Illegal immigration causes real harm

[Jeanfromfillmore]

David Hammond, Kennedy, Minn., letter: Illegal immigration causes real harm
KENNEDY, Minn. — After reading the letter from Jessica Arneson, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry (“Questionable motives drove Arizona law,” Page A4, Nov. 23).
Her level of naivete is scary.
For Arneson’s benefit, here are some facts about illegal immigration.
Illegal aliens are in violation of criminal statutes. Their numbers — which rapidly are growing —- hurt every corner of the U.S.
In a study by the Center for Immigration Studies, it was determined that in households headed by illegal aliens, the average household income was $30,019 compared to $52,188 for all other households.
Some 26 percent of illegal aliens use food assistance compared with 11 percent of all others. Some 17 percent of illegal aliens use government-provided Medicaid services vs. 14 percent of all others.
Households headed by illegal aliens imposed more than $26.3 billion in costs on the federal government in 2002, but paid only $16 billion in taxes.
Clearly, illegals have a detrimental effect on our economy, driving up costs for welfare, health care and education.
Look at the population of state prisons: In many states, well over half of all serious offenders are illegal aliens.
And while it is of paramount importance to note that while violent drug gangs crossing our southern border pose a great threat, an even greater threat also exists.
Public records show that each year, thousands of illegal aliens other than “brown people” (to use Arneson’s phrase) from Mexico cross our southern border, many from countries that sponsor terrorism.
In fact, a detention facility near Phoenix is holding illegal aliens from Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan and Yemen.
A congressional report titled “A Line in the Sand” concludes:
Illegal aliens were smuggled from the Middle East to staging areas in Central and South America before illegally entering this country across our southern border. Members of Hezbollah already have entered the U.S. across the southwest border.
Apparently, we have not learned from Sept. 11 that a handful of people intent on harming us can cause unimaginable catastrophe. That is why Arizona has passed a law that our federal government refuses to enforce.
David Hammond
http://www.grandforksherald.com/even...cle/id/185480/