The Immigration Bill

The stories are well-worn tales of heart-rending misfortune and fears of persecution from law enforcements agencies and the many cities and towns that have had to lay down creative laws to give them pause of remaining in neighborhoods. The cries of malfeasance for actions that are of disregard to family values of illegal immigrants are like that of a Mexican jumping bean, spastic in motion, flippant in spirit and yet, after a lifespan of 9 months, another crop populates into action.

Unlike the egg laid inside the bean that goes through a metamorphosis until a harmless moth emerges, immigration reform will be a very costly burden to not only the next generation of American taxpayers but also to present-day working men and women until death do they depart from the liability.

According to the non-profit organization Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), in 2005 the cost to Florida taxpayers amounted to $1.7B annually, a seemingly “cheap” figure when compared to the jump in price to $3.8B in 2008, taking into account the costs of K-12 schooling, health care and incarceration.

Out of fairness, FAIR acknowledges that if the estimated taxes paid by illegal immigrants are taken into account, the cost is reduced to “only” $2.3B. Of course, the organization doesn’t stop there. The report goes into the fact that if the jobs held by illegals had been gainfully earned by American workers taxes paid would be more representative of real-life contributions to the federal budget.

In 2007, the Heritage Foundation estimated the national annual cost was $2.5 trillion.

The Inter-American Development Bank estimated that in 2006 over $3B dollars earned by immigrants in the U.S. found their way to Latin American countries. If that doesn’t bring your patriotic blood pressure to dangerous levels, every Florida household contributes almost $700 per year to sustain the presence of undocumented workers and their families. Damn! As if you thought those reduced payroll taxes given to American workers are a federally sanctioned gift of stimulus dollars, think again. At best, it’s a washout.

The Center for American Progress, in 2005, estimated deportation costs to taxpayers would be as much as $230B over a five-year period, yet here we are 5 years down the dead-end road to immigration reform and the amounts have surely increased. Costs include detention, legal fees and transportation expenses.

On the other side of the deportation issue, FAIR had its own cost estimate of $275B over a five year period to allow illegal immigrants to remain in the country. The 2004 assessment includes the cost in American worker jobs, lost taxes and the continuing costs of maintaining non-reimbursement of social services.

The figures suggest deportation would be less costly than the status quo of continuing to be a host country to illegal immigrants. A free-for-all amnesty scenario would be a free-fall of American culture and the economy.
Truly no one really wants families to be split apart for any reason other than death by natural causes. It’s even exemplary that illegal immigrants have the determination and means to seek homeownership but how in the world of justice do they obtain mortgage loans in the first place?

It’s unfathomable that banking institutions can justify loans to any person without a valid Social Security Number. Since many immigrant workers’ jobs are supposedly temporary, there should be a concern that default rates would be higher than that of Americans. I don’t get it.

Eventually American families find themselves either on the street or with temporary residency in tent cities, facing the likelihood that at some point communities will prompt local law enforcement to oust them from their canvas/nylon “homes”.

Solutions to immigration reform might be financial goldmines to certain businesses interests (agriculture, construction) but they remain political landmines to public servants seeking reelection in 2010, then those in 2012, then those in 2014… However discompassionate to both sides of the immigration issue, politicians are decidedly inconsiderate of the American taxpayer to put off ‘til tomorrow what should have begun a decade ago.

Perhaps the U.S. Department of Justice should give the Immigration and Naturalization Service the wherewithal to declare an end to the hide-and-seek games played by undocumented workers and their families.

Agents could scour the countryside, crying out “Olly Olly Oxen Free”!, a phrase going back to the days of yore when a town crier in jolly old England signaled those outside the castle walls to come forth to receive a message from the King, “All Ye, All Ye, Outs in Free!” Alas, “No one loves the messenger who brings bad news.” (Sophocles)

Immigration issues remain largely void of racism. As Americans continue to lose jobs, homes and patriotic dignity, there are no guarantees that the two sides of immigration will remain civil. We all got guns, don’t we?