i want facts on how illegal immigration is detrimental to our economy as you state. im sure the 'billions of tax dollars' that are spent on illegal aliens are more then made up for via taxes and the simple fact that i dont have to spend 5 bucks for an apple.
Oh I love this legislation.. Too bad like every other immigration legislation, it functions as an unfunded mandate on states that already have serious budget issues. Lets just force states to cut back more on education and health care by making them erect walls and pay millions more in border security. I know here in Texas we're in crisis mode when it comes to education spending and building a border along the Rio Grande really wouldn't help at all. Beyond spending, there are serious logistical problems with this as well. You realize we already have walls in certain areas and those still dont work. People have dug under them, somehow climbed over them etc.. They've used barbed wire before but people just wrap themselves in cardboard and run through it virtually unscathed. Also banning all birthright citizenship is a joke as well. So legal immigrants get screwed as well since their kids fall under birthright citizenship? This is just straight up ethnocentrism and nativism that defies everything America stands for. What your article doesn't point out is that most countries still do have birthright citizenship. The ones that don't tend to have stupid illusions of homogenized societies like the Middle East and parts of Europe. Most multicultural and secular countries still have it and its a shame that we would join the ranks of those who feel America truly belongs only to real American joes and not those worthless immigrants. This piece of junk won't pass but the fact that it's being brought is absolutely ridiculous...
I actually agree with the article on both counts and I think 1. We need to tighten our borders, as times have changed terrorists/criminals continue to sneak into our country to harm us. Putting up a barrier on both sides of the country makes sense and should only be the beginning. If you want to come into the US come legally dont sneak in. 2. End birthright citizenship for everyone.. I think people should the earn the privilege to be citizens its not a right and this is not the same old US of A. I would stop birthright citizenship for illegals/non-citizens first then for everyone. Then force people into the military for 3 years and as a reward for service/duty grant them their citizenship. whomever. I think we have become a spoiled, weak, hated country.. and I hope we can get ourselves together before we fall as a society. J
Have any terrorists come in by swimming the rio grande? Oh boy. Starship Troopers here we come. Let's let the military lead the country too!
Are you serious? The ONLY way illegal aliens can work is "under the table" meaning outside of sales taxes they pay no taxes! That is right, they get a freebie and don't pay the 25% that the average American pays in federal taxes. One way to end this problem and get the tax evaders is a national sales tax, and do away with the federal income tax. That way you get the drug dealers, prostitutes, contractors, illegals and anyone else who gets paid in cash. If we moved to a national sales tax of roughly 20% our financial problems would be over... Also, did you know that illegals who have children here file for social services like foodstamps, welfare and school lunches all without paying for it out of their paychecks? If you think illegal imigration doesn't cost us, you're sadly mistaken. In 2002 the Census Bureau found that illegal immigrants used 10 billion more in FEDERAL SERVICES then they paid in, this doesn't even take into count the state and local services they use (LINK). As I stated above, I can see birthright citizenship if the parents are here legally... otherwise when illegals get here they will simply pop out a child and they are home free and get all the same social services as the rest of us get. Either way I think the only way to even slow illegal immigration is with a border barrier. Giving illegal immigrants amnesty is NOT an option and Bush found that out first hand after discussing it earlier this year. The 2002 Census Bureau study linked above found that if illegals were given amnesty, the fiscal deficit at the federal level would grow to nearly $29 billion... once again that is ONLY for the federal level, not state or local. That is 29 billion on a federal level (not even state or local) that could be rerouted to education, healthcare and countless other areas that would actually HELP American citizens.
1.By freebie, do you mean they get a job? What freebie do they receive? I understand that they don't pay taxes, but what do they receive except for a job under substandard working conditions? 2. I have no problem with the parents of legal citizens applying for social services. I don't care if the parents are legal illegal, or even murderers. IT is wrong to punish an innocent infant because of something it had no control over. The welfare of the child is what is important. As far as Welfare and social services go, the biggest drain on that is medical costs. If we really want to cut those expenses down we need to do something about our health care system. I don't think we wring it out of babes newly born in the country because their parents did something wrong. Hayes, and Aggierocket have it right. To me the statue of liberty and what it stands for mean something. I also think that most of the time when people talk about illegal immigration they seem to mean illegal immigration of non-Europeans.
The ONLY way illegal aliens can work is "under the table" meaning outside of sales taxes they pay no taxes! You have become unhinged. Illegals pay all the state taxes that the rest of us pay. They don't pay SS, but then again they don't get any SS benefits. They don't pay FIT, but legals with the same income stream likely do not either. Stopping illegal imigration is very simple. Making the fines prohibitive for employers to hire illegals. If an employers knows that they will be fined out of existnece for hiring illegals, they will likely not chance it, right?
Uhh, there is no state tax in Texas. They simply pay sales tax and then any tax they on certain goods they buy. If they lived in a state with a state tax they still don't pay them because they are working under the table... .0625-.0825 cents per dollar is not enough to cover their expenses, the census bureau doesn't lie.
ok i understand how they used more in federal taxes. of course this is a catch 22 because the primary reason they dont pay the payroll/income tax is because they have to work illegally. if you gave them legal employment they would be taxed. secondly they own homes/rent homes which are owned by people who pay property taxes. they pay bills which have local taxes. they buy gas which has local taxes. they buy things which obviously have local taxes. so how in hell can you say they dont pay their fare share of local taxes? sure they dont pay state income tax but that leads me back to point 1 and plus the states that do have state income taxes...overwhelming majority is under 2-3% of income. not that significant. and again. just as even many liberals currently aren't that opposed to drilling in the arctic because of gas prices (though there might not be a translation into cheaper oil...ever) similarly many conservatives are willing to have illegal immigration because they realize they dont want to pay exorbitant amounts for produce.
Gasp. Our federal dollars are going to pay for food and education of children? How horrible! C'mon, you know the census figures don't comprehensively address the economic cost vs benefits of illegal immigration. And this isn't by any stretch a purely economic question. This country, if not founded on, has become a beacon of hope for the downtrodden in the world. I think that's what makes it so great in the face of criticism from the Frogs, and the Chavez's, and the osama bin laden's of the world. Open the gates. Let those who truly want to be part of the American experience do so (just make them learn English ). We've spent over $40 billion on the war on drugs so far this year. Cancel that, pay for the social services immigrants use. Whoopie - no more problem.
Seriously, the argument that somehow illegal immigrants are killing our economy is a joke. 1. Your new legislation will absolutely blow up state deficits. Your wall plan is an unfunded mandate on states that forces states like Texas that can barely pay for education as it is to waste money building walls and security systems to keep out immigrants. Your plan uniquely messes up state budgets which have balanced budget requirements, meaning they're forced to slash social programs in order to pay for this. Policies like the Real ID Act empirically prove that states get overburdened when the federal government puts out legislation like this. 2. Who said walls even worked? They have walls now in parts of some states and camera footage shows that illegal immigrants can come up with crafty ways to get over or dig under walls. Also barbed wire was a flop in stopping them as well. 3. If you actually plan to enforce this, that means you have to hire new border guards to use your new electronic surveillance. Oh well too bad states don't have the money to hire guards now let alone in the future to monitor your new surveillance systems. 4. Your position is the very definition of ethnocentrism and nativism. The idea that somehow you're priveleged to citizenship because you're lucky enough to have parents born on American soil but I (a son of immigrants are not) puts you in the same class of countries like the Middle East and parts of Europe that are committed to homogenous nations where only "real Americans or real Muslims" get privileges and those unfortunate enough to have parents from other countries get nothing. I'm probably just as American as you are but because I'm brown skinned and my parents have funny accents, I don't get an American passport. The one thing I like about America is that it does a better job than almost any other country at making a place for immigrants and being tolerant. Oh well so much for that...
Well that's not what appears in the WSJ editorial page. Aside from a few isolationists, the GOP has been sucking from the teat of underpriced labor as much as anybody in the quest for freer labor markets and encouraging this behavior. Yup, that's a good diagnosis of your apparent level of sophistication when it comes to understanding this issue - a screaming talk show moron who doesn't know a damned thing.
They pay property taxes via their rent checks. Most state income taxes I suspect are like FIT where the bottom incomes pay no tax at all. If a legal did the work of an illegal for the same pay, both would pay about the same in taxes.
It's too bad these two issues are wrapped together. They should be debated separately on the individual merits. I support the birthright change. Never understood it in my life and it makes no sense to me. The only reason I can think of for not changing it is inertia (i.e, the sentimentality that since we've had it, let's keep it). The border barrier idea is much more difficult than it sounds and has other problems. I agree we fail to control our borders adequately, but constructing a barrier may not be the best thing to do.
Why should someone be granted American citizenship just because his/her mother was in the U.S. when they were born? Tell me why it is good?
