Saturday, February 28, 2009

Let's pay for everyone else but Americans

From the Queens Courier, by the president of Queensborough Community College:

It is time to speak out for the thousands of undocumented immigrants who are intimidated and abused. As the president of Queensborough Community College, one of the units of the City University of New York (CUNY), and as a New Yorker, I am proud that our state is one of 10 that provides in-state tuition rates for undocumented immigrants.

Specifically those who have resided in the state for three years, graduated from a state high school, received notification of acceptance to a public college or university and signed an affidavit stating they will file for legal immigration status.

This is a natural extension of the Supreme Court decision Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982) that states that undocumented children have the same right to a free public education as U.S. citizens and permanent residents.


Why should we subsidize the college educations of people who are here illegally? I thought the whole argument for looking the other way on illegal aliens is because they do jobs that Americans won't. So why would we now encourage them to take the jobs of legal U.S. Citizens who go to college? Oh, and we're giving them free legal advice, too, thanks to $160,000 taxpayer dollars allocated by Councilmen Comrie & Gennaro.

82 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's high time that we citizens start to recognize that when we work, have a family, educate our kids, and contribute to our community, these are all the actions of the elite privileged and is, in and of itself, inherently offensive to people who do not work, support and educate their children, and take from, rather than contribute to the community.

All this elite talk that we who work should reap the rewards of our efforts? Nothing less that the words of an oppressive bunch of night riders with hoods.

We who work must recognize our absolute responsibility to those who need to sleep until late in the day, drink and do drugs until late into the night and bang out kids for entertainment. What do we want these people to do? Change their lives for US?

Get real. Get a job and support those who hate you and laugh at you while eating your lunch!

Anonymous said...

We have not suffered enough in this decline if resources must be diverted so the clubhouse can tweed.

Think about this as you stand in the unemployment line, your kids have to do without, the trajectory of your family's lives lowered.

Anonymous said...

"What are you going to do about it?"

Boss Tweed

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the uninformed bigoted viewpoint. Maybe these undocumented immigrants add more to American society and the economy than some of those that were born here.

Anonymous said...

Maybe they do add something to our lifestyle here in the USA, but they are still here illegally. It is not fair that an illegal immigran, should take the place of a legal immigant getting into college with a scholarship, as to a child who was has applied for legal status and done everything correctly.

People who are in the USA illegally should not get first dibs on things, they should be last one the list to receive anything.

Anonymous said...

Why is it not fair? So some loser whose parents were here when he was born should get some favoritism over someone who came here at a young age, loves this country, wants to be an American, works hard, and is trying to better himself or herself and add to his or her community? In a country based on the principles of equal opportunity and welcoming of immigrants who want the American Dream?
Should we not allow any skilled workers from other countries on H1-B visas? That would be awful.

Anonymous said...

So you're fine with illegal aliens? Because that's what this is about. Not people here on visas.

Anonymous said...

I have no problem with someone simply because they are an undocumented immigrant, and I think this country should do more to facilitate citizenship for more of the good people who want to be here, work hard, and be Americans.
I'm not afraid of them or prejudiced against them like lots of the people on this blog.

Anonymous said...

So you're ok with them taking the jobs of Americans because they'll work for less pay? You're ok with the security threat they pose? You're ok with them filling up our emergency rooms and paying for their medical care? You're ok with spending the money it takes to prosecute and jail them although we are forced to cut police and most jails are already bursting at the seams? You're ok with the fire hazard they pose by living 10 to a room and sleeping in shifts? You're ok with overcrowded classrooms because their kids have a right to education, therefore your kid is listening to a teacher out in the hallway?

You really should not be so "I love all people" and face reality that we can't afford to keep allowing this.

Anonymous said...

You can make up all the facts you want, but the truth is that they add more to the economy than they receive in services. That has been researched and proven.
Some trying to blame others for your failures and inadequacies.

Anonymous said...

shut up. very very few of us are 'from' here--almost all of our forbearers were immigrants, and *gasp* they didn't all arrive on these shores with permission.

Anonymous said...

No you can make up all the facts YOU want, but the studies never showed the impact illegal aliens alone have on the economy, they lumped them in with LEGAL immigrants. The incarceration rate for illegals is somewhere around 33% nationwide.

Anonymous said...

"So you're ok with them taking the jobs of Americans because they'll work for less pay? You're ok with the security threat they pose? You're ok with them filling up our emergency rooms and paying for their medical care? You're ok with spending the money it takes to prosecute and jail them although we are forced to cut police and most jails are already bursting at the seams? You're ok with the fire hazard they pose by living 10 to a room and sleeping in shifts? You're ok with overcrowded classrooms because their kids have a right to education, therefore your kid is listening to a teacher out in the hallway?"

Which of these facts was made up?

Anonymous said...

I have no problem with someone simply because they are an undocumented immigrant, and I think this country should do more to facilitate citizenship for more of the good people who want to be here, work hard, and be Americans.
I'm not afraid of them or prejudiced against them like lots of the people on this blog.

-----------

I do not want to raise my family on 150 sq ft

I do not want to work for $20 a day

I do not want to take money from my family so you can be a the padrone for the tweeded so the clubhouse can stay in power.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the uninformed bigoted viewpoint.

SORRY, BUT THE FREE REIGN YOU USED TO HAVE IS ENDING.

BLOGS NOW GIVE AMERICAN CITIZENS AND TAXPAYERS THE ABILITY TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS TO EXPRESS AN OPINION AND TO DECIDE WHAT IS BETTER FOR THEM AND THEIR FAMILIES.

DONT LIKE FREE SPEACH? GO TO THE CULTURES THAT YOU PROMOTE, SWIM IN THEIR SEA, AND SEE HOW LONG YOU LAST.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said:
"Maybe these undocumented immigrants add more to American society and the economy than some of those that were born here."

If these illegal aliens come here for a better life, and add so much to our society and economy, why didn't they remain where they were legal citizens, and improve their own society and economy?

Because they are beggars who heard that we are way too stupidly tolerant and charitable.

They are very stupid, lazy, unproductive, garbage.

Anonymous said...

The article states that to be eligible, prospective students must have "...signed an affidavit stating they will file for legal immigration status."

I thought that it was impossible for an undocumented person, who is here illegally, to then somehow obtain permission to stay. Is forgiveness of illegal status actually being offered, perhaps for a price? What's the deal?

Anonymous said...

It is time to speak out for the thousands of undocumented immigrants who are intimidated and abused.

No, it’s time to speak out for the millions of American citizens who are intimidated and abused by illegal aliens. And we’re tired of their useless idiot lackeys.

I am proud that our state is one of 10 that provides in-state tuition rates for undocumented immigrants.

That’s something to be proud of?

Specifically those who have resided in the state for three years, graduated from a state high school, received notification of acceptance to a public college or university and signed an affidavit stating they will file for legal immigration status.

That’s actually quite a high hurdle to jump. Just getting ‘em in school is quite the accomplishment. Don’t even mention actually doing some homework.

Therefore, even with permissive legislation, we are making it hard for children of undocumented immigrants to prepare themselves to become productive members of our communities.

Productive, or perhaps reproductive is a better term?

The Dream Act, previously supported by Barack Obama and many other Senators, should be reintroduced in the 110th Congress.

Absolutely no! It should be filibustered indefinitely.

Under the original proposal, the legislation provides that undocumented students with good moral character,

These are people that broke our laws to enter OUR country. How moral can they be?

The conditional permanent residency would be converted to a regular lawful residency status if the immigrant has maintained good moral character,

Again with the “moral”!

This is an immigration reform proposal that makes sense. Let’s hope that it becomes law.

No, let’s hope it dies a quick death.

Eduardo J. Martí is president of Queensborough Community College

I wonder if Senor Marti would be so enthusiastic of this law if 95% of all illegal immigrants were from Eastern Europe?

georgetheatheist said...

I was heading to Brooklyn 8:30AM by the BQE entrance on Broadway & 69th Street. There must have been about 50 day laborers there hanging around.

I called 911 - not 311 - 911. And reported 50 men loitering at that intersection. The operator said she'd send a patrol car over.

I have no idea what subsequently transpired since I was on the highway.

I will continue to call 911 - not 311 -911 EVERYTIME I witness this loitering.

You should too.

See something. Say something.

Anonymous said...

At least Taxpayer and Wade are blatant about their ignorant bigotry.

Anonymous said...

Wanting the laws of this country enforced = ignorant bigotry in the minds of those in favor of immigration anarchy.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
"At least Taxpayer and Wade are blatant about their ignorant bigotry."

Specifics please?

Anonymous said...

At least Taxpayer and Wade are blatant about their ignorant bigotry.

Ignorant bigotry = Term used by dim-witted, white liberal tweeders who can't fashion a cogent argument in a debate. Used in a lame attempt to stifle any further debate. See also: Godwin's Law.

Anonymous said...

Why do 99% of the people working for New York State Education Department think like this assh*le ?

Dont you have brains to be a teacher. What WTF is on certification test these days Ebonics & liberal arts ?

They all must be on dope or have some agenda since Teachers get paid and treated like crap.

Perhaps its time to start Drug-Testing the Teachers and administrators and put the boiler and sanatary & HVAC engineers in charge!

Anonymous said...

The last time I looked it up in the dictionary, illegal meant AGAINST THE LAW! Have I missed something?

Anonymous said...

Did you ever think that if an illegal immigrant gets an education he won't become one of those day laborers standing under the BQE about whom you're complaining?

Anonymous said...

Did you ever think that if we stop them from coming in the first place that we won't have to worry about that?

Anonymous said...

Everyone needs to get a dictionary and look up the word ILLEGAL. It means AGAINST THE LAW. Illegal aliens are here illegally. They have BROKEN THE LAW by crossing our borders. The are undocumented because they broke the law and are illegal. When will the government and politicians understand this and start enforcing our laws? Law abiding citizens end up paying for illegals in the end. i.e. medical bills at city hospitals, education, by having illegals take up seats that citizens are entitled to. When it is Election Time, vote for the person who will have the guts to enforce our laws and end all entitlements for illegal aliens. Once you cut off all their benefits, because our santuary city mayor is too chicken to enforce our laws, watch them disappear. Spend taxpayer dollars on people who are here legally.

Anonymous said...

An excellent must-read book on the dangers of allowing the illegal immigration status quo to persist:

State of Emergency, by Patrick J. Buchanan.

Anonymous said...

If you're so concerned about legality, maybe it's the laws that need to be changed. My great-grandparents came here legally 100 years ago, because at that time they let anyone in as long as he or she wasn't sick.

America seems to have survived the influx of millions of immigrants last century, why can't it now. I'm not advocating an open immigration policy, but I think relaxed visa requirements would be a positive step.

I don't like people coming here illegally, but I can't help but think that if my great-grandparents came here today the same way they did 100 years ago, they'd be considered illegals. I imagine that the same is true of the ancestors of many posting anti-immigrant sentiment here. The only people who are allowed to be anti-immigrant are Native Americans. Everyone else is a hypocrite.

Anonymous said...

You said your grandparents came here legally. The criteria for coming here at that time was that the person needed to be disease-free. That was the law then and your grandparents came and assimilated. The laws are different now. There is different criteria. If those laws were on the books today, we would be inundated with people trying to cross our borders. I have no problem with people coming here legally. The problem is the majority of these people dont' obey our rules and come here illegally. They have NO regard for our laws. If they break our laws in the beginning, what makes you think they will follow and adhere to other laws, i.e. traffic laws? Throw all illegals out.

Anonymous said...

These criminals dont want to be educated, they want free services including babysitting curtisy of Mike Bloomberg and the Board of ED.
There kids are like wild animals who cant sit in a chair more then 30 seconds.
No fathers or 5 different fathers

You have to give these Blattaria nymphs thorazine and an keep armed armed guard just to keep order classrooms.
Forget teaching !
The Indian and Asian kids are not like that and thats proof its genetic.

My last girlfrined was a teacher in Jackson Heights.

Towards the end we were having out every dam day over her crying about her bullsh*t backstabbing job then going back for more.
---add the liberal crapola I had to take time to time.
How about Lice exposure, TB exposure, Chagas.

Around 1/2 these kids or regestered with false names and paperwork the Board of Ed is so overrun they cant check

FORGEDABOUTDIT !

Anonymous said...

government workers love illegal immigrants because it gives them a voting bloc to

georgetheatheist said...

"The only people who are allowed to be anti-immigrant are Native Americans."

Really? The "Native Americans" are really Beringians who migrated to the North American Continent and supplanted the Caucasian Solutrian culture derived from the present-day European Spanish-French region. White people were the first residents of the continent.

Anonymous said...

Most of the anti immigrant attitudes here are justified.Many just want to live in their own world and want US to change and have no desire to become an american.I say f them,speak english and assimilate.

Anonymous said...

What a shocking bunch of garbage the ignorant are free to spew in this country.

Learn the facts: There are 2.5 million undocumented students here. This particular class of people are the children of immigrants who, in various ways, are not "legal" in terms of U.S. law. Undocumented students were born overseas but in many cases have spent their entire lives here in the U.S. It's smaller set than the so-glibly discussed group of "illegal aliens" (a term right out of a fifties comic book). The exact numbers of all-undocumented are hard to estimate but it is much larger.

Undocumented students, the subject of Marti's text, were legally "non-responsbile" as minors, since in this country we don't hold children accountable for crimes committed by adults. So, these 2.5 million young people, who have grown up speaking English (and often test and perform better) than natives, do their schoolwork and largely stay out of trouble. Yet only 1 in 20 undocumented youth is currently in College. Many undocumented young people don't learn that they are "illegal" (and thus ineligible for financial aid, scholarships, etc.) until they apply to college. NYS is one of 10 states that offers them in-state tuition (with a nys high school diploma serving as proof).

The Dream Act will give a path to citizenship for these 2.5 million youth, if they: complete 2 years of a college education, or have two and intend to complete; serve in the U.S. military for at least 2 years. The Dream Act will give them the opportunity to receive financial aid, work openly (all of them work, one way or another--this how how they pay for school) and if they complete those education or service obligations and keep good moral character (stay out of trouble) then in 6 years they will have the opportunity to become citizens.

Good luck living in the world of your imagination. There is a real world out there. The petit narcissism of such nativist folklore will be relegated to the ash-heap of history.

Anonymous said...

Why would we want to take on the burden of 2.5 million people needing services? Think how much money this country could save if they weren't here?

Illegal alien is not a term out of a 50s comic book. The term "alien" means someone who is not from here. It's not our fault that their parents brought them here illegally. Let them take it up with them.

They should all have to join the armed forces to become citizens. Then they can go to college. Not take the easy way out.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said:
"Did you ever think that if an illegal immigrant gets an education he won't become one of those day laborers standing under the BQE about whom you're complaining?"

There is no such term as "illegal immigrant". They are "illegal aliens", a term right out of the US law and State Department regulations. Oh, yeah, also a term used by the foreign affairs office of every nation.

Morons who believe that words mean nothing really only demonstrate that their own words mean nothing because they have never experienced the thrill of having a thought in their head. So, these empty-headed morons whose only reading is of profound bumper stickers and repeating their brief philosophy want us to descend to their depths of ignorance.

Can't happen.

Anonymous said...

Hats off to Anonymous Teacher for injecting some good sense into this otherwise sad display. If you're going to criticize Marti for supporting the children of undocumented immigrants, then at least know who and what you're complaining about and avoid blanket (and false) generalizations, which only make you look stupid. Meanwhile, for those who want to close the gates and get back to the good old wholesome work of "being American," good luck living on your frosted flake in the sky.

Anonymous said...

The children are undocumented themselves. It seems you are the one who is not understanding the issue. They infiltrate our schools and force us to build more of them and larger ones to accommodate the overload, yet their parents pay no income tax to help support their construction or the staff needed to teach them.

Anonymous said...

Meanwhile, for those who want to close the gates and get back to the good old wholesome work of "being American," good luck living on your frosted flake in the sky.
---------

If we let everyone that wanted get here we would compete against people that could raise a family on 150 sq ft, get paid $20 a day, suck communities dry by sending all their money back to their cooontry, pay no taxes, get supported by NYC welfare state, have no vested interest in the future of their communities, and have an unhealthy deference to authority as is typical of 3rd world countries.

Anonymous said...

Check out

www.projectusa.org

Anonymous said...

I'm glad for posts like these with all the idiotic, bigoted comments, because it shows everyone what kind of a joke this Queens Crap website really is. The downside is that some people might think that most of Queens' residents actually think like the narrow-minded that comment here.

Queens Crapper said...

What's narrow-minded about wanting to put legal residents first? What's narrow-minded about expecting immigration laws to be enforced?

Anonymous said...

Like Anonymous teacher, I'm surprised at the anger and meanness shown towards innocents, here or on any blog. Such mindless attacks are only possible in the anonymity of the internet.

Besides, if you've been paying attention you'd know that helping this block of people doesn't rule out further immigration reform, even of the kinds proposed by the zealots on this site. The Dream Act simply corrects a problem that is hard to ignore if you know anything about it.

Some of the ideas proposed here are unrealistic as enforcing them would be impossible, if not devastatingly expensive.

If you don't wish to acknowledge them, but would rather eject them with all the power and courage of "anonymous", how do you suggest we do that?

For the modern state to arrest and deport even 1/100 of people who are here without documentation would require an order of domestic militarization unbecoming to our humble country.

The fantasy, as has been pointed out, cannot be an engine of policy discussion.

Anonymous said...

CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll. Jan. 14-17, 2008. N=1,393 adults nationwide.

"Would you like to see the number of illegal immigrants currently in this country increased, decreased, or remain the same?"

5% increased
65% decreased
29% stay the same
1% unsure

Looks like the commenters here reflect the attitude of the rest of the country.

Anonymous said...

How were these kids treated when they were sick? Mom brought them to the ER. Part of the reason the ERs in Queens are overflowing with 3 hospitals closing in the past few months.

How were these kids educated? With NYC taxpayer dollars without their parents putting a red cent into the system.

How were these kids housed? Probably in an illegal apartment. Kind of like the 7 kids that perished in a fire in the Bronx a couple years back and $then the illegal father had the balls to sue the City.

WE CAN'T AFFORD TO PAY FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. It doesn't matter the intention of those crossing the border. They're bankrupting us. Do you bleeding heart dimwits not understand that?

Anonymous said...

Bankrupting us and putting all of our lives in danger.

Anonymous said...

I am disgusted that money would go toward this nonsense but not toward hospitals in financial distress in part due to illegal immigration.

Anonymous said...

CBS/NY Times poll:

"Should ILLEGAL immigrants be prosecuted and deported for being in the U.S. illegally, or shouldn't they?"

5/18-23/07
Should 69%
Should NOT 24%
Unsure 7%

Anonymous said...

"What about ILLEGAL immigration? How serious a problem do you think the issue of ILLEGAL immigration is for the country right now: very serious, somewhat serious, not too serious, or not at all serious?"
Very Serious 61%
Somewhat Serious 30%
Not Too Serious 6%
Not at All Serious 1%
Unsure 2%

5/18-23/07

Anonymous said...

Señor Atheist: Just because some crackpot archaeologists found a couple of arrowheads that are similar to ones found in Europe, it doesn't mean the Solutreans actually came here. DNA evidence is also inconclusive. I think you need to cut down on your Discovery Channel watching.

Even if we accept your shaky hypothesis, the fact remains that there were no Europeans (as we know them) permanently settled on this continent until 400 or so years ago--relatively recent in the grand scheme of things. Almost every single person here is the product of immigration, legal or otherwise. Not only is it impossible to stop its flow, but to attempt to do so would be an insult to the people who are the reasons why you are here. Immigration shouldn't be a free-for-all, but it also shouldn't be studded with roadblocks.

If you've studied the history of immigration, the very same things that are being said here about today's immigrants were said about every single group that has come here in the past: The Irish are dirty. The Italians don't want to assimilate. The Germans can't be trusted. The Jews bring disease. Polish children can't learn. Let he on this board who is without Southern, Northern, Eastern, or Western European blood in his veins cast the first stone.

You complain about these savages using up your services, but the truth is you use their. If you've ever eaten in a restaurant, had dry-cleaning done, had your lawn mowed, worked in an office that is cleaned, done renovations to your house, or taken a taxi, odds are you've enjoyed the labor of someone here illegally. If "they" weren't doing things for "us," you'd be justified in your hatred. Immigration, however, is a give and take--you can't point to the losses without acknowledging the gains.

I'm sure some people will argue that immigrants take more than they give. Maybe that's true in the short term, but look at all their subsequent generations have given our country. Or perhaps they'll deliver my favorite line: "I'm not opposed to immigration, only ILLEGAL immigration." Think about this: If your grandparent came here today the same way they did 100 years ago, they too would be considered ILLEGAL. Laws change, but people don't.

The more important questions is why do I bother making these posts? I've convinced no one and no one can convince me to think otherwise. What good is free speech when it falls on deaf ears?

Anonymous said...

If illegals didn't do the work, legal immigrants would. There's no shame in being a busboy, gardener, etc. Illegals do the work because they work for less money. Stop the flow of cheap labor and the country would not stop running. "Laws change, people don't." Well then I guess I'll just go around doing whatever I please because at one time or another it was all legal. The immigration laws evolved with the country. The country doesn't need a deluge of people who reproduce like jackrabbits and burden us with schooling their children and make income but pay none of it back in taxes.

Anonymous said...

And I don't care what country you're from, if you're illegal, you don't belong here. PERIOD. That goes for Irish, Polish, Russian, Haitian, and Dominican as well as those from Mexico.

Anonymous said...

Illegal immigration is all about ensuring the future of the Democratic Party while providing cheap labor to members of the Republican Party.

Anonymous said...

Laws don't always evolve for the better. Their success can be judged on how many people follow them.

How many people between the ages of 18 and 21 consume alcohol? How many people had abortions when it was illegal? How many people use marijuana recreationally? How many people come to this country when they're not supposed to?

I'm not suggesting anything and everything be allowed just because at one point in time it was legal, but we should instead judge the success of our "evolved" positions. When laws are broken en masse there just might be something wrong with that law.

Also, if there's no stigma attached to the jobs immigrants do, why don't all true, red-blooded American encourage their children to make life-long careers out of washing dishes, mowing lawns, and cleaning up other people's messes. Illegal immigrants occupy the lowest rung of employment, which most Americans can bypass. What's your child's "summer job" is an immigrant's life's work.

Anonymous said...

Not sure I understand anything you just wrote. Why shouldn't my kid be able to find a summer job bagging groceries? Better he has it and learns how to be responsible, interact with people and handle his money so he will lay the foundation for a successful future. Next summer, another kid will get that same opportunity. Why should someone here illegally, who will wire his money back home instead of putting it back into the economy get that job?

And do you not realize that having a porous border is a huge national security risk? Do you know how many incarcerated illegals there are in the U.S.? How many Americans would be alive today if we stopped murderers at the border?

Anonymous said...

"...supplanted the Caucasian Solutrian culture derived from the present-day European Spanish-French region. White people were the first residents of the continent."

Wow, you just blew my mind for like the third time, georgie.
I had absolutely no idea that www.aynrand.org dealt in high-octane psychomimetics!

But seriously, you've got your head wedged far up your bum on this one, with nobody to pull it out.

"How many Americans would be alive today if we stopped murderers at the border?"

Good question... hope that wasn't merely rhetorical. How many? I wonder how that compares to the number of Americans who would be alive today if we stopped other Americans from killing them.

Anonymous said...

"We who work must recognize our absolute responsibility to those who need to sleep until late in the day, drink and do drugs until late into the night..."

That's funny.
At first I thought you were talking about the millions of legal college students in America.

Anonymous said...

"I wonder how that compares to the number of Americans who would be alive today if we stopped other Americans from killing them."

The point is, numbskull, that we have the burden of our own criminals, there is no need to import them as well. God, you are soooo obtuse!

Anonymous said...

The Queens Crap meatheads categorize an entire group of people as criminals, with no facts supporting the claim - I am shocked, Shocked!, that there is ignorant bigotry on this blog!
Like I said before, this is all about you blaming your own failures and inadequacies on others.

Anonymous said...

They are criminals. They broke the law by being here illegally and can be detained at any time.

Case closed.

Anonymous said...

Justice Dept. Figures on Incarcerated Illegals

One of the more popular claims by illegal immigration proponents is that those who enter the U.S. by breaking the law are invariably "hard-working" and "law-abiding" once they get here.

That argument, however, has one major flaw. According to Justice Department statistics and the analysis of immigration experts, the "law-abiding" claim often isn't true.

As Investors Business Daily reported in March 2005:

"The U.S. Justice Department estimated that 270,000 illegal immigrants served jail time nationally in 2003. Of those, 108,000 were in California. Some estimates show illegals now make up half of California's prison population, creating a massive criminal subculture that strains state budgets and creates a nightmare for local police forces."

Citing an Urban Institute study, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies Steven Camorata noted in 2004: "Roughly 17 percent of the prison population at the federal level are illegal aliens. That's a huge number since illegal aliens only account for about 3 percent of the total population."

Former California Gov. Pete Wilson places the percentage of illegal aliens in U.S. prisons even higher. In 2001, he told Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly:

"We had problems related to the costs of educating children who were acknowledged to be in the country illegally, healthcare costs. One in five in our prison population were illegal immigrants who had been convicted of a felony after entering the country illegally."

The Federation for American Immigration Reform also turned to the Justice Department to get statistics on criminal aliens. They report:

"In March 2000, Congress made public Department of Justice statistics showing that, over the previous five years, the INS had released over 35,000 criminal aliens instead of deporting them. Over 11,000 of those released went on to commit serious crimes, over 1,800 of which were violent ones [including 98 homicides, 142 sexual assaults, and 44 kidnappings].

"In 2001, thanks to a decision by the Supreme Court, the INS was forced to release into our society over 3,000 criminal aliens [who collectively had been convicted of 125 homicides, 387 sex offenses, and 772 assault charges]."

Up to a third of the U.S. federal prison population is composed of non-citizens, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons statistics - but not all non-citizen prison inmates are illegal aliens.

As to the "hard-working" claim, CIS notes: "The proportion of immigrant-headed households using at least one major welfare program is 24.5 percent compared to 16.3 percent for native households."

Investor's Business Daily concurs: "Once [illegals] get here, they are 50 percent more likely to be on welfare than citizens."

Anonymous said...

You want more facts?

As the number of illegal aliens in the U.S. increases, so does the number of American victims.

According to Edwin Rubenstien, president of ESR Research Economic Consultants, in Indianapolis in 1980, federal and state correctional facilities held fewer than 9,000 criminal aliens. But at the end of 2003, approximately 267,000 illegal aliens were incarcerated in all U.S. jails and prisons.

While the federal government doesn't track illegal alien murders, illegal alien rapes or illegal alien drunk driving deaths, it has studied illegal aliens incarcerated in U.S. prisons.

In April 2005, the Government Accountability Office released a report on a study of 55,322 illegal aliens incarcerated in federal, state, and local facilities during 2003. It found the following:

* The 55,322 illegal aliens studied represented a total of 459,614 arrests – some eight arrests per illegal alien;

* Their arrests represented a total of about 700,000 criminal offenses – some 13 offenses per illegal alien;

* 36 percent had been arrested at least five times before.

Anonymous said...

When we allow the 'good' in we get the 'bad' along with them. The question is, how much 'bad' is acceptable and at what price?

Anonymous said...

Twelve Americans are murdered every day by illegal aliens, according to statistics released by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa. If those numbers are correct, it translates to 4,380 Americans murdered annually by illegal aliens. That's 21,900 since Sept. 11, 2001.

Anonymous said...

If illegal aliens are 6.1% of crime (making the further assumption that the percentage in prisons is equal to the percentage of crime generally, including less serious crime), then if crime costs $400 billion per year, crime by illegal aliens costs 24 billion dollars per year. That is about equal to the June 20, 2007 CEA report Immigration’s Economic Impact, which says immigration has a net benefit of $30 billion per year, which includes both legal and illegal immigrants.

Anonymous said...

How else can a crappy college offering a so-so "education" fill its seats without illegal infill?

Anonymous said...

Oh well, how about closing the so-so crappy colleges instead of hospitals? I pay for illegals at both of them, but I at least use a hospital once in awhile.

Anonymous said...

"What good is free speech when it falls on deaf ears?"

Conversely, what good are eyes or ears when they read and hear moronic, ignorant drivel spewing forth from imbeciles trying to change falsehood into truth.

Much like the alchemists of old trying to turn lead into gold.

Persistent ignorance is just that: ignorance that won't go away.

Anonymous said...

More facts:

-Austin’s Chief of Police, Art Acevedo, has made the following statement about undocumented immigrants: “The vast majority of these people are not criminal aliens, they’re economic aliens. They are not a threat to our public safety.”

Chief Acevedo has a point. Over the past 15 years, the United States has experienced the largest wave of immigration, both authorized and undocumented, in our history. During this same period, crime rates have declined. Violent crime has decreased by 34%, and property crimes have fallen by 26%. There are an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., yet crime rates are diminishing.

-Editor’s Note: Government and academic studies prove decisively that the common belief that immigrants, especially undocumented ones, bring criminality is based on a big lie.

Among the many troubling aspects of the public debate over immigration is the power of myths over facts. One of the most enduring myths about immigration, despite literally decades of evidence to the contrary, is the belief that immigrants are more likely to commit crime than the native-born.

Since 1994, the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States has more than doubled to 12 million. Immigrants, both legal and undocumented, now comprise just under 13 percent of the population. Yet, according to the FBI, between 1994 and 2005 the violent crime rate (murder, robbery, rape, assault) fell 34.2 percent and the property crime rate (burglary, theft) dropped 26.4 percent.

Cities with large and growing immigrant populations such as Los Angeles, New York, Miami and Chicago also experienced this downward trend in crime. If immigration—either legal or undocumented—were associated with crime, then crime rates should be rising.

An upcoming report from the Immigration Policy Center further dispels the notion that immigration and crime are connected. Using data from the 2000 Census, the report shows that immigrants are less likely than the native-born to be behind bars. Among men age 18 to 39 (who comprise the vast majority of inmates in federal and state prisons and local jails), immigrants were five times less likely to be incarcerated than the native-born in 2000.

About 3.5 percent of native-born men were in prison, compared with 0.7 percent of foreign-born men. Immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala were much less likely to be in prison than native-born, non-Hispanic whites. Roughly 0.7 percent of foreign-born Mexican men and 0.5 percent of foreign-born Salvadoran and Guatemalan men were in prison, compared with 1.7 percent of native-born, non-Hispanic white men.

These findings are not new. Three government commissions investigated the relationship between immigration and crime during the last era of large-scale immigration to the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when millions of immigrants arrived from Italy, Ireland, Russia, Poland, and other nations in Europe. All three commissions came to the same conclusion: immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than natives.

Anonymous said...

The former Immigration and Naturalization Service estimated that as of January 2000 the total unauthorized immigrant population residing in the United States was 7 million. This total includes those who entered the United States illegally and those who entered legally but overstayed their authorized period of stay. A more recent study estimated that there were about 10 million illegal aliens living in the United States as of March 2005. The study estimated that nearly 700,000 aliens entered the United States illegally or overstayed their authorized period of stay each year between 2000 and 2004. Some illegal aliens in the United States have been arrested and incarcerated in federal and state prisons and local jails, adding to already overcrowded prisons and jails. On April 7, 2005, we issued a report on criminal aliens that were incarcerated in federal and state prisons and local jails. Our report contained information on the number of criminal aliens incarcerated, their country of citizenship or country of birth, and the cost to incarcerate them. Congress also requested that we provide information on the criminal history of aliens incarcerated in federal and state prisons or local jails who had entered the country illegally. For a population of aliens that entered the country illegally and were incarcerated in federal or state prisons or local jails, this report addresses the following questions: (1) How many times have they been arrested? (2) How many and what type of criminal offenses have they been arrested for? (3) What states were they arrested in?

In our population study of 55,322 illegal aliens, we found that they were arrested at least a total of 459,614 times, averaging about 8 arrests per illegal alien. Nearly all had more than 1 arrest. Thirty-eight percent (about 21,000) had between 2 and 5 arrests, 32 percent (about 18,000) had between 6 and 10 arrests, and 26 percent (about 15,000) had 11 or more arrests. Most of the arrests occurred after 1990. They were arrested for a total of about 700,000 criminal offenses, averaging about 13 offenses per illegal alien. One arrest incident may include multiple offenses, a fact that explains why there are nearly one and half times more offenses than arrests. Almost all of these illegal aliens were arrested for more than 1 offense. Slightly more than half of the 55,322 illegal aliens had between 2 and 10 offenses. About 45 percent of all offenses were drug or immigration offenses. About 15 percent were property-related offenses such as burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and property damage. About 12 percent were for violent offenses such as murder, robbery, assault, and sex-related crimes. The balance was for such other offenses as traffic violations, including driving under the influence; fraud--including forgery and counterfeiting; weapons violations; and obstruction of justice. Eighty percent of all arrests occurred in three states--California, Texas, and Arizona. Specifically, about 58 percent of all arrests occurred in California, 14 percent in Texas, and 8 percent in Arizona.

Anonymous said...

The Estimated Cost of Illegal Immigration

Illegal alien workers may increase profits for employers, but they are costly to the American taxpayer. Most illegal aliens have low educational attainment, few skills, and they work for low wages, often in the underground economy where they pay no taxes on their earnings. Since about three million illegal aliens gained legal status in the amnesty of 1986, the flow of illegal immigration has increased, and today that population is estimated at 9-11 million illegal alien residents in the country. The former Immigration and Naturalization Service estimated that the illegal alien population was increasing by about half a million aliens per year in 2000.
The Huddle Study

Because the number of illegal aliens can only be estimated, similarly the fiscal cost (government budget outlays) for those aliens can only be estimated. Dr. Donald Huddle, a Rice University economics professor, published a systematic analysis of those costs as of 1996 (see table below). The study also estimated the tax payments of those same aliens.

At that time, the illegal alien population was estimated to be about five million persons. The estimated fiscal cost of those illegal aliens to the federal, state and local governments was about $33 billion. This impact was partially offset by an estimated $12.6 billion in taxes paid to the federal, state and local governments, resulting in a net cost to the American taxpayer of about $20 billion every year. This estimate did not include indirect costs that result from unemployment payments to Americans who lost their jobs to illegal aliens willing to work for lower wages. Nor did it include lost tax collections from those American workers who became unemployed. The study estimated those indirect costs from illegal immigration at an additional $4.3 billion annually.

During the years since that estimate, the illegal alien population is estimated to have roughly doubled, so the estimated fiscal costs also will have at least doubled. Furthermore, the passage of time is accompanied by inflation in the costs of services, e.g., school budgets continue to climb. Therefore, what was estimated to be a cost to the American taxpayer of $33 billion in 1996 today would be at least $70 billion. Similarly, tax collections would have increased — sales taxes at least — so that the net expense to the taxpayer from illegal immigration would currently be at least $45 billion. The indirect fiscal costs would have also increased, especially during a period of already high unemployment, to perhaps and additional $10 billion annually.

1996 Costs Table from the Huddle Study 1

Programs (billions)
Public Education K-12 $5.85
Public Higher Education $0.71
ESL and Bilingual Education $1.22
Food Stamps $0.85
AFDC $0.50
Housing $0.61
Social Security $3.61
Earned Income Tax Credit $0.68
Medicaid $3.12
Medicare A and B $0.58
Criminal Justice and Corrections $0.76
Local Government $5.00
Other Programs $9.25

Total Costs $32.74

Less Taxes Paid $12.59

Net Costs of Direct Services 20.16

Displacement Costs $4.28

All Net Costs $24.44

Other More Recent Estimates

Other estimates have been done on components of the cost of illegal immigration. For example, FAIR estimated in 2003 that the cost of K-12 education for illegal alien children was at least $7.4 billion annually (see Breaking the Piggybank). This would be less than double the about $5.9 billion estimate above, but would be of the same order of magnitude. FAIR’s 2004 report on the medical expenses incurred because of illegal immigration (see The Sinking Lifeboat) shows uncompensated costs in excess of one billion dollars.

The cost of incarceration of illegal aliens in state prisons has also risen rapidly. In fiscal year ’02, the Department of Justice’s State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) distributed $550 million to the states to help defray their expenses, but this was estimated to cover only about one fifth of their outlays. Between FY'99 and FY'02, alien detention increased by 45 percent (from about 69,300 inmate years to over 100,300 inmate years), and that trend is continuing. These expenses do not include the costs of illegal aliens incarcerated in federal prisons, public safety expenditures, detention pending trial, expenses of trial proceedings, interpretation, public defenders, or the incarceration expenses of immigrants for minor offenses that do not meet the standards of the SCAPP reimbursement program. Therefore, it is clear that outlays for Criminal Justice and Corrections costs is today much greater than double the 1996 estimate.

While the cost of outlays for illegal aliens may be shifted by legislation among the levels of government and the private sector, the fact remains that illegal immigration creates an enormous fiscal burden on America and its citizens — a burden that Congress has levied upon us through short-sighted and haphazard immigration policy and succeeding administrations have aggravated by spotty enforcement of the law.
A Call for Action

Americans should demand that Congress and the administration work together to establish control over our borders and the interior of the country so that we have the assurance that aliens, whether immigrants or visitors, are legally present in the country. That objective is of vital importance for the sake of national security as well as for the impact on our tax bills.

georgetheatheist said...

Taxpayer: "..ignorant drivel spewing forth from imbeciles trying to change falsehood into truth."

Or conversely truth into falsehood.

Folks, don't buy into that old canard that so-called "native Americans" [i.e. Beringians] were on this continent first. Recent scholarship shows that during the Ice Age a land bridge existed between Europe and North America. People of the Solutrean culture of France [cf. the famous Lascaux Cave paintings] migrated to our neck of the woods preceding the Beringian invasion. These Beringians (the forerunners of today's misnamed "native Americans") slaughtered the European-descendant Solutreans.

Bottom line? The "Indians" killed the Whites.

So European-Americans of today, you can shuck any guilt you may have had.

As the great Casey Stengel said: "You can look it up."

Anonymous said...

Since 1999, Dennis Stanford of the Smithsonian Institution has been the most prominent spokesperson for the "Solutrean hypothesis," a theory that claims the first people to arrive in the New World came from prehistoric Spain and brought with them a distinctive way of making stone tools. In a paper presented in 2004, Stanford and his colleague Brace Bradley outlined the proposed route the Spaniards took on their trek to the Americas. (1) However, a closer look at the Solutrean hypothesis shows that the idea does not prove what its authors claim.

Not long after the Solutrean hypothesis was proposed, however, archaeologists dismissed the idea with three arguments: (1) though both cultures used pressure flaking, Solutrean spear points were not fluted like the Clovis points--many Solutrean tools had a roughly diamond shape while Clovis points often had a concave bottom; (2) the Solutreans, who had no boats, had no way to get to North America; (3) most important, there was a gap of thousands of years between the latest Solutrean points and the earliest Clovis points--it seemed chronologically impossible for the Solutreans to have given rise to Clovis.

Under no interpretation does the theory make Europeans America's first colonists.

A More Likely Story

For the moment there is no clear evidence relating Solutreans to the Clovis people--or any earlier people of North America. Anthropologist G. A. Clark makes a compelling case that the similarities between the two cultures are coincidental, the result of two independent peoples stumbling across similar solutions when faced with similar problems in hunting ancient big game. (16) It has happened before. The bow and arrow were developed independently in the Americas and in the Old World. Writing developed on its own in the ancient Near East, in the ancient Far East, and in Mesoamerica. Witness, too, the mountains of paper devoted to supposed connections between Old and New World pyramid building and mummification.

As anthropologist Lawrence Guy Straus told National Geographic, "One of the great failings of archaeology ... is a continuous falling back on the notion that if a couple of things resemble one another, they have to have the same source. But these similarities appear and reappear time and again in different places."

The Solutrean hypothesis is simply the latest in a long string of ideas that have sought the ultimate origins of American history in other lands. Since the first explorations of the New World, researchers have tried to tie the continent's history back to Europe, as if to fulfill a need to own America's most distant past as well as its present.

The Clovis culture was likely an indigenous creation, a product of some very clever people working with what they had thousands of years ago. Until there is physical evidence that ties the ancient Americas to Europe, there can be no justification for continuing to deny Native Americans their history, their culture, and their accomplishments.

Anonymous said...

Red ocher found in graves in the Americas and Europe link the two areas?

Traces of chocolate and tobacco supposedly found Egyptian mummies?

On the other hand, no genertic link was yet found - until they do, all evidence of contact can only be a theory - not a proven fact.

Anonymous said...

I tend to be sympathetic to immigrants of all stripes because my father was an immigrant, but this is ridiculous.

I have been working with a young lady who had her degree delayed because she could not afford to pay for her credits. She was forced to spend several additional years as a low-paid receptionist and put her life on hold. Collectors called daily.

Meanwhile, people who need her skills as an audiologist can whistle it out their ear. (She was trained, but unable to prove it.)

For a College official to boast about providing services to illegals while not concerning himself whether others can even pay for their education is disgraceful.

Anonymous said...

Last week on Channel 7 World News Tonite with Charlie Gibson they had a segement on kidnapping, in Phoenix, Arizona. Last year Phoenix had 363 kidnappings- almost one per day. The Police Dept had to start a new task force to help combat it. When they spoke with the Police Chief, he said most of these kidnappings were over drugs/money. The people who were doing the kidnapping were from Mexico and Central America. They came here illegally over the Mexican border and were literally cuasing havoc in Phoenix.

If this wasnt an editiorial on illegals here in the USA, I dont what is. They are here becuase they are looking to committ crimes, to score big, easily, and constantly.

As for me, frankly I am sick of them. I live in the Alley section of Maspeth. The illegals I see on a day to day basis, are of European desecent (as am I). The are lazy, shiftless, littering do nothings. Hanging around the fronts of deli's smoking and drinking, and arguing. Leaving their garbage for others to clean.

My opinion if they all left, the USA, or at least Maspeth would be a better place.

Anonymous said...

Erase this reality:

The less desirable nabes in Queens tend to be the destination of ILLEGAL aliens!

i.e. Corona/Elmhurst; South Jamaica & the South Bronx; Downtown Flushing, etc. etc. etc.

How many ILLEGALS do you suppose you'll find in Forest Hills Gardens or Douglas Manor...the epitome of FINE LIVING?

H-m-m-m!

Anonymous said...

Kowabanga, Kemo-sabe. Me killum every Solutrean me seeum.

Anonymous said...

georgieporgie: "Bottom line? The "Indians" killed the Whites."

My gawd, boy, you have drunk far too much of the idiot juice today! What you peddle is pure, unadulterated, 100% Grade A JUNK SCIENCE!!!

If your "Beringians" slaughtered all of your "Solutreans" then I beg you, dear gentleman, to please produce the millions of corpses. There must be physical remains of these "Solutreans," no?

georgetheatheist said...

There are. And they will shortly be unearthed. A great Solutrean city will be discovered in the Southwest. Mark me.