Letter: Americans will pay for letting immigrants stay
By Julius Hollenhorst, St. Cloud

May 23, 2007

Illegal immigrant labor is not cheap. The side effects of illegal immigrant labor are quite expensive. Legal citizens pay for them. Public school systems are burdened with teaching them to speak English, ... lunch programs are increased as are health care, counseling and college tuition.

Implicit with illegal immigration is a huge increase in the importation of illegal drugs. ... All of this increases expense for our law enforcement because illegal drugs cause more crime. Hospitals, health care providers and clinics also are overburdened with expenses.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce wants to let these criminals stay by giving them a route to citizenship or creating a guest-worker program. That's a bunch of garbage.

Some in religion want these people to be protected, and even provide sanctuaries for them. I consider this to be an accessory to a crime. These organizations should lose their tax-exempt status. I don't know why they were exempt in the first place.

... The American worker has strived to improve benefits for many decades. Fair wages, job security, health care benefits, retirement, the right to organize against unfair labor practices, etc. ... If illegal immigrants do not support worker benefits, they will be as bad off as being in Mexico. That government forbids workers to organize.

... It seems ever since Ronald Reagan's war on the working people ... and the Bush presidents, the war is still against the working middle class.

http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar ... 006/NEWS01