Jillian,
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So, if you eliminate the public aid, the cost of support reduces.
Not only that, but it takes away much of the incentive for illegals to come here in the first place.
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In the US, if a woman gives birth to her child on US soil, that child can become a US citizen. My mother-in-law works in the birthing center of a hospital and has seen many illegals come here and give birth. It gives the mother a free ticket to stay. It also gives the father a good arguing point because if the mom doesn't work, the dad has to support the family.
It's called "anchor babies" and conservative legislators have been trying to change that law for decades to make it harder for illegal aliens to have babies in the USA that become automatic citizens, or to make it harder for illegals to use their child's citizenship status to remain the USA illegally.
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So, beyond that little problem, you still have to FIND all the immigrants, figure out where they came from, and arrange for them to get home (remember, not ALL illegals are from Mexico!). That requires hiring a team to round everyone up, and since we are the US, it means giving anyone who wants one (probably everyone) a trial, or at least an appearance before a judge to plead their case as to why they should get to stay.
What are we spending billions of dollars for the Immigration and Naturalization Service for? We already have such teams. And there are already procedures in place for a hearing.
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Where do you keep them until they are deported? Who watches them? Who feeds them? That all costs money.
Sure does... but its still a lot less than the cost of allowing them to stay indefinitely. As for a hearing, it should take no more than two minutes and go something like this:
INS Official: Do you have a green card to support your presence in the United States?
Alien: No, Sir.
INS: Is there an overriding reason that the normal rules of immigration do not apply to you?
Alien: No, Sir.
INS: You will be sent back home today.
Or---
Alien: Yes, Sir. I have a family here, including children who are legal US citizens.
INS: That is not an overriding reason. Your children are legal citizens and may stay in the USA if they and you wish it, o you may take them with you. However, you will be sent home today.
Or---
Alien: Yes, Sir. I'm a political refugee from (name of country).
INS: That is considered an overriding reason, and you will be allowed a formal hearing to present your evidence of political persecution and determination of your refugee status. You are directed to appear before us on (date). Please feel free to bring any evidence of your status to the hearing, at which time an officer or agent of the INS will hear your case.
Bottom, line: there is no reason for the process of a hearing to take days, weeks months and years. We aren't talking about a criminal trial here. We are talking about a quick hearing on the immigration status of the illegal alien. It should take minutes, not days, to complete that process. Hundreds, even thousands of aliens can be processed in a single day and sent home quickly or allowed to stay to plead their case in a more formal setting. There is no reason that the number of illegal aliens can't be reduced by the hundreds of thousands, even the millions, very quickly.
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Then you have the transportation, paper-shuffling, logistics, etc.
All to be handled by the INS. The bureaucracy for this mess is already in place. They just have to start taking action to move the bureaucracy along.
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Sending them home leaves jobs empty, and there are lots of people who just can't cope without their Guatemalan housekeeper.
Sorry, but I just can't get behind the employers on this one. Those empty jobs can be filled by citizens or legal residents. And if businesses are going to go bust because they can't fill the jobs by hiring legal workors, I have no sympathy for them. They were breaking the law in order to get ahead, and they deserve to go bust.
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There was a movie made a few years ago - "A Day Without Mexicans" I think it was called, where mysteriously all the Mexicans in the US vanished. It showed how much we rely on these immigrants on a daily basis. If you can find it, check it out (don't expect it to be funny though, it wasn't). So it's not just a bus ticket - there are a lot of other factors and costs too.
You know what? The labor shortage would be made up in short order from unemployed legal laborers. Our economy is the most flexible in the world, and when we take an economic hit, we recover quickly.
There was a report put out a few years back by the Center for Immigration Studies called "How Much Is That Tomato In The Window" that showed that the cost of eliminating illegal alien labor from the production of fresh fruits and vegetables would be about 3%. In other words, inflation (at 4% per annum) is making prices of fresh produce rise faster than any change in labor practices would. The same is basically true of ALL areas of production in which illegal aliens are a part of the process. And while prices might rise by 3% due to eliminating illegal aliens (a one-time cost increase), the national budget would decrease by roughly 10% per annum, meaning that we would pay less in taxes, and come out way ahead, even in the first year. So, I'm sorry, but the argument that "we need illegal immigrant labor to keep costs down" is false. If illegal labor went away tomorrow, we would not only survive, we would THRIVE. Because if 11 million people no longer had to be fed in this country by our tax dollars, the prices of food would drop significantly. Legal residents and citizens without jobs would suddenly find 11 million new job openings. Taxes spent on welfare and education would drop by roughly $242 billion per year. The economy would boom from eliminating illegal aliens from the system.
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Should they be given the opportunity to correct their wrong, pay a tax (fine, whatever you want to call it) and become legal immigrants? Yes.
Isn't that amnesty? Say three "Hail Mary's" give a donation to the government and you're forgiven for your sin. Sounds like amnesty to me.
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And I think if there is a simplified process by which we are allowing the illegals to become legal, after a certain time frame, any illegals found who have not begun their application process should be deported.
I still don't understand why you talk about simplifying the process to legalize illegal aliens, but refuse to consider the posibility of simplifying the deportation process. And who would track which illegal aliens are following the process and which are not. If simply deporting them is too hard to accomplish because of the bureaucracy involved (as you have argued), then isn't the process of following who has and who has not been following the process toward legalization even more difficult?
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Giving immigrants legal status will mean they pay taxes like everyone else, and can make more money and contribute to the economy instead of being a burden. Not all immigrants who come here are too dumb to do anything but pick oranges, they hold that job because it's all they can get. If they can legally make more money, they will be less reliant on social aid programs, and again, cause less of a financial burden.
Hate to disagree with you on this one, but studies have clearly shown that the vast majority of illegal aliens are uneducated. Most are illiterate in their original languages. Those who are educated are able to get jobs in their countries of origin and have no need to come here legally to support their families. The educated immigrants who come to this country usually come here with the proper paperwork and follow the process of legalization. Those who do not follow the rules come here illegally for a reason: either they can't find a job in their country of origin due to lack of skills, or they are criminals in their countries of origin, or they are political refugees. I can accept the political refugees. I can acept legal immigration. I cannot accept the importation of poverty and crime to this country from elsewhere. And I do not believe that a person who was a thief in Mexico can suddenly become an upright individual in the USA, or that an unskilled laborer can suddenly learn the skills to become less of a burden on the US economy. Especially when the majority of illegal aliens today refuse to integrate into American society. Especially when the whole Azlatan and La Raza movements are such a huge part of the immigration rights movement. And while you may be right about the skill levels of a few of the illegal immigrants, they are by far the minority of illegal aliens. So I don't buy that argument.
Elliot
