Our Broken System

There's not a day that goes by when you don't hear about the national or state deficits. While I'm not working for the government, or even come from a state that has a deficit, I do have family members that suffer because they have a lower ranking government job in a state that's losing money at each sunrise. One of the problems is the consumption of goods and services by people that didn't pay the price to live in our country. While I understand writing something negative may make me look like a heartless mean person, it's time I at least voiced an opinion. Since I've never been at the top of the list for the politically correct, maybe it's another good reason.

I'm not opposed to welfare for those that need it, nor am I opposed to immigrants of any ethnicity. I'm opposed to what has occurred within the system that now requires billions of dollars of tax money for people that took a short cut. They never bothered with the red tape others dredged through to get their right to be in this country. In fact, I can probably speak for many new citizens of this country when I note that letting some have benefits without being citizens or even arriving here legally is unjust and unfair to those that jumped through the hoops to make this country their home.

Sponsorship

As some of you may know, I have a connection to California and a person that works within a county government. Every time we speak of this topic, she notes how irrational it is for all the expense of interpreters and multi-language materials.

Our immigration system requires sponsorship. A sponsor says that he'll support the registered alien and signs an affidavit of Support saying they will take care of them financially. If taking care of the sponsored person means helping them to receive aid from our government, they should be the interpreter. We could save thousands of dollars by eliminating the need for multi-language brochures and interpreters. Perhaps the only forms that should be in several languages should be the tax forms. If I was looking for benefits and the benefits were in French, I'd either find a friend that could interpret for me or learn to speak French. It simply makes sense and would be a huge savings to the government.

If businesses want to have multiple languages offered for their phone system or hire people that speak several languages, that's not a problem. It's their right to do what it takes to earn a customer. However, we shouldn't have any response from a governmental phone that says press one for English.

Children of Illegals

An anchor baby is a baby born in the U.S. and therefore a citizen. Initially, I thought that these children automatically sponsored their parents from birth but that is not true. They can sponsor them once they turn 18 and have an income 125 percent above poverty. However, this doesn't account for all the children of unregistered residents born in the US and attending schools, receiving government benefits or assistance in other ways.

According to John Reiniers in an article in Hernando Today , January 25, 2008 called "Anchor Babies," the maternity ward at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, the second busiest in the US, had over 70 percent of their births to women that were illegal aliens. Medicaid paid $34.5 million to pay for the cost, the federal government paid another 9.5 million in addition and the taxpayers of Dallas, Texas pitched in another 31.3 million. The article also noted that the average illegal giving birth was 25 years old and not giving birth to their first child but their second. My question is this, how did they get to stay?

I do not understand the process. If doctors were offering medical treatment to known convicts and not reporting them, the law would hold them accountable. However, the birth of the second child indicates that no one seems to care. The hospital, Medicare and other governmental agencies know the status of these women and yet they remain in the US to produce a second child. The cost of deportation would outweigh the cost of providing services to the family, including educating the child.

Everyone seems to turn their head because they don't want to break up the family. But Wait!!!! Here's a novel idea, send the baby home with the parents. Children born of citizens from other countries have dual citizenship, therefore these children would too. When they're old enough, then they could make the decision to come here or stay in their parent's native land. Perhaps that's just too simple of a solution.

In 2010-2011, California had a deficit of $25 billion. According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the cost for that state to pay for schooling and other services of unregistered residents was an estimated $21.8 billion dollars. If we would insist that legal aliens bring their sponsor to interpret for services and eliminate the need for multi-language paperwork, California might be operating in the black. The problem isn't just for that state since estimates range at the cost for unregistered residents for our nation run $113 billion with the federal government picking up $29 billion.

I am not opposed to immigration. In fact, I had a few great clients that were not natural born citizens but they entered the traditional way. It is unfair to them and the rest of the United States to allow this to continue. Our system is breaking and part of it is expense we could stop if we chose. I'm not a mean person, I just think the American dream comes to everyone at a price, and that price is legal entry into our country and learning English when you arrive.

Giovanni's World: The Actual Cost of Illegal Aliens by R. CORT KIRKWOOD, 10 NOVEMBER 2010

FAIR website

Legal Match: Alien Immigration Lawyers

Huffington Post: Los Angeles: California Budget Deficit Grows to $25.4 Billion