why not close them?

What about city, county and state elections, which rarely attract a majority of registered voters? Let’s do away with them.

Although we have lots of laws on the books, many ignore or break them. Let’s at least do away with those laws people break most frequently. This will help us eliminate vast numbers of police and corrections workers at an enormous cost savings.

Of course, these suggestions are silly, but they reinforce a serious point: It’s easy to be penny wise, but pound foolish.

Whatever else illegal aliens are, they are lawbreakers. U.S. immigration law states that any alien who enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers shall, for the first commission of any such offense, be fined under Title 18 or imprisoned not more than six months, or both. That’s just for illegally entering the country.

It’s also true that the vast majority of illegal aliens also compound their disregard of U.S. immigration law by using fake documents.

Illegal aliens routinely use phony birth certificates, Social Security cards and other documentation that victimize Americans — many of them newborns and young children. A Center for Immigration Studies report debunks three common misconceptions: that illegal aliens are “undocumentedâ€