Illegal Brazilian nationals charged in alleged CDL scamTwelve men were arrested in Philadelphia last week on charges of obtaining or using fraudulent CDLs – and most of them were also charged with being in the country illegally.
According to The Associated Press, 10 truck drivers and two truck company owners were allegedly involved in a scheme that involved obtaining CDLs in the names of American citizens.
The drivers were Brazilian nationals who were in the U.S. illegally, The AP reported.
The owners of Real Transportation and Fausto’s Trucking allegedly helped them get the licenses so they could haul construction debris to commercial landfills, according to The AP.
According to The Associated Press, 10 truck drivers and two truck company owners were allegedly involved in a scheme that involved obtaining CDLs in the names of American citizens.
The drivers were Brazilian nationals who were in the U.S. illegally, The AP reported.
The owners of Real Transportation and Fausto’s Trucking allegedly helped them get the licenses so they could haul construction debris to commercial landfills, according to The AP.
Keep Bringing The Diseases
State health officials tested 286 employees at a Greenville poultry-processing plant for tuberculosis after a case of TB was reported there, and nearly half had a positive skin test.
The investigation at Columbia Farms began a week ago after tests on the first individual confirmed active TB, said Thom Berry, spokesman for the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.
The positive skin tests on 131 of the workers means they were exposed to TB sometime in their lives, not that they have active disease, he said.
Of those workers, 63 had chest X-rays, revealing two possible cases of active disease, though officials are still awaiting confirmatory tests, he said. Neither is showing any symptoms, but they are being treated along with the initial individual, he said. Treatment involves taking antibiotics for six to 12 months.
Berry said investigators were not surprised by the number of positive skin tests because so many of the employees are foreign-born. People born in other countries are nearly nine times more likely to have TB than those born in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"We suspect many may have been infected in their home countries before they came to the U.S.," he said.
There is no danger of spreading the disease through the chickens, Berry said.
Officials at House of Raeford in North Carolina, which owns the Rutherford Road plant, could not be reached for comment.
There were about 14,000 cases of active TB recorded nationwide in 2005, CDC reports. And there are about 300 new cases a year in South Carolina, Berry said. One was confirmed at Clemson University on Sunday. None of those cases is related to the drug-resistant strain identified in an Atlanta lawyer last month.
Berry said TB investigations are common in South Carolina.
"When a physician or hospital makes a diagnosis of TB, it's reported to us," Berry said. "And when we get that report, we begin a close-contact investigation."
Though some 900 people work at the plant, only 286 were tested, based on a CDC formula that determines the closest contacts, he said. But others will be tested if necessary, he said, and investigators will return to the plant in about eight weeks to retest the workers to make sure none has become active in the interim.
State health officials tested 286 employees at a Greenville poultry-processing plant for tuberculosis after a case of TB was reported there, and nearly half had a positive skin test.
The investigation at Columbia Farms began a week ago after tests on the first individual confirmed active TB, said Thom Berry, spokesman for the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.
The positive skin tests on 131 of the workers means they were exposed to TB sometime in their lives, not that they have active disease, he said.
Of those workers, 63 had chest X-rays, revealing two possible cases of active disease, though officials are still awaiting confirmatory tests, he said. Neither is showing any symptoms, but they are being treated along with the initial individual, he said. Treatment involves taking antibiotics for six to 12 months.
Berry said investigators were not surprised by the number of positive skin tests because so many of the employees are foreign-born. People born in other countries are nearly nine times more likely to have TB than those born in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"We suspect many may have been infected in their home countries before they came to the U.S.," he said.
There is no danger of spreading the disease through the chickens, Berry said.
Officials at House of Raeford in North Carolina, which owns the Rutherford Road plant, could not be reached for comment.
There were about 14,000 cases of active TB recorded nationwide in 2005, CDC reports. And there are about 300 new cases a year in South Carolina, Berry said. One was confirmed at Clemson University on Sunday. None of those cases is related to the drug-resistant strain identified in an Atlanta lawyer last month.
Berry said TB investigations are common in South Carolina.
"When a physician or hospital makes a diagnosis of TB, it's reported to us," Berry said. "And when we get that report, we begin a close-contact investigation."
Though some 900 people work at the plant, only 286 were tested, based on a CDC formula that determines the closest contacts, he said. But others will be tested if necessary, he said, and investigators will return to the plant in about eight weeks to retest the workers to make sure none has become active in the interim.
Article. XIV. http://constitution.org
[Proposed 1866; Allegedly ratified 1868. See Fourteenth Amendment Law Library for argument it was not ratified.]
Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Section. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
Section. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Section. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. http://constitution.org
[Proposed 1866; Allegedly ratified 1868. See Fourteenth Amendment Law Library for argument it was not ratified.]
Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Section. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
Section. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Section. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. http://constitution.org
http://www.cafepress.com/buy/no amnesty/-/cfpt2_/copt_/cfpt_/source_searchBox/x_0/y_0 <Illegal Immigration Products
Some truths are self evident
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What It Means to Be an American Patriot
By Gary Palmer
Posted on: July 8, 2007
Over the Independence Day holiday, my family and I watched the movie The Patriot starring Mel Gibson as Benjamin Martin, a South Carolina militia colonel. While there are certain historical inaccuracies in the movie, including the misrepresentation of the brutal incineration of women and children, the film is worth watching. There is one line in particular that I missed in my previous viewings of the movie. After Gen. Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown and it was apparent America had gained her freedom, Col. Martin wrote to his children, “My hope, my prayer, is that the sacrifices borne by so many will spawn and fulfill the promise of our new nation.”
While Col. Martin is a fictitious character, his words ring as true as those of any of our Founding Fathers. These movie lines echo Lincoln’s admonition at Gettysburg that those who followed would not squander the sacrifices of those who “… gave the last full measure of devotion.”
Not surprisingly, the vast majority of Americans consider themselves to be patriotic and do respect and honor the sacrifices of the men and women who have given their lives for our republic. In fact, a January 2007 Princeton Survey Research Associates/Pew poll found that 90 percent of Americans consider themselves “completely or mostly” patriotic.
This raises the question: What does it really mean to be patriotic in America today?
Patriotism as our Founding Fathers understood it was not pride in the land in a nationalistic sense. The foundation of American patriotism rests firmly on our ideals. It is what we believe about the relationship between people and their government that makes America different from the citizens of other nations. Upholding the ideals that our Founders set forth in the Declaration and protected in our Constitution means that we as citizens have a responsibility to hold our elected and appointed officials accountable to the Declaration and Constitution.
By this standard, patriotism could be better measured by our understanding of core founding principles and our willingness to defend them against all enemies, foreign and domestic, including those who hold elected or appointed office, whether they are Democrats or Republicans. This requires a different kind of patriotism in that it also requires citizens to be educated and engaged.
Patriotism must be based on a love for the ideals and principles upon which America was founded. The essence of America is that we are a nation of ideals, of free people and free markets, of people committed to the idea that we are all created equal with unalienable rights endowed to us by our Creator.
Moreover, America was founded on the ideal that the only legitimate role of government is to protect those rights within the limited powers granted to it by the people. In this regard, we are different from any other nation in the history of the world. Consequently, our view of what it means to be a patriot is different that any other nation in the world.
On January 11, 1989, in his farewell address to the nation, President Ronald Reagan said that one of the things he was most proud of as a result of his eight years as president was the resurgence of national pride; he called it the new patriotism. Reagan warned that the new patriotism would not last “… unless it’s grounded in thoughtfulness and knowledge. An informed patriotism is what we want.”
Our nation needs a patriotism that calls each generation to do its part to guarantee, as Lincoln said at Gettysburg, “ … that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” To ensure this will require a renewed commitment to teach our citizens America’s history, core principles and what it means to be an American patriot. Only then can we fulfill the promise of this nation and make certain that those who gave their lives for our liberty “… shall not have died in vain.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What It Means to Be an American Patriot
By Gary Palmer
Posted on: July 8, 2007
Over the Independence Day holiday, my family and I watched the movie The Patriot starring Mel Gibson as Benjamin Martin, a South Carolina militia colonel. While there are certain historical inaccuracies in the movie, including the misrepresentation of the brutal incineration of women and children, the film is worth watching. There is one line in particular that I missed in my previous viewings of the movie. After Gen. Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown and it was apparent America had gained her freedom, Col. Martin wrote to his children, “My hope, my prayer, is that the sacrifices borne by so many will spawn and fulfill the promise of our new nation.”
While Col. Martin is a fictitious character, his words ring as true as those of any of our Founding Fathers. These movie lines echo Lincoln’s admonition at Gettysburg that those who followed would not squander the sacrifices of those who “… gave the last full measure of devotion.”
Not surprisingly, the vast majority of Americans consider themselves to be patriotic and do respect and honor the sacrifices of the men and women who have given their lives for our republic. In fact, a January 2007 Princeton Survey Research Associates/Pew poll found that 90 percent of Americans consider themselves “completely or mostly” patriotic.
This raises the question: What does it really mean to be patriotic in America today?
Patriotism as our Founding Fathers understood it was not pride in the land in a nationalistic sense. The foundation of American patriotism rests firmly on our ideals. It is what we believe about the relationship between people and their government that makes America different from the citizens of other nations. Upholding the ideals that our Founders set forth in the Declaration and protected in our Constitution means that we as citizens have a responsibility to hold our elected and appointed officials accountable to the Declaration and Constitution.
By this standard, patriotism could be better measured by our understanding of core founding principles and our willingness to defend them against all enemies, foreign and domestic, including those who hold elected or appointed office, whether they are Democrats or Republicans. This requires a different kind of patriotism in that it also requires citizens to be educated and engaged.
Patriotism must be based on a love for the ideals and principles upon which America was founded. The essence of America is that we are a nation of ideals, of free people and free markets, of people committed to the idea that we are all created equal with unalienable rights endowed to us by our Creator.
Moreover, America was founded on the ideal that the only legitimate role of government is to protect those rights within the limited powers granted to it by the people. In this regard, we are different from any other nation in the history of the world. Consequently, our view of what it means to be a patriot is different that any other nation in the world.
On January 11, 1989, in his farewell address to the nation, President Ronald Reagan said that one of the things he was most proud of as a result of his eight years as president was the resurgence of national pride; he called it the new patriotism. Reagan warned that the new patriotism would not last “… unless it’s grounded in thoughtfulness and knowledge. An informed patriotism is what we want.”
Our nation needs a patriotism that calls each generation to do its part to guarantee, as Lincoln said at Gettysburg, “ … that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” To ensure this will require a renewed commitment to teach our citizens America’s history, core principles and what it means to be an American patriot. Only then can we fulfill the promise of this nation and make certain that those who gave their lives for our liberty “… shall not have died in vain.”
Thanks Gameface.....Buster thanks for the add in.....More later...Keep the pressure on,Join the fight @ http://numbersusa.com Rememer theres strength in numbers..Thanks Jim M.
CREATING JOBS IS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE
Department of Physics, University of Colorado at Boulder : April 15 , 2006 -- by Albert A. Bartlett
"Thousands of new jobs have been created in the last several decades in every major city that has experienced population growth. If creating jobs in a city reduced unemployment in the city, then each of these cities should now have an unemployment rate that is less than zero, whatever that means..." April 15, 2006
INTRODUCTION
Essentially every politician in America, at the local level, the state level, and the national level, promises to work to create new jobs in his or her jurisdiction. This seems to be regarded as the highest service a politician can render to constituents.
THE PARADOX
Did you know that creating jobs in a community increases the number of people in the community who are out of work?
THE MICRO-EXPLANATION
Suppose the equilibrium unemployment rate in a community and across the country is 5%. A company comes into the community, builds a factory, and starts hiring people. This reduces the local unemployment rate to, say, 3%. Then what happens? People from the outside move into the community to take jobs so that the unemployment rate is returned to its equilibrium value of 5%. But because the population of the community has grown, the number of unemployed people is now 5% of the larger population. When the equilibrium unemployment rate is restored, more people are out of work in the community than before.
Every time you create 100 new jobs in a community, you create 4 or 5 more unemployed people in the community.
THE MACRO-EXPLANATION
Thousands of new jobs have been created in the last several decades in every major city that has experienced population growth. If creating jobs in a city reduced unemployment in the city, then each of these cities should now have an unemployment rate that is less than zero, whatever that means. In spite of all of the growth, the unemployment rate in these cities is never far from the national average unemployment rate. So creating jobs in these cities has caused population growth but it has not caused any long-term reduction in the unemployment rate, so more individuals are out of work than before.
A FUNDAMENTAL TRUTH
As long as people can move freely around the country to take jobs wherever they wish, creating new jobs in a community will always, in the long run, increase the number of people in the community who are out of work. So we can see that creating jobs in a community is an appealing mechanism for promoting population growth of the community. Considering all of the environmental destruction, congestion, crowding and increased taxes that are caused by growth it is clear that creating jobs is a promotion of quantity rather than quality. And we need to remember that, contrary to what the promoters say, the growth never pays for itself.
Population growth increases the rate of consumption of fossil fuels and other non-renewable resources so that these resources won't be available for the use of future generations. This led the late David Brower to say words to the effect that,
"Promoting population growth is simply a sophisticated way of stealing from our children."
Source: http://numbersusa.com
Department of Physics, University of Colorado at Boulder : April 15 , 2006 -- by Albert A. Bartlett
"Thousands of new jobs have been created in the last several decades in every major city that has experienced population growth. If creating jobs in a city reduced unemployment in the city, then each of these cities should now have an unemployment rate that is less than zero, whatever that means..." April 15, 2006
INTRODUCTION
Essentially every politician in America, at the local level, the state level, and the national level, promises to work to create new jobs in his or her jurisdiction. This seems to be regarded as the highest service a politician can render to constituents.
THE PARADOX
Did you know that creating jobs in a community increases the number of people in the community who are out of work?
THE MICRO-EXPLANATION
Suppose the equilibrium unemployment rate in a community and across the country is 5%. A company comes into the community, builds a factory, and starts hiring people. This reduces the local unemployment rate to, say, 3%. Then what happens? People from the outside move into the community to take jobs so that the unemployment rate is returned to its equilibrium value of 5%. But because the population of the community has grown, the number of unemployed people is now 5% of the larger population. When the equilibrium unemployment rate is restored, more people are out of work in the community than before.
Every time you create 100 new jobs in a community, you create 4 or 5 more unemployed people in the community.
THE MACRO-EXPLANATION
Thousands of new jobs have been created in the last several decades in every major city that has experienced population growth. If creating jobs in a city reduced unemployment in the city, then each of these cities should now have an unemployment rate that is less than zero, whatever that means. In spite of all of the growth, the unemployment rate in these cities is never far from the national average unemployment rate. So creating jobs in these cities has caused population growth but it has not caused any long-term reduction in the unemployment rate, so more individuals are out of work than before.
A FUNDAMENTAL TRUTH
As long as people can move freely around the country to take jobs wherever they wish, creating new jobs in a community will always, in the long run, increase the number of people in the community who are out of work. So we can see that creating jobs in a community is an appealing mechanism for promoting population growth of the community. Considering all of the environmental destruction, congestion, crowding and increased taxes that are caused by growth it is clear that creating jobs is a promotion of quantity rather than quality. And we need to remember that, contrary to what the promoters say, the growth never pays for itself.
Population growth increases the rate of consumption of fossil fuels and other non-renewable resources so that these resources won't be available for the use of future generations. This led the late David Brower to say words to the effect that,
"Promoting population growth is simply a sophisticated way of stealing from our children."
Source: http://numbersusa.com
numbersusa newsletter 8-8-07
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=650 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD rowSpan=3> </TD><TD class=t1fromdatetext>From: Dave Gorak </TD></TR><TR><TD class=t1fromdatetext>Date: Aug. 7, 2007 9:15 p.m. </TD></TR><TR><TD class=t1fromdatetext> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=t1redunderbigheader>LETTER SUCCESSES – Week ended Aug. 4 </TD></TR><TR><TD class=t1thinwhitespace> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=t1letterblock vAlign=top align=left>DO NOT REPLY TO THIS E-MAIL. PLEASE SEND ALL PUBLISHED LETTERS AND QUESTIONS RELATED TO THE LETTER-WRITING PROGRAM TO:
Dave Gorak
DO NOT FORWARD THIS E-MAIL OR MAKE COPIES
Everyone,
--Following is the published letters report for the period July 29-Aug. 4
--As always, this memo is intended for participants in this program,plus a few friends, and not for wide distribution. Editors tend not to publish letters they suspect are part of an organized letter-writing campaign. So, please refrain from cc:ing us on your letters-to-the-editor and from talking about the program in public forums.
--And please remember to include the full name of the paper that ran your letter and the date.
-- NumbersUSA forwards these letters to you so you can share in the success of the program and see the published efforts of our writers. As a reminder, however, the letters are personal and do not necessarily represent NumbersUSA positions.
RECOMMENDED WRITING STYLE: We recognize that each of you has the ability to make your own decisions about how to write your letters. NumbersUSA's opinion is that letters are more likely to be published and more likely to help our cause of dramatic immigration reductions if they are written in a temperate, self-controlled way that avoids name-calling and arguments based on race, religion or national origin. A strong use of a few facts, voting records, concise analysis and sometimes humor seems the best way to advance our arguments. We encourage specific criticism of open-border politicians and others, but caution against "in your face" rhetoric. Firm but civil argument tends to get the best results. You, of course, are free to disagree. We applaud all published letters that advocate for our immigration-reduction goals, but we may not disseminate those that move outside the tone that we encourage, a tone that many newspapers include in their own letters to the editor guidelines.
--Thanks to you all.
Index:
North County Times - 7/29
(1) Bernard Dick Blom
News-Leader (Mo.) – 7/29
(2) John Decker
The Examiner (Washington, D.C.) – 7/30
(3) Al Eisner
Odessa (Texas) American – 7/31
(4) Stacy Wright
Atlanta Journal-Constitution – 8/1
(5) Edward A. Watkins
The Tennessean – 8/1
(6) Mike Beauchane
Appen Newspapers (Ga.) – 8/1
(7) D.A. King
The Seattle Times – 8/2
(8) Eldon Ball
Chicago Tribune – 8/3
(9) Dell Erickson
Standard Examiner (Utah) - 8/3
(10) Barbara Vickroy
LETTERS WE”VE JUST RECEIVED
News-Leader (Mo.) - 7/23
(11) Ben Kellerman
(1)
North County Times - 7/29
A one-issue voter
I have always disapproved of the single-issue voter, feeling it is narrow-minded and shortsighted. But I find I am becoming just that. I have been a Democrat, agreeing with that party on most issues.
I have always been strongly opposed to the war in Iraq, even though it doesn't touch me personally. That is true of most issues; I have good health insurance, have no personal stake in gay marriage or abortion. In fact, most of the issues for me are academic. But illegal immigration actually affects my life.
I strongly believe English should be our only language, since the lack of a single language is the most divisive thing possible for our society. Illegals drag down wages for so many Americans, and are a drain on all of our social services. Appalling irresponsibility is shown by some illegals: example, driving with no driver's license, insurance or vehicle registration, only to run away if they have an auto accident.
Any candidate or party that will work to actually secure our borders, enforce existing employment laws and work to create a national ID card that can't be counterfeited has my one-issue vote.
Bernard Dick Blom
Oceanside, Calif.
(2)
News-Leader (Mo.) – 7/29
Diversity harms, not helps, nations
What did our founding fathers think about immigration? Let's look back to their comments.
Thomas Jefferson in his Notes on Virginia posed the question, "Are there no inconveniences to be thrown into the scale against the advantage expected by a multiplication of numbers by the importation of foreigners?"
He went on to say, "Suppose 20 millions of Republican Americans thrown all of a sudden into France, what would be the condition of that kingdom?" Jefferson asked. "If it would be more turbulent, less happy, less strong, we may believe that the addition of half a million of foreigners to our present numbers would produce a similar effect here." (He speculated what would happen with half a million, not the 20 million that have invaded the U.S.)
Alexander Hamilton was even more blunt. He invited his fellow Americans to consider the example of another people who had been more generous with immigration policy than prudence dictated: the American Indians. He wrote, "Prudence requires us to trace the history further and ask what has become of the nations of savages who exercised this policy, and who now occupies the territory which they then inhabited? Perhaps a lesson is here taught which ought not to be despised." Hamilton was likewise unconvinced that diversity was a strength. The safety of a republic, according to him, depended "essentially on the energy of a common national sentiment, on a uniformity of principles and bias and prejudice, and on that love of country which will almost invariably be found to be closely connected with birth, education and family."
He then drew out the implications of this point. "The influx of foreigners must, therefore, tend to produce a heterogeneous compound; to change and corrupt the national spirit; to complicate and confound public opinion; to introduce foreign propensities. In the composition of society, the harmony of the ingredients is all important, and whatever tends to a discordant intermixture must have an injurious tendency."
George Washington contended in a 1794 letter to John Adams that there was no particular need for the U.S. to encourage immigration, "except of useful mechanics and some particular descriptions of men or professions." He continued: "The policy or advantage of its taking place in a body (I mean the settling of them in a body) may be much questioned; for by so doing, they retain the language, habits and principles (good or bad) which they bring with them." Rufus King, a Massachusetts delegate to the Constitutional Convention, wrote in 1798 that emigrants from Scotland had typically brought with them certificates from "the religious Societies to which they belonged." That testified to their good character.
These were the mental giants who formed and brought about our great country, perhaps we should listen closely to their words, not the mental midgets occupying political offices and the bureaucracy today. Ever wonder why the media never asks the hard questions? Could it be they know politicians today have no interest in doing what is right or best for our country, only what gets the most media attention and gets votes, the country be damned? Just my humble opinion. I want everyone to think. This is our country and we have a responsibility to be informed. Elections are not popularity contests.
John Decker
Ozark, Mo.
(3)
The Examiner (Washington, D.C.) – 7/30
Montgomery County shouldn’t run immigrant day labor center
Montgomery County has no business operating a day labor center here and supporting illegal immigrants.
I wish to call on responsible elected officials to quit funding this center with our tax dollars and just close it down. I resent the fact that the money we pay to the county is being used to support Illegal immigrants, who are a burden to this county and utilize these facilities illegally.
Illegal immigrants overburden our school and medical care systems and cause overcrowding in our neighborhoods by having numerous families reside in one dwelling. They continue to violate the county housing code and have become a burden on law enforcement.
The day labor center only encourages them to move here and become a burden to the citizens. The only good solution is for Montgomery County to quit funding the center and close it down for good.
Al Eisner
Wheaton, Md.
(4)
Odessa (Texas) American – 7/31
Facts are facts
The most important thing I continue to get from David Johnson’s flawed history lessons is his continued insistence that since the invading flood of illegal aliens is composed of mostly Mexicans or Hispanics is that it is OK for them to ignore our laws and legal borders.
In at least one poll, conducted in 2002 by Zogby in Mexico, 58 percent of respondents agreed with the statement that “the territory of the United States’ Southwest rightfully belongs to Mexico.” This being based on the pretense that much of the Southwest was wrongfully taken from them in the war during 1846-’47 under the presidency of James K. Polk. Johnson’s history lesson wrongfully attributes this to the “Buchanan administration.”
If Johnson wants to get technical on what belonged to whom and when, we can go all the way back to the amoebas. One wonders where Johnson’s loyalty lies since he supports the invasion of the United States by Mexico.
There is absolutely nothing complicated about the illegal alien invasion into my country.
The fact is Mexico is a corrupt country rich in mineral wealth that has two classes of people — the very rich connected and the very poor that the Mexican government encourages to illegally invade the United States and goes so far as to give them information comic book-style on how to avoid United States law enforcement.
Then we have the greedy rich in America unwilling to pay Americans living wages, or cut into their million-dollar perks, and employ illegal aliens at substandard wages so they can cut wages and living conditions of American citizens.
I guess stories of first-generation Europeans coming to America and changing their names and learning the language/customs can be discounted as “white” European lies. Most came for the opportunity to better them selves and become Americans. To become an American meant a lot to the newcomers with the ideal to be relatively free to seek better lives.
As to the cost of illegal aliens to taxpayers, facts are facts and they are easily proved or disproved. To dismiss facts out of ignorance or to suggest they are used dishonestly without proof is a cop-out.
“A new study by the Heritage Foundation’s Robert Rector found a household headed by an individual without a high school education, including about two-thirds of illegal aliens, costs U.S. taxpayers more than $32,000 in federal, state and local benefits. That same family contributes an average of $9,000 a year in taxes, resulting in a net tax burden of $22,449 each year.”
Add to this fact the fact that illegal aliens with the illegal help of many United States banks accepting false Matricula Consular identification cards sent back to Mexico an estimated 20 billion dollars in 2007.
All that money taken from the U.S. economy while taxpaying citizens subsidize illegal aliens to the tune of an estimated $12 to $16 billion (based on facts put forth by Joe Dunn in the Stanford Review), in taxes.
As to Johnson’s statement, “I feel Wright’s statement that America was built on the backs of the middle class gets to the heart of our disagreement and is worth examining.” I feel the true middle class that built this nation into greatness occurred during and after World War II as our economy expanded greatly without a flood of illegal aliens.
In the words of a great American and presidential candidate Tom Tancredo, who is concerned about our nations future and the unrelenting government approved invasion: “We are facing a situation, where if we don’t control immigration, legal and illegal, we will eventually reach the point where it won’t be what kind of a nation we are, balkanized or united, we will actually have to face the fact that we are no longer a nation at all.”
Myself and millions of other Americans agree with this statement and feel that the unrelenting government approved invasion is the worst thing happening to this nation of all times.
Stacy Wright
Odessa, Texas
(5)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution – 8/1
Immigration debate: Responses to "Last stop for immigrants," Metro, July 30
On deportation, follow Cobb's lead
Good for Cobb County. At last, a local jurisdiction has taken meaningful steps to reduce the problem of illegal immigrants in this area.
Pursuant to an agreement between Cobb County and federal authorities, Cobb is initiating deportation proceedings against illegals arrested for violation of law rather than allowing them to post bond, as in the past. The case in point is Maria Rivera, who was previously deported and chose to re-enter the country illegally and was apprehended for multiple violations of law by Cobb authorities.
Rivera has three children now living in Chicago while she is in jail in Cobb. It's unfortunate for her children, and too bad for her, that she chose to enter America illegally and then commit multiple violations of law. Her children's future is in doubt due to her illegal activities.
If she really cares for these children, she will take them back to Mexico if she is deported, as I hope she will be. As heartless as this may sound, we have no choice if we are to stop enabling illegal immigration and re-establish American sovereignty.
It's time for some tough love. Cobb's program should be a model for all of Georgia and, in fact, for the entire United States.
Edward A. Watkins
Lilburn, Ga.
(6)
The Tennessean – 8/1
Politicians need to do their job
It’s a saddening trend across this great nation, politicians and law enforcement alike are afraid to protect the people who elected them and pay their salaries. I’m referring to Mayor Carneal and city manager Paul Nutting and their comments on the incident with fireworks and the police. They refuse to put the blame on those responsible. I grew up in Springfield’s notorious Southtown, the problem lies with the parents of these soon to be convicts. Arrest not only the teenage thugs, but the parents as well and if all else fails, the Housing Authority has the right to evict them.
There are too many handgun permit holders in Robertson County for the mayor and manager not to address this. Had this been a licensed permit holder instead of the police, it would have been a bloody mess! And justified. Read the law, put someone in fear of their life and you could lose yours. Address the real problem, mayor.
The other issue is illegal immigrants. From the news clip on channel 5, Mayor Carneal, you are apparently more concerned with pandering to this group. This group did not elect you to office. On the surface it appears you’re going along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Even when your son was running for office, you acted as though illegals being here was OK. It’s the wrong attitude. City manager Paul Nutting last year you wanted to address this issue. Did the raise that put your salary over $100,000 change your attitude?
And I can’t just lay this all on these two. Our County Mayor and commissioners have yet to show any fortitude. Are you as elected officials really going to sit back and pretend your hands are tied? Or will you act when you lose a family member as I have? I do not care what conditions they live in back in whatever country they came from. I really don’t care how many businesses close up in Robertson County because they can no longer pay an illegal immigrants low wages. And so those who do use illegals know, I do turn your business information over to ICE ( Immigration and Custom Enforcement) 1-866-347-2423, call and help take back our county.
Law enforcement has the authority to enforce all laws on the books, they refuse to do this in our county. They arrest drug dealers and bank robbers which are federal laws. Our Sheriff’s Department is getting a new $30 million jail and all top deputies have new patrol cars. So why do we not have the 287g program? Cost an excuse? Not anymore, there are Homeland Security grants that help pay all or some of the cost. However they will not admit to this. No more excuses, do your jobs or resign from office.
Mike Beauchane
Springfield, Tenn.
(7)
Appen Newspapers (Ga.) – 8/1
Amnesty for aliens not worth the price
There is an old axiom for writers that is too often ignored: Write about what you know.
This reader thinks that Mr. Appen's ill-informed column regarding State Senator Chip Rogers' and his Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act (SB 529) and the huge majority of Americans who opposed the recent attempt at amnesty for illegal aliens and illegal employers is a good example of ignoring that advice.
It could be true that Americans will pay a little more for living in the United States if we are ever successful in finding a president and a Congress that will secure our borders as is required by the constitution.
It would seem a no-brainer to most, considering the war on terror. Let's try it!
Some of us – who are paying attention – know that the price of labor in our agriculture industry represents less than 10 percent of the final retail price in the supermarket. We could double the wages of farm workers and not drastically increase our food costs.
We hope Mr. Appen writes about that someday soon.
Maybe if we actually find a government that will equally apply the rule of law upon which our great nation was founded, we will see the price of homes rise somewhat. Paying Americans a living wage to work in our construction industry doesn't seem so very extreme to this long-time American.
To preserve the rule of law, return to a common language and enjoy defended and defined borders, most Americans without a vested and direct interest in employing black market labor apparently are willing to forgo amnesty.
According to a December 2005 AJC/Zogby poll, more than 82 percent of Georgians wanted something done about illegal immigration on a state level.
Mr. Appen seems to ignore the fact that there is no such thing as cheap labor. It is actually taxpayer subsidized labor and that we all pay considerably to provide the services to illegals that they cannot afford on the artificially low wages paid to them by the criminal employers.
"Get out your wallets" indeed.
It is a federal crime to assist, transport, harbor, employ or to encourage an illegal alien to remain these United States. The penalty is increased for doing so for commercial profit.
Because of Chip Rogers' legislation, employers in Georgia no longer have a better chance of being struck by lightning than suffering consequences for drawing illegals into our state.
Rogers should be considered a hero for suffering the name-calling and personal attacks that always come with speaking out for the American people who have little voice in their own nation when the big money is allowed to decide which laws are to be enforced.
What we don't know is if Appen understands that we tried amnesty in 1986. We were told then that if we granted amnesty to about 1 million illegals, our government would then secure our borders and begin to sanction the employers who violated the laws. The "one time" amnesty of '86 turned out to be applied to nearly 3 million victims of geography.
Look around, it didn't stop illegal immigration. Amnesty is not enforcement.
We are now told, more than 21 years later, that there are 12 million illegals here. Most of us who study the issue understand that figure to off by at least half.
English is now an optional language in Georgia.
We also know that Appen is not a news hound, as he writes about new state laws that make it much more difficult for the illegals to get driver's licenses. Wrong. Illegal aliens are not legally permitted to get a Georgia driver's license and never have been. Maybe he is thinking of the fact that Rogers' also sponsored a law to require a valid license to register an automobile?
Likely an un-American move, but it will serve to cut down on illegal drivers who are killing Americans on our roads.
Most of us regard that as a good thing and understand that enforcement works.
Most of us recognize that doing so is not somehow ""anti-immigration" - and that real immigrants join the American family according to the same rule of law that allows Appen to attack the Americans who want a level playing field.
Appen takes a shot a guessing that "75 percent" of the construction workforce in this nation is illegal. Those of us who study the issue know that the Pew Hispanic Center reports that the number is actually 14 percent – meaning that 86 percent is legal labor.
Last year we watched as millions of illegals marched in a demand for American citizenship while waving the flag of Mexico – with corporate support.
Appen, like most who mindlessly oppose actually enforcing the law, describes the Americans who stopped amnesty as "extremists"
Who exactly are the "extremists" here?
D.A. KING
(This ran in Appen’s 4 newspapers serving north Atlanta counties: Forsyth Herald, Johns Creek Herald, and Revue & News.)
(8)
The Seattle Times – 8/2
Old haven in turmoil
New World overflows with problems coming from legal residents
Editor, The Times:
In "New Haven does the job Congress refuses to do" [Times editorial, July 26>, you forgot to mention that a nation (the U.S.) has a right and duty to control immigration. At 301 million people, the U.S. is overpopulated by 100 million, or more. We don't need more people to overcrowd our highways, schools, hospitals, parks, beaches and wilderness!
With 4.6 percent of the world's population, we use 25 percent of total resources and cause 25 percent of global warming. We should limit (legal) immigration to emigration; build a wall from San Diego to Brownsville, Texas, on the border, to stop terrorists and drug runners; give free birth control to everyone on Earth and economic aid to all nations exporting migrants; and imprison those who hire illegals.
When the word gets out, the practice will stop. When the illegals can't find work, most will go home. The rest can be rounded up and deported by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Problem solved!
There are enough unemployed and underemployed citizens and legal residents in the U.S. to do any job that pays a decent wage. Illegals drive down wages, drive up prices and destroy the middle class! The gulf between the rich and poor in the U.S. is at its widest since 1929.
We need to get Congress and the Bush administration to look out for us rather than for those who get rich from hiring illegal labor!
Eldon Ball
Seattle
(9)
Chicago Tribune – 8/3
Trespassers, please leave
Re "Immigration fight spurs exodus," Page 1, Aug. 3:
The Catholic Priest thinks illegal aliens are being made to feel fear. No, they feel fear because they are criminals in our country and know it.
Recently President Bush, Vice President John McCain and Senator Ted Kennedy tried to force what they termed, "comprehensive immigration reform" on the American citizen.
This terrible bill provided an amnesty to illegal aliens, virtually eliminated the U.S. border, did away with English language and U.S. dollar, and would have combined Mexico and Canada with the U.S.
What the attempt did was to galvanize Americans into taking back their country, getting control of all immigration.
Americans don't want illegal aliens crossing the border or residing in Illinois or Minnesota or anywhere else in the U.S.
If they feel unwelcome and unwanted it is because their actions demonstrate contempt for our laws and people; they forgot to ask Americans for permission.
Trespassers, please leave.
Dell Erikson
Brooklyn Center, Minn.
(10)
Standard Examiner (Utah) - 8/3
Gangsters threaten, recruit young Latinos
Regarding the July 26 letter "Gang ordinance will increase harassment": The claim made by the Ph.D. from New Mexico University stating that a gang ordinance passed by the city of Ogden is designed to harass one ethnic group is nothing short of paranoia.
I've lived in Southern California for 70 years, surrounded by folks with a Latino heritage. My extended family has many such persons. I have never known any of my Latino classmates, co-workers, family members or neighbors to belong to a gang. Furthermore, they are often far more outraged than I am when those gangs threaten and attempt to recruit their brown-skinned children.
If the New Mexican academic is ignorant of the brown-on-brown, Nortenos vs. Surenos deadly violence that strikes fear into far too many communities, then he has not been paying attention.
The FBI says that half of the 100,000 gangsters in Los Angeles County are deportable. They identify the Asian gangs as particularly violent, but most are of Latino heritage. I suggest he study Salinas, Calif., to see that its Latino-majority population is seeking solutions to a deadly gang problem. There should be no ivory-tower elitist whining about Latino harassment. They've buried too may of their children to listen to that nonsense.
Barbara Vickroy
Escondido, Calif.
LETTERS WE”VE JUST RECEIVED
(11)
News-Leader (Mo.) - 7/23
Ethnic tensions at core of dispute
Most Americans are well aware of the racial and ethnic tensions in our society, and consider them a serious problem. Often overlooked, however, is how immigration heightens that tension. When cultures collide, ethnic tension is inevitable. People of different cultures and ethnicities often operate with different sets of assumptions about the world and ways of doing things. When those different world views are at odds, tensions and the likelihood of conflict are heightened.
The conflict is not about race. Although high-immigration advocates sometimes try to cast the issue of immigration as a racial one, in order to stifle debate, ethnic tension is not a simple problem of one race against another. Immigration drives conflict between white/black/hispanic Americans and immigrants of all races, as well as among the immigration groups themselves, regardless of their races.
High-immigration and illegal immigration advocates often assert the answer to immigration-related ethnic tension is more "tolerance" on the part of native-born Americans. But simply labeling Americans as "intolerant" cannot change the fact that the share of foreign-born people has at least doubled in one generation. As a result, there is an ever-increasing bulk of unassimilated people in the United States, a pattern that almost ensures growing conflict.
Ben Kellerman
Forsyth, Mo.
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Dave Gorak
DO NOT FORWARD THIS E-MAIL OR MAKE COPIES
Everyone,
--Following is the published letters report for the period July 29-Aug. 4
--As always, this memo is intended for participants in this program,plus a few friends, and not for wide distribution. Editors tend not to publish letters they suspect are part of an organized letter-writing campaign. So, please refrain from cc:ing us on your letters-to-the-editor and from talking about the program in public forums.
--And please remember to include the full name of the paper that ran your letter and the date.
-- NumbersUSA forwards these letters to you so you can share in the success of the program and see the published efforts of our writers. As a reminder, however, the letters are personal and do not necessarily represent NumbersUSA positions.
RECOMMENDED WRITING STYLE: We recognize that each of you has the ability to make your own decisions about how to write your letters. NumbersUSA's opinion is that letters are more likely to be published and more likely to help our cause of dramatic immigration reductions if they are written in a temperate, self-controlled way that avoids name-calling and arguments based on race, religion or national origin. A strong use of a few facts, voting records, concise analysis and sometimes humor seems the best way to advance our arguments. We encourage specific criticism of open-border politicians and others, but caution against "in your face" rhetoric. Firm but civil argument tends to get the best results. You, of course, are free to disagree. We applaud all published letters that advocate for our immigration-reduction goals, but we may not disseminate those that move outside the tone that we encourage, a tone that many newspapers include in their own letters to the editor guidelines.
--Thanks to you all.
Index:
North County Times - 7/29
(1) Bernard Dick Blom
News-Leader (Mo.) – 7/29
(2) John Decker
The Examiner (Washington, D.C.) – 7/30
(3) Al Eisner
Odessa (Texas) American – 7/31
(4) Stacy Wright
Atlanta Journal-Constitution – 8/1
(5) Edward A. Watkins
The Tennessean – 8/1
(6) Mike Beauchane
Appen Newspapers (Ga.) – 8/1
(7) D.A. King
The Seattle Times – 8/2
(8) Eldon Ball
Chicago Tribune – 8/3
(9) Dell Erickson
Standard Examiner (Utah) - 8/3
(10) Barbara Vickroy
LETTERS WE”VE JUST RECEIVED
News-Leader (Mo.) - 7/23
(11) Ben Kellerman
(1)
North County Times - 7/29
A one-issue voter
I have always disapproved of the single-issue voter, feeling it is narrow-minded and shortsighted. But I find I am becoming just that. I have been a Democrat, agreeing with that party on most issues.
I have always been strongly opposed to the war in Iraq, even though it doesn't touch me personally. That is true of most issues; I have good health insurance, have no personal stake in gay marriage or abortion. In fact, most of the issues for me are academic. But illegal immigration actually affects my life.
I strongly believe English should be our only language, since the lack of a single language is the most divisive thing possible for our society. Illegals drag down wages for so many Americans, and are a drain on all of our social services. Appalling irresponsibility is shown by some illegals: example, driving with no driver's license, insurance or vehicle registration, only to run away if they have an auto accident.
Any candidate or party that will work to actually secure our borders, enforce existing employment laws and work to create a national ID card that can't be counterfeited has my one-issue vote.
Bernard Dick Blom
Oceanside, Calif.
(2)
News-Leader (Mo.) – 7/29
Diversity harms, not helps, nations
What did our founding fathers think about immigration? Let's look back to their comments.
Thomas Jefferson in his Notes on Virginia posed the question, "Are there no inconveniences to be thrown into the scale against the advantage expected by a multiplication of numbers by the importation of foreigners?"
He went on to say, "Suppose 20 millions of Republican Americans thrown all of a sudden into France, what would be the condition of that kingdom?" Jefferson asked. "If it would be more turbulent, less happy, less strong, we may believe that the addition of half a million of foreigners to our present numbers would produce a similar effect here." (He speculated what would happen with half a million, not the 20 million that have invaded the U.S.)
Alexander Hamilton was even more blunt. He invited his fellow Americans to consider the example of another people who had been more generous with immigration policy than prudence dictated: the American Indians. He wrote, "Prudence requires us to trace the history further and ask what has become of the nations of savages who exercised this policy, and who now occupies the territory which they then inhabited? Perhaps a lesson is here taught which ought not to be despised." Hamilton was likewise unconvinced that diversity was a strength. The safety of a republic, according to him, depended "essentially on the energy of a common national sentiment, on a uniformity of principles and bias and prejudice, and on that love of country which will almost invariably be found to be closely connected with birth, education and family."
He then drew out the implications of this point. "The influx of foreigners must, therefore, tend to produce a heterogeneous compound; to change and corrupt the national spirit; to complicate and confound public opinion; to introduce foreign propensities. In the composition of society, the harmony of the ingredients is all important, and whatever tends to a discordant intermixture must have an injurious tendency."
George Washington contended in a 1794 letter to John Adams that there was no particular need for the U.S. to encourage immigration, "except of useful mechanics and some particular descriptions of men or professions." He continued: "The policy or advantage of its taking place in a body (I mean the settling of them in a body) may be much questioned; for by so doing, they retain the language, habits and principles (good or bad) which they bring with them." Rufus King, a Massachusetts delegate to the Constitutional Convention, wrote in 1798 that emigrants from Scotland had typically brought with them certificates from "the religious Societies to which they belonged." That testified to their good character.
These were the mental giants who formed and brought about our great country, perhaps we should listen closely to their words, not the mental midgets occupying political offices and the bureaucracy today. Ever wonder why the media never asks the hard questions? Could it be they know politicians today have no interest in doing what is right or best for our country, only what gets the most media attention and gets votes, the country be damned? Just my humble opinion. I want everyone to think. This is our country and we have a responsibility to be informed. Elections are not popularity contests.
John Decker
Ozark, Mo.
(3)
The Examiner (Washington, D.C.) – 7/30
Montgomery County shouldn’t run immigrant day labor center
Montgomery County has no business operating a day labor center here and supporting illegal immigrants.
I wish to call on responsible elected officials to quit funding this center with our tax dollars and just close it down. I resent the fact that the money we pay to the county is being used to support Illegal immigrants, who are a burden to this county and utilize these facilities illegally.
Illegal immigrants overburden our school and medical care systems and cause overcrowding in our neighborhoods by having numerous families reside in one dwelling. They continue to violate the county housing code and have become a burden on law enforcement.
The day labor center only encourages them to move here and become a burden to the citizens. The only good solution is for Montgomery County to quit funding the center and close it down for good.
Al Eisner
Wheaton, Md.
(4)
Odessa (Texas) American – 7/31
Facts are facts
The most important thing I continue to get from David Johnson’s flawed history lessons is his continued insistence that since the invading flood of illegal aliens is composed of mostly Mexicans or Hispanics is that it is OK for them to ignore our laws and legal borders.
In at least one poll, conducted in 2002 by Zogby in Mexico, 58 percent of respondents agreed with the statement that “the territory of the United States’ Southwest rightfully belongs to Mexico.” This being based on the pretense that much of the Southwest was wrongfully taken from them in the war during 1846-’47 under the presidency of James K. Polk. Johnson’s history lesson wrongfully attributes this to the “Buchanan administration.”
If Johnson wants to get technical on what belonged to whom and when, we can go all the way back to the amoebas. One wonders where Johnson’s loyalty lies since he supports the invasion of the United States by Mexico.
There is absolutely nothing complicated about the illegal alien invasion into my country.
The fact is Mexico is a corrupt country rich in mineral wealth that has two classes of people — the very rich connected and the very poor that the Mexican government encourages to illegally invade the United States and goes so far as to give them information comic book-style on how to avoid United States law enforcement.
Then we have the greedy rich in America unwilling to pay Americans living wages, or cut into their million-dollar perks, and employ illegal aliens at substandard wages so they can cut wages and living conditions of American citizens.
I guess stories of first-generation Europeans coming to America and changing their names and learning the language/customs can be discounted as “white” European lies. Most came for the opportunity to better them selves and become Americans. To become an American meant a lot to the newcomers with the ideal to be relatively free to seek better lives.
As to the cost of illegal aliens to taxpayers, facts are facts and they are easily proved or disproved. To dismiss facts out of ignorance or to suggest they are used dishonestly without proof is a cop-out.
“A new study by the Heritage Foundation’s Robert Rector found a household headed by an individual without a high school education, including about two-thirds of illegal aliens, costs U.S. taxpayers more than $32,000 in federal, state and local benefits. That same family contributes an average of $9,000 a year in taxes, resulting in a net tax burden of $22,449 each year.”
Add to this fact the fact that illegal aliens with the illegal help of many United States banks accepting false Matricula Consular identification cards sent back to Mexico an estimated 20 billion dollars in 2007.
All that money taken from the U.S. economy while taxpaying citizens subsidize illegal aliens to the tune of an estimated $12 to $16 billion (based on facts put forth by Joe Dunn in the Stanford Review), in taxes.
As to Johnson’s statement, “I feel Wright’s statement that America was built on the backs of the middle class gets to the heart of our disagreement and is worth examining.” I feel the true middle class that built this nation into greatness occurred during and after World War II as our economy expanded greatly without a flood of illegal aliens.
In the words of a great American and presidential candidate Tom Tancredo, who is concerned about our nations future and the unrelenting government approved invasion: “We are facing a situation, where if we don’t control immigration, legal and illegal, we will eventually reach the point where it won’t be what kind of a nation we are, balkanized or united, we will actually have to face the fact that we are no longer a nation at all.”
Myself and millions of other Americans agree with this statement and feel that the unrelenting government approved invasion is the worst thing happening to this nation of all times.
Stacy Wright
Odessa, Texas
(5)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution – 8/1
Immigration debate: Responses to "Last stop for immigrants," Metro, July 30
On deportation, follow Cobb's lead
Good for Cobb County. At last, a local jurisdiction has taken meaningful steps to reduce the problem of illegal immigrants in this area.
Pursuant to an agreement between Cobb County and federal authorities, Cobb is initiating deportation proceedings against illegals arrested for violation of law rather than allowing them to post bond, as in the past. The case in point is Maria Rivera, who was previously deported and chose to re-enter the country illegally and was apprehended for multiple violations of law by Cobb authorities.
Rivera has three children now living in Chicago while she is in jail in Cobb. It's unfortunate for her children, and too bad for her, that she chose to enter America illegally and then commit multiple violations of law. Her children's future is in doubt due to her illegal activities.
If she really cares for these children, she will take them back to Mexico if she is deported, as I hope she will be. As heartless as this may sound, we have no choice if we are to stop enabling illegal immigration and re-establish American sovereignty.
It's time for some tough love. Cobb's program should be a model for all of Georgia and, in fact, for the entire United States.
Edward A. Watkins
Lilburn, Ga.
(6)
The Tennessean – 8/1
Politicians need to do their job
It’s a saddening trend across this great nation, politicians and law enforcement alike are afraid to protect the people who elected them and pay their salaries. I’m referring to Mayor Carneal and city manager Paul Nutting and their comments on the incident with fireworks and the police. They refuse to put the blame on those responsible. I grew up in Springfield’s notorious Southtown, the problem lies with the parents of these soon to be convicts. Arrest not only the teenage thugs, but the parents as well and if all else fails, the Housing Authority has the right to evict them.
There are too many handgun permit holders in Robertson County for the mayor and manager not to address this. Had this been a licensed permit holder instead of the police, it would have been a bloody mess! And justified. Read the law, put someone in fear of their life and you could lose yours. Address the real problem, mayor.
The other issue is illegal immigrants. From the news clip on channel 5, Mayor Carneal, you are apparently more concerned with pandering to this group. This group did not elect you to office. On the surface it appears you’re going along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Even when your son was running for office, you acted as though illegals being here was OK. It’s the wrong attitude. City manager Paul Nutting last year you wanted to address this issue. Did the raise that put your salary over $100,000 change your attitude?
And I can’t just lay this all on these two. Our County Mayor and commissioners have yet to show any fortitude. Are you as elected officials really going to sit back and pretend your hands are tied? Or will you act when you lose a family member as I have? I do not care what conditions they live in back in whatever country they came from. I really don’t care how many businesses close up in Robertson County because they can no longer pay an illegal immigrants low wages. And so those who do use illegals know, I do turn your business information over to ICE ( Immigration and Custom Enforcement) 1-866-347-2423, call and help take back our county.
Law enforcement has the authority to enforce all laws on the books, they refuse to do this in our county. They arrest drug dealers and bank robbers which are federal laws. Our Sheriff’s Department is getting a new $30 million jail and all top deputies have new patrol cars. So why do we not have the 287g program? Cost an excuse? Not anymore, there are Homeland Security grants that help pay all or some of the cost. However they will not admit to this. No more excuses, do your jobs or resign from office.
Mike Beauchane
Springfield, Tenn.
(7)
Appen Newspapers (Ga.) – 8/1
Amnesty for aliens not worth the price
There is an old axiom for writers that is too often ignored: Write about what you know.
This reader thinks that Mr. Appen's ill-informed column regarding State Senator Chip Rogers' and his Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act (SB 529) and the huge majority of Americans who opposed the recent attempt at amnesty for illegal aliens and illegal employers is a good example of ignoring that advice.
It could be true that Americans will pay a little more for living in the United States if we are ever successful in finding a president and a Congress that will secure our borders as is required by the constitution.
It would seem a no-brainer to most, considering the war on terror. Let's try it!
Some of us – who are paying attention – know that the price of labor in our agriculture industry represents less than 10 percent of the final retail price in the supermarket. We could double the wages of farm workers and not drastically increase our food costs.
We hope Mr. Appen writes about that someday soon.
Maybe if we actually find a government that will equally apply the rule of law upon which our great nation was founded, we will see the price of homes rise somewhat. Paying Americans a living wage to work in our construction industry doesn't seem so very extreme to this long-time American.
To preserve the rule of law, return to a common language and enjoy defended and defined borders, most Americans without a vested and direct interest in employing black market labor apparently are willing to forgo amnesty.
According to a December 2005 AJC/Zogby poll, more than 82 percent of Georgians wanted something done about illegal immigration on a state level.
Mr. Appen seems to ignore the fact that there is no such thing as cheap labor. It is actually taxpayer subsidized labor and that we all pay considerably to provide the services to illegals that they cannot afford on the artificially low wages paid to them by the criminal employers.
"Get out your wallets" indeed.
It is a federal crime to assist, transport, harbor, employ or to encourage an illegal alien to remain these United States. The penalty is increased for doing so for commercial profit.
Because of Chip Rogers' legislation, employers in Georgia no longer have a better chance of being struck by lightning than suffering consequences for drawing illegals into our state.
Rogers should be considered a hero for suffering the name-calling and personal attacks that always come with speaking out for the American people who have little voice in their own nation when the big money is allowed to decide which laws are to be enforced.
What we don't know is if Appen understands that we tried amnesty in 1986. We were told then that if we granted amnesty to about 1 million illegals, our government would then secure our borders and begin to sanction the employers who violated the laws. The "one time" amnesty of '86 turned out to be applied to nearly 3 million victims of geography.
Look around, it didn't stop illegal immigration. Amnesty is not enforcement.
We are now told, more than 21 years later, that there are 12 million illegals here. Most of us who study the issue understand that figure to off by at least half.
English is now an optional language in Georgia.
We also know that Appen is not a news hound, as he writes about new state laws that make it much more difficult for the illegals to get driver's licenses. Wrong. Illegal aliens are not legally permitted to get a Georgia driver's license and never have been. Maybe he is thinking of the fact that Rogers' also sponsored a law to require a valid license to register an automobile?
Likely an un-American move, but it will serve to cut down on illegal drivers who are killing Americans on our roads.
Most of us regard that as a good thing and understand that enforcement works.
Most of us recognize that doing so is not somehow ""anti-immigration" - and that real immigrants join the American family according to the same rule of law that allows Appen to attack the Americans who want a level playing field.
Appen takes a shot a guessing that "75 percent" of the construction workforce in this nation is illegal. Those of us who study the issue know that the Pew Hispanic Center reports that the number is actually 14 percent – meaning that 86 percent is legal labor.
Last year we watched as millions of illegals marched in a demand for American citizenship while waving the flag of Mexico – with corporate support.
Appen, like most who mindlessly oppose actually enforcing the law, describes the Americans who stopped amnesty as "extremists"
Who exactly are the "extremists" here?
D.A. KING
(This ran in Appen’s 4 newspapers serving north Atlanta counties: Forsyth Herald, Johns Creek Herald, and Revue & News.)
(8)
The Seattle Times – 8/2
Old haven in turmoil
New World overflows with problems coming from legal residents
Editor, The Times:
In "New Haven does the job Congress refuses to do" [Times editorial, July 26>, you forgot to mention that a nation (the U.S.) has a right and duty to control immigration. At 301 million people, the U.S. is overpopulated by 100 million, or more. We don't need more people to overcrowd our highways, schools, hospitals, parks, beaches and wilderness!
With 4.6 percent of the world's population, we use 25 percent of total resources and cause 25 percent of global warming. We should limit (legal) immigration to emigration; build a wall from San Diego to Brownsville, Texas, on the border, to stop terrorists and drug runners; give free birth control to everyone on Earth and economic aid to all nations exporting migrants; and imprison those who hire illegals.
When the word gets out, the practice will stop. When the illegals can't find work, most will go home. The rest can be rounded up and deported by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Problem solved!
There are enough unemployed and underemployed citizens and legal residents in the U.S. to do any job that pays a decent wage. Illegals drive down wages, drive up prices and destroy the middle class! The gulf between the rich and poor in the U.S. is at its widest since 1929.
We need to get Congress and the Bush administration to look out for us rather than for those who get rich from hiring illegal labor!
Eldon Ball
Seattle
(9)
Chicago Tribune – 8/3
Trespassers, please leave
Re "Immigration fight spurs exodus," Page 1, Aug. 3:
The Catholic Priest thinks illegal aliens are being made to feel fear. No, they feel fear because they are criminals in our country and know it.
Recently President Bush, Vice President John McCain and Senator Ted Kennedy tried to force what they termed, "comprehensive immigration reform" on the American citizen.
This terrible bill provided an amnesty to illegal aliens, virtually eliminated the U.S. border, did away with English language and U.S. dollar, and would have combined Mexico and Canada with the U.S.
What the attempt did was to galvanize Americans into taking back their country, getting control of all immigration.
Americans don't want illegal aliens crossing the border or residing in Illinois or Minnesota or anywhere else in the U.S.
If they feel unwelcome and unwanted it is because their actions demonstrate contempt for our laws and people; they forgot to ask Americans for permission.
Trespassers, please leave.
Dell Erikson
Brooklyn Center, Minn.
(10)
Standard Examiner (Utah) - 8/3
Gangsters threaten, recruit young Latinos
Regarding the July 26 letter "Gang ordinance will increase harassment": The claim made by the Ph.D. from New Mexico University stating that a gang ordinance passed by the city of Ogden is designed to harass one ethnic group is nothing short of paranoia.
I've lived in Southern California for 70 years, surrounded by folks with a Latino heritage. My extended family has many such persons. I have never known any of my Latino classmates, co-workers, family members or neighbors to belong to a gang. Furthermore, they are often far more outraged than I am when those gangs threaten and attempt to recruit their brown-skinned children.
If the New Mexican academic is ignorant of the brown-on-brown, Nortenos vs. Surenos deadly violence that strikes fear into far too many communities, then he has not been paying attention.
The FBI says that half of the 100,000 gangsters in Los Angeles County are deportable. They identify the Asian gangs as particularly violent, but most are of Latino heritage. I suggest he study Salinas, Calif., to see that its Latino-majority population is seeking solutions to a deadly gang problem. There should be no ivory-tower elitist whining about Latino harassment. They've buried too may of their children to listen to that nonsense.
Barbara Vickroy
Escondido, Calif.
LETTERS WE”VE JUST RECEIVED
(11)
News-Leader (Mo.) - 7/23
Ethnic tensions at core of dispute
Most Americans are well aware of the racial and ethnic tensions in our society, and consider them a serious problem. Often overlooked, however, is how immigration heightens that tension. When cultures collide, ethnic tension is inevitable. People of different cultures and ethnicities often operate with different sets of assumptions about the world and ways of doing things. When those different world views are at odds, tensions and the likelihood of conflict are heightened.
The conflict is not about race. Although high-immigration advocates sometimes try to cast the issue of immigration as a racial one, in order to stifle debate, ethnic tension is not a simple problem of one race against another. Immigration drives conflict between white/black/hispanic Americans and immigrants of all races, as well as among the immigration groups themselves, regardless of their races.
High-immigration and illegal immigration advocates often assert the answer to immigration-related ethnic tension is more "tolerance" on the part of native-born Americans. But simply labeling Americans as "intolerant" cannot change the fact that the share of foreign-born people has at least doubled in one generation. As a result, there is an ever-increasing bulk of unassimilated people in the United States, a pattern that almost ensures growing conflict.
Ben Kellerman
Forsyth, Mo.
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Republicans are as dishonest & immoral as Democrats.
The GOP has already sold the American people out on immigration.
Bush had six years with a GOP house & did nothing, nada , zero on illegals flooding the nation.
Over twenty years ago , under that Great GOP myth maker Ron Reagan.
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 was enacted and really put a halt on illegals.
The Immigration Reform and Control Act (Simpson-Mazzoli Act (IRCA), Pub. L. No. 99-603, 100 Stat. 3359 (November 6, 1986) (signed by President Ronald Reagan) is an Act of Congress which reformed United States immigration law. The Act made it illegal to knowingly hire or recruit illegal immigrants, required employers to attest to their employees' immigration status, and granted amnesty to illegal immigrants who entered the United States before January 1, 1982 and had resided there continuously.
The law criminalized the act of knowingly hiring an illegal immigrant and established financial and other penalties for those employing illegal aliens under the theory that low prospects for employment would reduce illegal immigration. It introduced the I-9 form to ensure that all employees presented documentary proof of their legal eligibility to accept employment in the United States.
These sanctions would only apply to employers that had more than three employees and that did not make a sufficient effort to determine the legal status of the worker.
The legislation is frequently cited by opponents of illegal immigration as a failure in that, for each illegal alien granted amnesty under the plan, approximately four new ones have since replaced them. This assertion is based on the estimate that 2.7 million illegal aliens were legalized and the current estimate of illegal aliens in the United States between 12 to 21 million.
Critics point to the IRCA of 1986 as proof in their view that amnesty is not the solution for the large number of illegal immigrants currently in the United States.
Another criticism is what may be referred to as "daisy chain" migration. An immigrant who has been legalized can file a petition for a relative (CIS Form I-130) so that his or her family can immigrate to the United States.
WAKE UP AMERICA BOTH PARTIES PLAY YOU FOR SUCKERS.
The GOP has already sold the American people out on immigration.
Bush had six years with a GOP house & did nothing, nada , zero on illegals flooding the nation.
Over twenty years ago , under that Great GOP myth maker Ron Reagan.
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 was enacted and really put a halt on illegals.
The Immigration Reform and Control Act (Simpson-Mazzoli Act (IRCA), Pub. L. No. 99-603, 100 Stat. 3359 (November 6, 1986) (signed by President Ronald Reagan) is an Act of Congress which reformed United States immigration law. The Act made it illegal to knowingly hire or recruit illegal immigrants, required employers to attest to their employees' immigration status, and granted amnesty to illegal immigrants who entered the United States before January 1, 1982 and had resided there continuously.
The law criminalized the act of knowingly hiring an illegal immigrant and established financial and other penalties for those employing illegal aliens under the theory that low prospects for employment would reduce illegal immigration. It introduced the I-9 form to ensure that all employees presented documentary proof of their legal eligibility to accept employment in the United States.
These sanctions would only apply to employers that had more than three employees and that did not make a sufficient effort to determine the legal status of the worker.
The legislation is frequently cited by opponents of illegal immigration as a failure in that, for each illegal alien granted amnesty under the plan, approximately four new ones have since replaced them. This assertion is based on the estimate that 2.7 million illegal aliens were legalized and the current estimate of illegal aliens in the United States between 12 to 21 million.
Critics point to the IRCA of 1986 as proof in their view that amnesty is not the solution for the large number of illegal immigrants currently in the United States.
Another criticism is what may be referred to as "daisy chain" migration. An immigrant who has been legalized can file a petition for a relative (CIS Form I-130) so that his or her family can immigrate to the United States.
WAKE UP AMERICA BOTH PARTIES PLAY YOU FOR SUCKERS.
Jakebpg wrote: 1m ago http://usatoday.com news story blogs
No doubt about this. I don't know. It may be too late already. This country is being torn apart at the seams with the diversity and victimology principle.
Wherever you stand, please take the time to read this.
We know Dick Lamm as the former Governor of Colorado. In that context his thoughts are particularly poignant. Last week there was an immigration overpopulation conference in Washington, DC, filled to capacity by many of America's finest minds and leaders. A brilliant college professor by the name of Victor Davis Hansen talked about his latest book, "Mexifornia," explaining how immigration - both legal and illegal was destroying the entire state of California. He said it would march across the country until it destroyed all vestiges of The American Dream.
Moments later, former Colorado Governor Richard D. Lamm stood up and gave a stunning speech on how to destroy America. The audience sat spellbound as he described eight methods for the destruction of the United States.
He said, "If you believe that America is too smug, too self-satisfied, too rich, then let's destroy America. It is not that hard to do. No nation in history has survived the ravages of time. Arnold Toynbee
observed that all great civilizations rise and fall and that 'An autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide'"
"Here is how they do it," Lamm said: "First, to destroy America, turn America into a bilingual or multilingual and bicultural country." History shows that no nation can survive the tension, conflict, and antagonism of two or more competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to be bilingual; however, it is a curse for a society to be bilingual. The historical scholar, Seymour Lipset, put it this way: "The histories of bilingual and bicultural societies that do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension, and tragedy." Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, and Lebanon all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence. Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion. France faces difficulties with Basques, Bretons, and Corsicans.".
Lamm went on: Second, to destroy America, "Invent 'multiculturalism' and encourage immigrants to maintain their culture. Make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal. That there are no cultural
differences. Make it an article of faith that the Black and Hispanic dropout rates are due solely to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out of bounds.
Third, "We could make the United States an 'Hispanic Quebec' without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently: "The apparent success of our own multiethnic and multi cultural experiment might have been achieved not by tolerance but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated ethnocentricity and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together."Lamm said, "I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with the salad bowl metaphor. It is important to ensure that we have various cultural subgroups living in America enforcing their differences rather than as Americans, emphasizing their similarities."
"Fourth, I would make our fastest growing demographic group the least educated. I would add a second underclass, unassimilated, undereducated, and antagonistic to our population. I would have this second underclass have a 50% dropout rate from high school."
"My fifth point for destroying America would be to get big foundations and business to give these efforts lots of money. I would invest in ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of 'Victimology.' I would get all minorities to think that their lack of success was the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all minority failure on the majority population."
"My sixth plan for America's downfall would include dual citizenship, and promote divided loyalties. I would celebrate diversity over unity. I would stress differences rather than similarities. Diverse people
worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other - that is, when they are not killing each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is against most historical precedent. People undervalue the unity it takes to keep a nation together. Look at the ancient Greeks. The Greeks believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common Language and literature; and they worshipped the same gods. All Greece took part in the Olympic games. A common enemy, Persia, threatened their liberty. Yet all these bonds were not strong enough to overcome two factors: local patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured political divisions. Greece fell. "E. Pluribus Unum" --From many, one. In that historical reality, if we put the emphasis on the 'pluribus' instead of the 'Unum,' we will balkanize America as surely as Kosovo."
"Next to last, I would place all subjects off limits; make it taboo to talk about anything against the cult of 'diversity.' I would find a word similar to 'heretic' in the 16th century - that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking. Words like 'racist' or 'xenophobe' halt discussion and debate. Having made America a bilingual/bicultural country, having established multi-culturism, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of 'Victimology,' I would next make it impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra: That because immigration has been good for America, it must always be good. I would make every individual immigrant symmetric and ignore the cumulative impact of millions of them."
In the last minute of his speech, Governor Lamm wiped his brow. Profound silence followed. Finally he said,. "Lastly, I would censor Victor Davis Hanson's book "Mexifornia." His book is dangerous. It exposes the plan to destroy America. If you feel America. deserves to be destroyed, don't read that book."
There was no applause. A chilling fear quietly rose like an ominous cloud above every attendee at the conference. Every American in that room knew that everything Lamm enumerated was proceeding methodically, quietly, darkly, yet pervasively across the United States today. Discussion is being suppressed. Over 100 languages are ripping the foundation of our educational system and national cohesiveness. Even barbaric cultures that practice female genital mutilation are growing as we celebrate 'diversity.' American jobs are vanishing into the Third World as corporations create a Third World in America - take note of California and other states - to date, ten million illegal aliens and growing fast. It is reminiscent of George Orwell's book "1984." In that story, three slogans are engraved in the Ministry of Truth building: "War is peace," "Freedom is slavery," and "Ignorance is strength."
Governor Lamm walked back to his seat. It dawned on everyone at the conference that our nation and the future of this great democracy is deeply in trouble and worsening fast. If we don't get this immigration
monster stopped within three years, it will rage like a California wildfire and destroy everything in its path especially The American Dream.
If you care for and love our country as I do, take the time to pass this on just as I did for you. NOTHING is going to happen if you don't
No doubt about this. I don't know. It may be too late already. This country is being torn apart at the seams with the diversity and victimology principle.
Wherever you stand, please take the time to read this.
We know Dick Lamm as the former Governor of Colorado. In that context his thoughts are particularly poignant. Last week there was an immigration overpopulation conference in Washington, DC, filled to capacity by many of America's finest minds and leaders. A brilliant college professor by the name of Victor Davis Hansen talked about his latest book, "Mexifornia," explaining how immigration - both legal and illegal was destroying the entire state of California. He said it would march across the country until it destroyed all vestiges of The American Dream.
Moments later, former Colorado Governor Richard D. Lamm stood up and gave a stunning speech on how to destroy America. The audience sat spellbound as he described eight methods for the destruction of the United States.
He said, "If you believe that America is too smug, too self-satisfied, too rich, then let's destroy America. It is not that hard to do. No nation in history has survived the ravages of time. Arnold Toynbee
observed that all great civilizations rise and fall and that 'An autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide'"
"Here is how they do it," Lamm said: "First, to destroy America, turn America into a bilingual or multilingual and bicultural country." History shows that no nation can survive the tension, conflict, and antagonism of two or more competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to be bilingual; however, it is a curse for a society to be bilingual. The historical scholar, Seymour Lipset, put it this way: "The histories of bilingual and bicultural societies that do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension, and tragedy." Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, and Lebanon all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence. Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion. France faces difficulties with Basques, Bretons, and Corsicans.".
Lamm went on: Second, to destroy America, "Invent 'multiculturalism' and encourage immigrants to maintain their culture. Make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal. That there are no cultural
differences. Make it an article of faith that the Black and Hispanic dropout rates are due solely to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out of bounds.
Third, "We could make the United States an 'Hispanic Quebec' without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently: "The apparent success of our own multiethnic and multi cultural experiment might have been achieved not by tolerance but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated ethnocentricity and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together."Lamm said, "I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with the salad bowl metaphor. It is important to ensure that we have various cultural subgroups living in America enforcing their differences rather than as Americans, emphasizing their similarities."
"Fourth, I would make our fastest growing demographic group the least educated. I would add a second underclass, unassimilated, undereducated, and antagonistic to our population. I would have this second underclass have a 50% dropout rate from high school."
"My fifth point for destroying America would be to get big foundations and business to give these efforts lots of money. I would invest in ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of 'Victimology.' I would get all minorities to think that their lack of success was the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all minority failure on the majority population."
"My sixth plan for America's downfall would include dual citizenship, and promote divided loyalties. I would celebrate diversity over unity. I would stress differences rather than similarities. Diverse people
worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other - that is, when they are not killing each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is against most historical precedent. People undervalue the unity it takes to keep a nation together. Look at the ancient Greeks. The Greeks believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common Language and literature; and they worshipped the same gods. All Greece took part in the Olympic games. A common enemy, Persia, threatened their liberty. Yet all these bonds were not strong enough to overcome two factors: local patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured political divisions. Greece fell. "E. Pluribus Unum" --From many, one. In that historical reality, if we put the emphasis on the 'pluribus' instead of the 'Unum,' we will balkanize America as surely as Kosovo."
"Next to last, I would place all subjects off limits; make it taboo to talk about anything against the cult of 'diversity.' I would find a word similar to 'heretic' in the 16th century - that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking. Words like 'racist' or 'xenophobe' halt discussion and debate. Having made America a bilingual/bicultural country, having established multi-culturism, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of 'Victimology,' I would next make it impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra: That because immigration has been good for America, it must always be good. I would make every individual immigrant symmetric and ignore the cumulative impact of millions of them."
In the last minute of his speech, Governor Lamm wiped his brow. Profound silence followed. Finally he said,. "Lastly, I would censor Victor Davis Hanson's book "Mexifornia." His book is dangerous. It exposes the plan to destroy America. If you feel America. deserves to be destroyed, don't read that book."
There was no applause. A chilling fear quietly rose like an ominous cloud above every attendee at the conference. Every American in that room knew that everything Lamm enumerated was proceeding methodically, quietly, darkly, yet pervasively across the United States today. Discussion is being suppressed. Over 100 languages are ripping the foundation of our educational system and national cohesiveness. Even barbaric cultures that practice female genital mutilation are growing as we celebrate 'diversity.' American jobs are vanishing into the Third World as corporations create a Third World in America - take note of California and other states - to date, ten million illegal aliens and growing fast. It is reminiscent of George Orwell's book "1984." In that story, three slogans are engraved in the Ministry of Truth building: "War is peace," "Freedom is slavery," and "Ignorance is strength."
Governor Lamm walked back to his seat. It dawned on everyone at the conference that our nation and the future of this great democracy is deeply in trouble and worsening fast. If we don't get this immigration
monster stopped within three years, it will rage like a California wildfire and destroy everything in its path especially The American Dream.
If you care for and love our country as I do, take the time to pass this on just as I did for you. NOTHING is going to happen if you don't
Jakebpg wrote: 4m ago
A list of how your senator voted for the great give away to illegals. Pass this on to all of your friends so they know who voted for illegals over Americans.
Alphabetical by Senator Name Akaka (D-HI), Yea
Alexander (R-TN), Nay
Allard (R-CO), Nay
Barrasso (R-WY), Nay
Baucus (D-MT), Nay
Bayh (D-IN), Nay
Bennett (R-UT), Yea
Biden (D-DE), Yea
Bingaman (D-NM), Nay
Bond (R-MO), Nay
Boxer (D-CA), Yea
Brown (D-OH), Nay
Brownback (R-KS), Nay
Bunning (R-KY), Nay
Burr (R-NC), Nay
Byrd (D-WV), Nay
Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
Cardin (D-MD), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Casey (D-PA), Yea
Chambliss (R-GA), Nay
Clinton (D-NY), Yea
Coburn (R-OK), Nay
Cochran (R-MS), Nay
Coleman (R-MN), Nay
Collins (R-ME), Nay
Conrad (D-ND), Yea
Corker (R-TN), Nay
Cornyn (R-TX), Nay
Craig (R-ID), Yea
Crapo (R-ID), Nay
DeMint (R-SC), Nay
Dodd (D-CT), Yea
Dole (R-NC), Nay
Domenici (R-NM), Nay
Dorgan (D-ND), Nay
Durbin (D-IL), Yea
Ensign (R-NV), Nay
Enzi (R-WY), Nay
Feingold (D-WI), Yea
Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Graham (R-SC), Yea
Grassley (R-IA), Nay
Gregg (R-NH), Yea
Hagel (R-NE), Yea
Harkin (D-IA), Nay
Hatch (R-UT), Nay
Hutchison (R-TX), Nay
Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
Inouye (D-HI), Yea
Isakson (R-GA), Nay
Johnson (D-SD), Not Voting
Kennedy (D-MA), Yea
Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Kyl (R-AZ), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Nay
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea
Leahy (D-VT), Yea
Levin (D-MI), Yea
Lieberman (ID-CT), Yea
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Lott (R-MS), Yea
Lugar (R-IN), Yea
Martinez (R-FL), Yea
McCain (R-AZ), Yea
McCaskill (D-MO), Nay
McConnell (R-KY), Nay
Menendez (D-NJ), Yea
Mikulski (D-MD), Yea
Murkowski (R-AK), Nay
Murray (D-WA), Yea
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Nay
Obama (D-IL), Yea
Pryor (D-AR), Nay
Reed (D-RI), Yea
Reid (D-NV), Yea
Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay
Salazar (D-CO), Yea
Sanders (I-VT), Nay
Schumer (D-NY), Yea
Sessions (R-AL), Nay
Shelby (R-AL), Nay
Smith (R-OR), Nay
Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Specter (R-PA), Yea
Stabenow (D-MI), Nay
Stevens (R-AK), Nay
Sununu (R-NH), Nay
Tester (D-MT), Nay
Thune (R-SD), Nay
Vitter (R-LA), Nay
Voinovich (R-OH), Nay
Warner (R-VA), Nay
Webb (D-VA), Nay
Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea
Wyden (D-OR), Yea
A list of how your senator voted for the great give away to illegals. Pass this on to all of your friends so they know who voted for illegals over Americans.
Alphabetical by Senator Name Akaka (D-HI), Yea
Alexander (R-TN), Nay
Allard (R-CO), Nay
Barrasso (R-WY), Nay
Baucus (D-MT), Nay
Bayh (D-IN), Nay
Bennett (R-UT), Yea
Biden (D-DE), Yea
Bingaman (D-NM), Nay
Bond (R-MO), Nay
Boxer (D-CA), Yea
Brown (D-OH), Nay
Brownback (R-KS), Nay
Bunning (R-KY), Nay
Burr (R-NC), Nay
Byrd (D-WV), Nay
Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
Cardin (D-MD), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Casey (D-PA), Yea
Chambliss (R-GA), Nay
Clinton (D-NY), Yea
Coburn (R-OK), Nay
Cochran (R-MS), Nay
Coleman (R-MN), Nay
Collins (R-ME), Nay
Conrad (D-ND), Yea
Corker (R-TN), Nay
Cornyn (R-TX), Nay
Craig (R-ID), Yea
Crapo (R-ID), Nay
DeMint (R-SC), Nay
Dodd (D-CT), Yea
Dole (R-NC), Nay
Domenici (R-NM), Nay
Dorgan (D-ND), Nay
Durbin (D-IL), Yea
Ensign (R-NV), Nay
Enzi (R-WY), Nay
Feingold (D-WI), Yea
Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Graham (R-SC), Yea
Grassley (R-IA), Nay
Gregg (R-NH), Yea
Hagel (R-NE), Yea
Harkin (D-IA), Nay
Hatch (R-UT), Nay
Hutchison (R-TX), Nay
Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
Inouye (D-HI), Yea
Isakson (R-GA), Nay
Johnson (D-SD), Not Voting
Kennedy (D-MA), Yea
Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Kyl (R-AZ), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Nay
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea
Leahy (D-VT), Yea
Levin (D-MI), Yea
Lieberman (ID-CT), Yea
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Lott (R-MS), Yea
Lugar (R-IN), Yea
Martinez (R-FL), Yea
McCain (R-AZ), Yea
McCaskill (D-MO), Nay
McConnell (R-KY), Nay
Menendez (D-NJ), Yea
Mikulski (D-MD), Yea
Murkowski (R-AK), Nay
Murray (D-WA), Yea
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Nay
Obama (D-IL), Yea
Pryor (D-AR), Nay
Reed (D-RI), Yea
Reid (D-NV), Yea
Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay
Salazar (D-CO), Yea
Sanders (I-VT), Nay
Schumer (D-NY), Yea
Sessions (R-AL), Nay
Shelby (R-AL), Nay
Smith (R-OR), Nay
Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Specter (R-PA), Yea
Stabenow (D-MI), Nay
Stevens (R-AK), Nay
Sununu (R-NH), Nay
Tester (D-MT), Nay
Thune (R-SD), Nay
Vitter (R-LA), Nay
Voinovich (R-OH), Nay
Warner (R-VA), Nay
Webb (D-VA), Nay
Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea
Wyden (D-OR), Yea
Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - Page updated at 12:00 AM
E-mail article Print view
Low-paid illegal work force has little impact on prices
By Drew DeSilver
Seattle Times business reporter
PREV of NEXT
Related
Part 1 | Home-building boom relies on illegal workers
Part 2 | Get-tough policy on employers has had limited effect
More than 7 million illegal immigrants work in the United States. They build houses, pick crops, slaughter cattle, stitch clothes, mow lawns, clean hotel rooms, cook restaurant meals and wash the dishes that come back.
You might assume that the plentiful supply of low-wage illegal workers would translate into significantly lower prices for the goods and services they produce. In fact, their impact on consumer prices — call it the "illegal-worker discount" — is surprisingly small.
The bag of Washington state apples you bought last weekend? Probably a few cents cheaper than it otherwise would have been, economists estimate. That steak dinner at a downtown restaurant? Maybe a buck off. Your new house in Subdivision Estates? Hard to say, but perhaps a few thousand dollars less expensive.
The underlying reason, economists say, is that for most goods the labor — whether legal or illegal, native- or foreign-born — represents only a sliver of the retail price.
Consider those apples — Washington's signature contribution to the American food basket.
At a local QFC, Red Delicious apples go for about 99 cents a pound. Of that, only about 7 cents represents the cost of labor, said Tom Schotzko, a recently retired extension economist at Washington State University. The rest represents the grower's other expenses, warehousing and shipping fees, and the retailer's markup.
And that's for one of the most labor-intensive crops in the state: It takes 150 to 190 hours of labor to grow and harvest an acre of apples, Schotzko said, compared to four hours for an acre of potatoes and 1 ½ hours for an acre of wheat.
The labor-intensive nature of many crops is a key reason agriculture continues to rely on illegal workers. A report by Jeffrey Passel, a demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center who has long studied immigration trends, estimates that 247,000 illegal immigrants were employed as "miscellaneous agricultural workers" last year — only 3.4 percent of the nation's 7.2 million illegal workers, according to Pew statistics, but 29 percent of all workers in that job category.
Eliminating illegal farmworkers, by shrinking the pool of available labor, likely would raise wages for those who remain. Philip Martin, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of California, Davis, noted that two years after the old bracero program ended in 1964, the United Farm Workers union won a 40 percent increase for grape harvesters.
A decade ago, two Iowa State University agricultural economists estimated that removing all illegal farmworkers would raise wages for seasonal farmworkers by 30 percent in the first couple of years, and 15 percent in the medium term.
But supermarket prices of summer-fall fruits and vegetables, they concluded, would rise by just 6 percent in the short run — dropping to 3 percent over time, as imports took up some of the slack and some farmers mechanized their operations or shifted out of labor-intensive crops. (Winter-spring produce would be even less affected, they found, because so much already is imported.)
If illegal workers disappeared from the apple harvest and wages for the remaining legal workers rose by 40 percent in response — and that entire wage increase were passed on to the consumer — that still would add less than 3 cents to the retail price of a pound of apples.
Cluster in construction
Illegal immigrants, like legal ones, tend to concentrate in particular locales and industries, increasing their impact on wages and prices there.
Pew's Passell estimates that more than two-thirds of all illegal immigrants live in just eight states: California leads with nearly a quarter of all illegal immigrants, followed by Texas, Florida, New York, Arizona, Illinois, New Jersey and North Carolina.
Similarly, legal and illegal immigrants tend to cluster in specific industries, among them construction.
Based on census data, Passell estimates that in construction specialties, illegal immigrants range from 20 percent of carpet, floor and tile installers to 28 percent of drywallers to 36 percent of insulation workers. Overall, about 14 percent of all workers in the construction industry are in the United States illegally, he says.
How does all that illegal labor affect the price you pay for a new house?
The National Association of Home Builders pegs labor's share of the cost of a new home at 20 to 25 percent. For a typical U.S. single-family home that sold for $298,412 in 2002, then, about $68,000 went for construction labor. If Passell's estimates are correct, around 14 percent of those workers would be illegal.
But illegal workers generally are less skilled than legal ones, points out Barry Chiswick, an economist at the University of Illinois, Chicago, who has studied illegal immigration for decades. You're more likely to find illegal drywallers or painters, say, than illegal electricians or plumbers.
Since higher-skilled workers earn more than less-skilled ones, Chiswick said, the "illegal share" of construction labor costs — and, by extension, the wages illegal workers receive — will be smaller than their numbers would suggest. But even if illegal workers make only half as much as legal workers, that would work out to about $5,000, or about 1.6 percent of that "typical" home's sale price.
If the supply of illegal workers were cut off, wages for those low-skilled jobs presumably would have to rise enough to attract legal workers into them. If, hypothetically, wage levels rose by a third, that would either add around $1,600 to the cost of the typical house or shave half a percentage point off the builder's 12 percent average profit margin.
"If I'm buying just one home, there's not that big an impact," Chiswick said. "But if I'm building a lot of homes and I can save a few thousand on each one.... "
Even in service-intensive businesses with high incidences of illegal labor, such as hotels and restaurants, customers get only a small benefit.
A Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study estimated that every 10-percent increase in the proportion of low-skilled immigrants in the labor force lowers the price of immigrant-intensive services — gardening, housekeeping, baby-sitting and dry cleaning — by 1.3 percent, and of other services by 0.2 percent.
Take hotels. Industrywide, more than 44 percent of hotels' expenses are for salaries and benefits (including employee meals), so labor is a major factor.
"We've got a lot of jobs that are tough to fill," said Dan Mount, who teaches hotel management at Penn State. "To find someone who's going to clean 16 guestrooms a day for $6 or $7 an hour — people aren't lining up for those jobs."
Illegal workers help close the gap. According to Pew's Passell, 22 percent of maids and housekeepers (including domestic help) are in the United States illegally.
Similarly, in restaurants an estimated 20 percent of cooks and 23 percent of dishwashers are illegal immigrants.
Jim Harbour, a former restaurant manager who now teaches at Washington State University's School of Hospitality Business Management, estimated that, without illegal immigrants, wages for dishwashers and other "back of the house" staff would have to rise anywhere from 10 to 20 percent to attract the necessary workers.
With labor costs averaging around 30 percent of operating costs, passing on that kind of increase might raise the cost of a meal anywhere from 3 to 6 percent.
Under a similar scenario, Mount said, hotel-room rates would rise, but the increase likely would be measured in dollars rather than tens of dollars.
How much could be passed on to the consumer is another question. On the one hand, Harbour said he's raised menu prices by 10 percent across the board with few customer complaints; and hotels in the Seattle area are fuller now than they were a year ago despite higher room rates.
On the other hand, hotel and restaurant operators' ability to pass on higher wage costs isn't unlimited, said Terry Umbreit, director of the WSU hospitality school. At a certain point, he said, people won't pay any more for a room or a meal; budget hotels and casual-dining restaurants, which compete most on price, likely would reach that point soonest.
Benefits top layers
Of course, the "illegal-immigrant discount" affects different layers of society differently.
The more often you eat out, stay in hotels or get your yard trimmed, the more you benefit from the illegal-immigrant discount.
And by increasing the supply of low-skilled labor relative to high-skilled labor, illegal immigration effectively boosts the purchasing power of the better-educated, more-skilled — and richer — portion of society.
The MIT study, by researcher Patricia Cortes, estimated that the low-skilled immigration wave of the 1990s — much of it outside the bounds of immigration law — raised the "real wages" of college graduates by 0.71 percent, and of high-school graduates and people with some college by 0.59 percent.
High-school dropouts? No discount for them: Cortes estimated that their real wages were cut by 2.66 percent. But since most adult Americans have at least a high-school diploma, Cortes concluded that most people benefited from low-skilled immigration — at least a little.
Drew DeSilver: 206-464-3145 or ddesilver@seattletimes.com
E-mail article Print view
Low-paid illegal work force has little impact on prices
By Drew DeSilver
Seattle Times business reporter
PREV of NEXT
Related
Part 1 | Home-building boom relies on illegal workers
Part 2 | Get-tough policy on employers has had limited effect
More than 7 million illegal immigrants work in the United States. They build houses, pick crops, slaughter cattle, stitch clothes, mow lawns, clean hotel rooms, cook restaurant meals and wash the dishes that come back.
You might assume that the plentiful supply of low-wage illegal workers would translate into significantly lower prices for the goods and services they produce. In fact, their impact on consumer prices — call it the "illegal-worker discount" — is surprisingly small.
The bag of Washington state apples you bought last weekend? Probably a few cents cheaper than it otherwise would have been, economists estimate. That steak dinner at a downtown restaurant? Maybe a buck off. Your new house in Subdivision Estates? Hard to say, but perhaps a few thousand dollars less expensive.
The underlying reason, economists say, is that for most goods the labor — whether legal or illegal, native- or foreign-born — represents only a sliver of the retail price.
Consider those apples — Washington's signature contribution to the American food basket.
At a local QFC, Red Delicious apples go for about 99 cents a pound. Of that, only about 7 cents represents the cost of labor, said Tom Schotzko, a recently retired extension economist at Washington State University. The rest represents the grower's other expenses, warehousing and shipping fees, and the retailer's markup.
And that's for one of the most labor-intensive crops in the state: It takes 150 to 190 hours of labor to grow and harvest an acre of apples, Schotzko said, compared to four hours for an acre of potatoes and 1 ½ hours for an acre of wheat.
The labor-intensive nature of many crops is a key reason agriculture continues to rely on illegal workers. A report by Jeffrey Passel, a demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center who has long studied immigration trends, estimates that 247,000 illegal immigrants were employed as "miscellaneous agricultural workers" last year — only 3.4 percent of the nation's 7.2 million illegal workers, according to Pew statistics, but 29 percent of all workers in that job category.
Eliminating illegal farmworkers, by shrinking the pool of available labor, likely would raise wages for those who remain. Philip Martin, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of California, Davis, noted that two years after the old bracero program ended in 1964, the United Farm Workers union won a 40 percent increase for grape harvesters.
A decade ago, two Iowa State University agricultural economists estimated that removing all illegal farmworkers would raise wages for seasonal farmworkers by 30 percent in the first couple of years, and 15 percent in the medium term.
But supermarket prices of summer-fall fruits and vegetables, they concluded, would rise by just 6 percent in the short run — dropping to 3 percent over time, as imports took up some of the slack and some farmers mechanized their operations or shifted out of labor-intensive crops. (Winter-spring produce would be even less affected, they found, because so much already is imported.)
If illegal workers disappeared from the apple harvest and wages for the remaining legal workers rose by 40 percent in response — and that entire wage increase were passed on to the consumer — that still would add less than 3 cents to the retail price of a pound of apples.
Cluster in construction
Illegal immigrants, like legal ones, tend to concentrate in particular locales and industries, increasing their impact on wages and prices there.
Pew's Passell estimates that more than two-thirds of all illegal immigrants live in just eight states: California leads with nearly a quarter of all illegal immigrants, followed by Texas, Florida, New York, Arizona, Illinois, New Jersey and North Carolina.
Similarly, legal and illegal immigrants tend to cluster in specific industries, among them construction.
Based on census data, Passell estimates that in construction specialties, illegal immigrants range from 20 percent of carpet, floor and tile installers to 28 percent of drywallers to 36 percent of insulation workers. Overall, about 14 percent of all workers in the construction industry are in the United States illegally, he says.
How does all that illegal labor affect the price you pay for a new house?
The National Association of Home Builders pegs labor's share of the cost of a new home at 20 to 25 percent. For a typical U.S. single-family home that sold for $298,412 in 2002, then, about $68,000 went for construction labor. If Passell's estimates are correct, around 14 percent of those workers would be illegal.
But illegal workers generally are less skilled than legal ones, points out Barry Chiswick, an economist at the University of Illinois, Chicago, who has studied illegal immigration for decades. You're more likely to find illegal drywallers or painters, say, than illegal electricians or plumbers.
Since higher-skilled workers earn more than less-skilled ones, Chiswick said, the "illegal share" of construction labor costs — and, by extension, the wages illegal workers receive — will be smaller than their numbers would suggest. But even if illegal workers make only half as much as legal workers, that would work out to about $5,000, or about 1.6 percent of that "typical" home's sale price.
If the supply of illegal workers were cut off, wages for those low-skilled jobs presumably would have to rise enough to attract legal workers into them. If, hypothetically, wage levels rose by a third, that would either add around $1,600 to the cost of the typical house or shave half a percentage point off the builder's 12 percent average profit margin.
"If I'm buying just one home, there's not that big an impact," Chiswick said. "But if I'm building a lot of homes and I can save a few thousand on each one.... "
Even in service-intensive businesses with high incidences of illegal labor, such as hotels and restaurants, customers get only a small benefit.
A Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study estimated that every 10-percent increase in the proportion of low-skilled immigrants in the labor force lowers the price of immigrant-intensive services — gardening, housekeeping, baby-sitting and dry cleaning — by 1.3 percent, and of other services by 0.2 percent.
Take hotels. Industrywide, more than 44 percent of hotels' expenses are for salaries and benefits (including employee meals), so labor is a major factor.
"We've got a lot of jobs that are tough to fill," said Dan Mount, who teaches hotel management at Penn State. "To find someone who's going to clean 16 guestrooms a day for $6 or $7 an hour — people aren't lining up for those jobs."
Illegal workers help close the gap. According to Pew's Passell, 22 percent of maids and housekeepers (including domestic help) are in the United States illegally.
Similarly, in restaurants an estimated 20 percent of cooks and 23 percent of dishwashers are illegal immigrants.
Jim Harbour, a former restaurant manager who now teaches at Washington State University's School of Hospitality Business Management, estimated that, without illegal immigrants, wages for dishwashers and other "back of the house" staff would have to rise anywhere from 10 to 20 percent to attract the necessary workers.
With labor costs averaging around 30 percent of operating costs, passing on that kind of increase might raise the cost of a meal anywhere from 3 to 6 percent.
Under a similar scenario, Mount said, hotel-room rates would rise, but the increase likely would be measured in dollars rather than tens of dollars.
How much could be passed on to the consumer is another question. On the one hand, Harbour said he's raised menu prices by 10 percent across the board with few customer complaints; and hotels in the Seattle area are fuller now than they were a year ago despite higher room rates.
On the other hand, hotel and restaurant operators' ability to pass on higher wage costs isn't unlimited, said Terry Umbreit, director of the WSU hospitality school. At a certain point, he said, people won't pay any more for a room or a meal; budget hotels and casual-dining restaurants, which compete most on price, likely would reach that point soonest.
Benefits top layers
Of course, the "illegal-immigrant discount" affects different layers of society differently.
The more often you eat out, stay in hotels or get your yard trimmed, the more you benefit from the illegal-immigrant discount.
And by increasing the supply of low-skilled labor relative to high-skilled labor, illegal immigration effectively boosts the purchasing power of the better-educated, more-skilled — and richer — portion of society.
The MIT study, by researcher Patricia Cortes, estimated that the low-skilled immigration wave of the 1990s — much of it outside the bounds of immigration law — raised the "real wages" of college graduates by 0.71 percent, and of high-school graduates and people with some college by 0.59 percent.
High-school dropouts? No discount for them: Cortes estimated that their real wages were cut by 2.66 percent. But since most adult Americans have at least a high-school diploma, Cortes concluded that most people benefited from low-skilled immigration — at least a little.
Drew DeSilver: 206-464-3145 or ddesilver@seattletimes.com
