Back To Top

Biting the Hand that Feeds You

By Jim O’Brien

ICE Agent

Remember the “Day Without Illegal Immigrants”? You know the May 1, 2006 illegal immigration boycott. Ask yourself this simple question: What would illegal immigration boycott look like without illegal immigration? Here are some facts:

·    The lives of 12 U.S. citizens would be saved who otherwise would die a violent death at the hands of murderous illegal aliens each day.

·    Another 13 Americans would survive who are otherwise killed each day by uninsured drunk driving illegals.

·    There would be no one to smuggle across our southern border the heroin, marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamines, which plague the United States, reducing the U.S. supply of methamphetamines that day, by 80%.

·    Our hospital emergency rooms would not be flooded with everything from gunshot wounds, to anchor babies, to imported diseases, to hangnails, giving American citizens the day off from standing in line behind illegals.

·    Eight American children would not suffer the horror as victims of sex crimes.

I'll bet you did not see these facts on the evening news during the boycott--of course not. Advocates of amnesty and open borders don’t want you to know the real costs of illegal immigration.

The mainstream media and proponents of illegal aliens consistently bombard us with reports of an individual illegal alien that has done what most legal immigrants do: work hard and succeed. However, what they rarely tell us about are any of the negative aspects of illegal immigration.

Here are just some of the negative side effects of illegal immigration:

·    easy conduit for terrorists entering the USA

·    massive escalation of illegal alien gang members and violent crime

·    surge in illegal alien prisoners to support for years

·    Balkanization of US caused by increases multiculturalism/desire separate but dependent national identity (i.e., “Atzlan”)

·    Economic, ethnic and cultural segregation and divisiveness instead assimilation into American mainstream

·    increasing number of traffic accidents by uninsured drivers

·    main contributor to surging US population

·    dramatic impact on society and infrastructure, including education

·    destruction of fragile ecosystems in American South West

·    main cause of emergency rooms and hospitals closing as well as service cut backs due to nonpayment  

·    introduction of third world diseases because of lack of medical screening

·    increased welfare costs due to entitlements for children of illegal immigrants

·    massive costs to society – over and above contributions by illegal immigrants

America is unique from most other countries in that she was founded by immigrants from numerous other countries. These immigrants had a vision, work ethic, values, fortitude, imagination, and pioneering spirit which enabled her to become the greatest nation on earth. Most of the immigrants came here by choice and all eventually integrated into AMERICAN society to become a homogenous people. While it took longer for some than others, they and their descendents ultimately became "One nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all." Many, but not all, modern immigrants to the United States are not much different.

However, unlike the distant past, immigration now consists of two components: legal and illegal. This report will not even attempt to cover the many contributions that legal immigrants are currently making to this country. This paper will, however, explore various aspects and direct consequences of illegal immigration that many people are unaware of and most people do not know the full extent of. This is the dark side of illegal immigration.

Here I will discuss some of the collateral damage of the dark side and attempt to frame the issues in ways of direct applicability to the average American. More importantly, I will ask whether the collateral damage of illegal immigration is worth it. Assuming that most Americans will say "no," I will then provide specific solutions on what to do about it.

It is an undisputable fact that the vast majority of illegal aliens, the proper term, are Hispanic/Latino. However, this is more a result of geographic factors and poor economic conditions in the countries to our south than anything else. If the socio-economic conditions of Canada and Mexico were reversed, the illegal immigration issue would center on our northern border rather than our southern border.

All ethnic groups and nations have certain common characteristics and tendencies. For example, Americans in general have a nationalistic "we're #1" attitude. This is often construed as an "ugly American" perception by people in many parts of the world. However, we are also one of the most benevolent and forgiving nations as well as one of the most giving people, on a personal basis.

In discussing the issue of illegal aliens, some of the social and cultural characteristics of the ethnicity or nationality of the aliens needs to be highlighted, if they are a contributing factor and it is relevant to the discussion. Acknowledging such characteristics is not prejudiced, racist, or xenophobic and it does not make the discussion bigoted. In fact, ignoring such relevancy simply because of ethnicity could be construed as racist.

In any case, I want to make it perfectly clear: very few Americans are against a reasonable amount of legal immigration, regardless of race, nationality or ethnicity, but most Americans are against any amount of illegal immigration, regardless of race, nationality or ethnicity.

I want to also make clear that the illegal aliens are not just a "Mexican" or "Hispanic" problem. It is only that most illegal aliens are currently from Mexico and the vast majority of illegal aliens are Hispanic (the other main group of illegal immigrants are Chinese). Maybe with the exception of the Swedish Bikini Team, the majority of Americans are against any people, regardless of race, nationality or ethnicity, entering the United States illegally.

That said we all know that all illegal aliens are simply hard working contributors to American society and are only doing the jobs Americans won't do. But is working hard at low paying jobs sufficient reason to look the other way and allow illegal immigrants to violate our immigration laws with impunity. What about the 2 million immigrants who enter the U.S. legally each year? Are they to be punished for following the law? No. the answer is (1) enforcement of our immigration laws, particularly against those who employ illegal immigrants; and (2) raising the standard of living of the poor living south of the border.

Illegal Immigration

Lions Club Speech—February 7, 2008

By Emilia Ayala

I’m both for and against illegal immigration. On the one hand, Illegal immigration helps the United States in many ways. For example, it affords the U.S. with a ready supply of cheap labor—poor workers with low skills who are willing to work for less money and longer hours.

I’m also for illegal immigration is because I believe immigrants should be given the change to better themselves in this country. Illegal immigrants want nothing more than to earn a living and send money home to help support their relatives. In fact, ninety percent of the illegal immigrants do in fact better themselves when they come into this country, as well as contribute to the American economy

I think, overall, illegal immigration has a positive effect on the U.S. For example, immigrants—legal and illegal—add to the diversity of an already diverse nation. In this respect all immigrants are the same. As a result, the question becomes: Why we as citizens, ourselves the descendents of immigrants, want to prevent other immigrants the privilege and protection of U.S. citizenship??

My second reason for illegal immigration is because most illegal immigrants that decide to remain in the United States should be given some way to eventually become citizens later. Of course, there are many who would disagree with me on this point. But the fact remains these people are here and want to stay. They are Americans in every respect except one—they are not citizens. Again, I believe everyone in this world deserves a chance—especially immigrants coming to this country to become better in life.

My final reason why I’m for it is because their former country might so poor, underdeveloped and corrupt they these immigrants feel they have no other choice than to immigrate to America. This can be described in political and economic terms as the phenomena of “push-pull.”For example, many countries are so poor that the opportunity to better ones self is next to none. People from places like southern Mexico, Guatemala and Salvador are forced to leave their home and seek out a better life in America. This is called “push”.

People from places without the opportunity and reasonable expectation of a better life for themselves and their families are also attracted to the United States by the availability of jobs. Even the lowest paying job in the U.S. pays 10 to 20 times as much as a similar job in an immigrant’s native country. This is what is called “pull”.

None of what I have said should be interpreted as wholeheartedly condoning the violation of American laws. On the contrary, I believe that every nation has the right to control its borders. Furthermore, I believe that every national government has a duty to its citizens to monitor who can and who cannot enter. It is also the responsibility to safeguard its citizens from criminal and others that would do harm. Here are some reasons why I am against illegal immigration and support the right of the United States to control its borders:

I am against illegal immigration because our over populated country make jobs hard for us citizens. Many of the jobs in this country have illegal immigrants. The reason is because owners don’t have to pay co-owners as much as citizens. Citizens expect more from business owners. Citizens expect more money when illegal immigrants only as for what is offered.

Many of the U.S. citizen’s benefits are being taken away or reduced to almost nothing and given to illegal immigrants. We as citizens have certain benefits taken away by the government so certain illegal immigrants can have certain benefits that citizens have taken away.

American citizens are also loosing entry-level jobs because the government allows, indeed encourages, illegal immigration by policies that in fact give preference to illegal immigrants. And I have no doubt that many Illegal immigrants—in particular, those who come to the U.S. just for the easy money—take advantage of this and don’t get citizenship.

In conclusion,. I would like to say this country and world is never going to be a perfect fairytale world even though we restrict laws even more. Therefore, we as citizens have to see that no one wins because the government will eventually regret what was been done and was prepared for the future. No one is perfect so how does the government expect this country to be a fairytale story.

As President Kennedy said in a 1963 speech to the America University just months before he was assassinated:

“So let us not be blind to our differences, but let us also direct attention to our common interests and the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's futures. And we are all mortal “

By Officer Steve Sanchez

(Officer Steve Sanchez is a patrol officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. This article focuses on what he calls the “collateral damage” caused by the unfettered flow of illegal immigrants entering the United States. Ed.)

While this article will attempt to put a personal face on the collateral damage of illegal alien crime, once taken down, many of the crimes simply "disappear" from American consciousness.

I'm willing to bet that most people living outside of the Denver metro are not aware that in the fall of 1999 five Asian gang members, illegal aliens as it was reported many years later, kidnapped and gang raped a University of Colorado coed. Initiation rites were involved and they specifically targeted a "white woman."

If it wasn't for the archiving efforts of some groups fighting illegal immigration general knowledge of such incidents would be lost to all but the most serious researcher. Even with the internet it is very difficult to track down and report the participation level of illegal aliens in crime because NOBODY IS KEEPING TRACK! Indeed, government statistics do not properly detail and document the impact of illegal immigration on crime in the United States. Nor do government figures reflect the considerable direct consequence of our unfettered immigration policy, porous borders, sanctuary cities, and lack of enforcement.

In recent Testimony of District Attorney John M. Morganelli before the House Subcommittee on immigration, Border, Security and Claims he stated:

"Unfortunately, the majority of illegal aliens who are here are engaged in criminal activity. Identity theft, use of fraudulent social security numbers and green cards, tax evasion, driving without licenses represent some of the crimes that are engaged in by the majority of illegal aliens on a daily basis merely to maintain and hide their illegal status.

In addition, violent crime and drug distribution and possession are also prevalent among illegal aliens. Over 25% of today's federal prison population is illegal aliens. In some areas of the country, 12% of felonies, 25% of burglaries and 34% of thefts are committed by illegal aliens."

Ignoring the "minor crime" such as ID theft and property crimes being committed by illegal aliens, here is a summary on some of the collateral damage reaped in crimes as a result of tolerating illegal aliens in the USA:

·    In Los Angeles, 95% of some 1,500 outstanding warrants for homicides are for illegal aliens. About 67% of the 17,000 outstanding fugitive felony warrants are for illegal aliens.

·    There are currently over 400,000 unaccounted for illegal alien criminals with outstanding deportation orders. At least one fourth of these are hard core criminals.

·    80,000 to 100,000 illegal aliens who have been convicted of serious crimes are walking the streets. Based on studies they will commit an average of 13 serious crimes per perpetrator.

·    Illegal aliens are involved in criminal activities at a rate that is 2-5 times their representative proportion of the population.

·    In 1980, our Federal and state facilities held fewer than 9,000 criminal aliens but at the end of 2003, approximately 267,000 illegal aliens were incarcerated in U.S. correctional facilities at a cost of about $6.8 billion per year.

·    At least 4.5 million pounds of cocaine with a street value of at least $72 billion is smuggled across the southern border every year. ..

·    56% of illegal aliens charged with a reentry offense had previously been convicted on at least 5 prior occasions.

·    Illegal aliens charged with unlawful reentry had the most extensive criminal histories. 90% had been previously arrested. Of those with a prior arrest, 50% had been arrested for violent or drug-related felonies.

·    Illegal aliens commit between 700,000 to 1,289,000 or more crimes per year.

·    Illegal aliens commit at least 2,158 murders each year – a number that represents three times greater participation than their proportion of the population.

·    Illegal alien sexual predators commit an estimated 130,909 sexual crimes each year.

·    There may be as many as 240,000 illegal alien sex offenders circulating throughout America. Based on studies, they will commit an average of 8 sex crimes per perpetrator before being caught.

·    Nearly 63% of illegal alien sex offenders had been deported on another offense prior to committing the sex crime.

·    Only 2% of the illegal alien sex offenders in one study had no history of criminal behavior, beyond crossing the border illegally.

·    In Operation Predator, ICE arrested and deported 6,085 illegal alien pedophiles. Some studies suggest each pedophile molests average of 148 children. If so, that could be as many as 900,580 victims.

·    Nobody knows how big the Sex Slave problem is but it is enormous.

·    The very brutal MS-13 gang has over 15,000 members and associates in at least 115 different cliques in 33 states.

·    The overall financial impact of illegal alien crimes is estimated at between $14.4 and $81 billion or more per year. Factor in the crime as a result of the cocaine and other drugs being smuggled in and the number may reach $150 billion per year.

Still think illegal immigration is a "victimless crime" and we don't need to control our borders? Remember, about 60% of the crimes being committed are by illegal aliens who were previously deported.

Allowing our borders to be disregarded coupled with little national commitment about doing anything about it has resulted in growing mayhem by illegal alien criminals, not a "victimless crime."

As the previous sections have detailed, the dark side of illegal immigration includes a lot of horrific crime being perpetrated by the hard core criminal element of the illegal alien population. In the cost-benefit tradeoff of tolerating illegal immigration, how much collateral damage are we willing to accept?

In tolerating illegal immigration, how many Americans do YOU accept being molested, raped and murdered each year to save ten cents on a head of lettuce?

Illegal Immigration

By Jane Doe

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), now  Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), estimates  that  in  January of 2000  there  were 7 million illegal aliens living in the United States, a number that is growing by half a million a year. Thus, the illegal-alien population in 2003 stands at least at 8 million. Included in this estimate are approximately 78,000 illegal aliens from countries who are of special concern in the war on terror. It is important to note that the 500,000 annual increase is the net growth in the illegal-alien population (new illegal immigration minus deaths, legalizations, and out-migration). In 1999 for example, the INS estimates that 968,000 new illegal aliens settled in the U.S. This number was offset by 210,000 illegal aliens who either died or returned home on their own, 63,000 who were removed by the INS, and 183,000 illegal aliens who were given green cards as part of the normal "legal" immigration process.

One of the most important findings of the INS report is the intimate link between legal and illegal immigration. The INS estimates that it gave out 1.5 million green cards to illegal aliens in the 1990s. This was not due to amnesty legislation, but rather reflects how the legal immigration process embraces illegal immigration and encourages it through legal exemptions. According to the INS, only 412,000 illegal aliens were removed during the decade!

The Census Bureau has also developed estimates of its own. Their estimate at the time of the 2000 Census suggests that the illegal immigration population was about 8 million. Using this number, it can be concluded that the illegal-alien population grew by almost half a million a year in the 1990s. This conclusion is derived from a draft report given to the House immigration subcommittee by the INS that estimated the illegal population was 3.5 million in 1990. For the illegal population to have reached 8 million by 2000, the net increase had to be 400,000 to 500,000 per year during the 1990s. This means that there are currently 12 million illegal aliens living in the United States.

However, many experts argue that number based on the 2000 census are based on false estimates since many, if not most, illegal aliens do not respond to census takers because of fear of being reported to immigration authorities. They argue that the true figure is approximately 22 million!

The two "magnets" which attract illegal aliens are jobs and family connections. The typical Mexican worker earns one-tenth his American counterpart, and numerous American businesses are willing to hire cheap, compliant labor from abroad; such businesses are seldom punished because our country lacks a viable system to verify new hires' work eligibility. In addition, communities of recently arrived legal immigrants help create immigration networks used by illegal aliens and serve as incubators for illegal immigration, providing jobs, housing, and entree to America for illegal-alien relatives and fellow countrymen.

The standard response to illegal immigration has been increased border enforcement. And, in fact, such tightening of the border was long overdue. But there has been almost no attention paid to enforcement at worksites within the United States. Indeed, most experts argue that by cracking down on employers who hire illegal aliens they will “self deport” themselves and return to their home country because the jobs they fill will be gone. Self deportation will also end chain migration since relatives residing in the U.S. will be gone.

There will, however, still be the problem of “anchor-babies”—children born in the United States of which at least one parent is here illegally. In every other country on the planet the general rule is that a child of a parent who is an illegal alien is deemed a citizen of the country where the illegal parent came from. To be sure, there are exceptions to this general rule but the principal of not allowing an alien to remain illegally in his or her adopted country is accepted throughout the world. This is true in Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador; it is true in Canada, Australia and New Zealand; and it is true in England, Germany, France and Italy. Only in the U.S. are anchor-babies sufficient grounds for illegal aliens to remain!

Illegal Immigration: February 7, 2008 Lion’s Club Speech

By Maricela Medrano

I have mixed feeling about illegal immigration in this country. It seems to me that illegal immigration is both good and bad. On the one hand, liberals and libertarians argue that we are a “nation of immigrants,” that people from different countries are good for the U.S. society and that illegal immigrants as a group enrich the U.S. economy. They believe that allowing an amount of Americans to live “underground” is harmful to the healthcare, legal/criminal justice and educational systems, as well as to the job market.

For example: undocumented immigrants might be afraid to seek healthcare, which could mean that they will spread disease to others. In addition, undocumented children are sometimes unable to attend school, especially collage, which can lead to poverty and crime, and I believe that there was a law that says “NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND” and it means that any child is able to go to school. I think that you should let immigrants come to the United States. Its not just Mexicans but immigrants from all over the world who come to better themselves.

Yes, we all understand that there are some illegal immigrants that come here and do something illegal. And for that the rest of the people who come to succeed have to pay the consequences. Illegal immigrants want to come to America so that they can send money to their families, Business gets cheap work, business doesn’t have to pay taxes, business doesn’t have to pay for healthcare, upper class Americans can save money on maids, lawn care. Immigrants often took the low-paying jobs. Few Americans like to wash dishes, bust tables, mop floors, and pick up garbage.

These types of jobs must be done, but employers consistently have trouble finding regular employees to do work. A wage of $5-$7 is usually too low to induce Americans to take and stay at certain jobs. However immigrants who are lucky to earn $5 a day in their native countries are more than willing to work these jobs. Labor is one of a number of costs of doing business. When business have trouble filling low skill jobs such as dishes or cleaning rooms, they have only two choices: one is by raising the wage high to fill in the jobs, or to get rid of the positions. If they higher the wage that will mean that they also have to raise the prices to make up the differences. And if they eliminate the jobs then there business goes straight down.

A lot of people think that illegal immigrants are the real terrorists in this world. Just because they are not from here or don’t speak English. If you go to their country and don’t speak their language they will also think that you are a terrorist, or least strange. Instead of the government worrying about immigrants they should worried about the real terrorists. I think that is a waste of time for the government building the Mexican border fence. That is not going to stop Mexicans from coming to America. They will find another way. Besides didn’t all of are ancestors immigrate. They came from somewhere to settle in America. If they hadn’t immigrated then we all wouldn’t be here.

Conservatives and populist argue that the United States is seriously overpopulated already and that lawmakers need to put down on illegal immigration. They think that foreign workers will accept tougher working conditions and lower pay therefore taking away jobs for Americans. Americans feel that giving existing illegal’s legal status is wrong because it rewards criminal’s behavior.

Another problem of having illegal immigrants is that America losses money on taxes. America’s schools lose funds teaching kids of illegal immigrants. Middle and lower class Americans lose jobs to illegal immigrants. Nation’s hospitals lose money on charity treatment of illegal immigrants. Nation is forever in bilingual debate. Those that come to America legally are disadvantaged in comparison having spent so much time, money and effort. Lack of control of the boarder is also an open invitation to terrorists bent on doing us harm.

Immigrants require a high amount of government resources. Almost all immigrants will start out earning very low wages and unless they get additional education or training they will likely to stay that way. Unfortunately, our tax system is set up to keep low income people from paying taxes, depending how many kids and how many deductions they have. If they’re eligible for the earned income credit and child tax credit they may actually receive money back from the government without paying a cent in to it. Poorer individuals are also less possibility to have health insurance, retirement fund, or backup savings in case of a job loss. The level of government resources required for social security, health care, welfare, unemployment compensation. Will be adding strongly for a group that pays little or no taxes                                                                                                                                                  

The United States used to be refereed to as the great “melting point” because immigrants adopted the costumes, language, and culture of America. We were no longer Italian-Americans, German-Americans, and Mexican-Americans. Instead were simply Americans unfortunately it is quickly become a memory as schools and politicians continue to push “multi-culturist”  which helps motivate immigrants to keep their own language and customs instead of joining Americas society. Even though the improving economy we still have millions of citizens out of work. Whether it is less skills or less opportunities many citizens are forced to take the low paying jobs.

Now that you have heard my opinion on both sides on immigration it is really simple that there is no way to win this. If you keep letting illegal immigrants come to America then a lot of people are going to disagree with the government. If they let illegal immigrants come to America then what do they expect they will do next. But if they don’t let them in then other people are also going to disagree with the government because they are not giving illegal immigrants the chance to succeed in life. So as you can see there is really no way that you can chose on either side. It is a lose-lose situation.

Speech to the Lions Club on Immigration

By Stacy Montes

I think America is unique among all countries, in that the United States is a nation made up entirely of immigrants. These people come from every country on the planet, and are comprised of a variety of cultures, customs and expectations. Two million immigrants a year are allowed to legally immigrate to the U.S.—more people than all the other nations combined. Furthermore, these immigrants come with a vision of their future and a belief that their hard work will be rewarded with a better life. In short, they come to realize the “American Dream” and be a part of the U.S.—the greatest nation on earth.