This article is a follow-up to the article in the March 2009 Juniper Berry. It supports the criticism of New York’s Sanctuary City status with the statistics that show the reality of the illegal alien in our city and the negative impact they have on our lives. Michael Bloomberg, a Sanctuary City cheerleader, is a big part of the problem. Through political machination of the system, he has managed to plow through NYC’s term limits law and allow himself to run for a third term in November 2009. That is so wrong on so many levels.
As an example of the possibility of financial disaster, the once great state of California is in bankruptcy because that state is flooded with illegal immigrants, many of whom are criminals, who, because of generous America’s entitlements, are draining the system at every level, from health care to education.
Are we headed in that direction? The closing of St. John’s Hospital and the building of yet another school on the toxic site at 74th Street and 58th Avenue in Maspeth to accommodate our exploding illegal population are the classic examples of the negative impact the illegal alien is having on our lives. Many politicians would argue with that statement because it is so politically incorrect to single out a specific group for being a problem but here are the statistics. You be the judge.
The illegal immigrant population in the United States is currently at 11.9 million. Approximately 7.7 million illegal immigrants were employed in jobs in 2008.
A statistic from the Center for Immigration Studies showed that a 1997 study by the American Academy of Sciences found that the cheap labor of illegal immigrants and poor immigrants caused a 44% decrease in wages among the poorest Americans from 1980 to 1994. A further revelation from the Center shows that tax payments in illegal households are only 28% of other households primarily due to much lower levels in education, which subsequently results in low incomes and even lower tax payments.
Illegal immigrants collectively represent a group that is a significant menace to the public. 80% have committed serious crimes in addition to immigration violations, and 40% have violent crime histories. America is the haven for the miscreants who come here to ply their crimes on our streets and in our schools.
A strategy of attrition through enforcement, which includes mandatory workplace verification and measures to curb misuse of Social Security numbers, could reduce the illegal population by as many as 1.5 million illegal immigrants each year.
When you read statements that illegal aliens do the jobs Americans don’t want, they are right, but they leave out the rest of the statement. Americans won’t do the jobs illegal aliens do at the cheap labor price the illegals gets paid. No American employer wants an illegal alien working for him/her because they want the illegal to “celebrate the American experience!” No, it is the cheap labor they provide that is the only interest to the American employer.
America is a country that welcomes everyone; immigration is the core of all our history. Unless you are an American Indian, our relatives journeyed to this great land, “for the better life.” They didn’t sneak across any borders and they were subjected to demeaning practices by the authorities at the Ellis Island doors. They endured because they felt it was the right thing to do and they went on to build this great country called America. It is sickening to see their effort marginalized by the illegal aliens of current America who seemingly have more rights and entitlements than legal citizens.