Selling out the state on illegal immigration
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/op-ed/perkins/20030912-9999_mz1e12perkin.html
Joseph Perkins
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
September 12, 2003
" I think we have to be honest about our dependency on people to do jobs Americans will not."
- Gov. Gray Davis
" They are here paying taxes. They pay $1,400 more a year than they get back in assistance."|
- Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante
Davis and Bustamante are sellouts. They have sold out California by advancing policies that effectively decriminalize illegal immigration; that confer upon illegal aliens benefits that should be reserved for the state's lawful residents.
They have sold out America by proffering a privilege to illegals - a California driver's license - that undermines national security, as Davis himself acknowledged as recently as two years ago.
" The tragedy of Sept. 11 made it abundantly clear," the Democratic governor stated, "that the driver's license is more than just a license to drive; it is one of the primary documents we use to identify ourselves." He noted that "a driver's license was in the hands of terrorists who attacked America on that fateful day."
Yet, two years later, Davis is all too willing to put driver's licenses in the hands of potential terrorists. And Bustamante is no less willing.
Davis and Bustamante have sold out their state, sold out their country in hopes of ginning up enough Hispanic votes to tilt California's coming recall election in their respective favors.
Their pandering for brown votes is contemptible enough. But what really offends are their untenable rationales for rewarding those who steal across this nation's borders.
The reality is that Americans do not depend on illegal aliens to do jobs they will not. And illegals do not pay $1,400 more in taxes than they receive in benefits. Those myths are promulgated by those who are soft on illegal immigration; those who profit in some way from illegal immigration, either politically, financially or otherwise. Indeed, there were more than enough Americans willing to pick fruit and harvest produce, mow lawns and trim hedges, prepare meals and bus tables and clean up rooms and do laundry before the influx of more than 7 million illegal aliens.
And there still are many lower-skilled Americans available to do those jobs - like the 10 million native-born Americans lacking high school diplomas - as long they are not asked to accept Third World wages.
And even if the ranks of unskilled American workers are insufficient to do all the menial labor the economy requires, there are millions of lawful immigrants available to lend a hand. That includes the more than 5 million legal Mexican immigrants who lack high school diplomas.
In the meantime, the illegal alien population is a net drain on the coffers of California and other states no matter what Davis, Bustamante or other defenders of illegal immigration suggest.
Indeed, California spends at least $3 billion a year on illegal aliens, providing health, education and welfare at the expense of the state's taxpayers, incarcerating illegals who get themselves arrested committing non-immigration-related felonies.
When California's outlays are combined with those of the other 49 states as well as the federal government, illegal immigration costs this country more than $20 billion a year.
The only way Bustamante could come up with a net gain to California, to the United States of $1,400 per immigrant is if he refers to the tax contributions of legal immigrants, not illegals.
Because there is no doubt about it, illegal aliens consume more tax dollars than they contribute.
And if 7 million or so illegal aliens residing within this nation's borders were to return to the countries from whence they came, America's economy hardly would collapse.
Maybe a head of lettuce would cost a few nickels more. Maybe a car wash would cost an extra buck. That is more than a reasonable price to pay to restore the integrity of this nation's borders.
Gray Davis and Cruz Bustamante have made California an even bigger magnet for illegal aliens, not just those from south of the border, but also those from more dangerous parts of the world. They have placed their political ambitions above the state's best interests, above the national interest.
Perkins can be reached via e-mail at joseph.perkins@uniontrib.com.
