The Fuss About Immigration

Not since abortion has our country been so divided over a political topic as this one. And the divisions are weird - it's the people against the politicians. Politicians seem to have found one issue with which they can truly be bipartisan, as have the American people. Unfortunately, our elected officials have decided to side against an overwhelming majority of Americans. Americans have repeatedly and loudly stated that they do not support a blanket asylum policy to relieve the illegal alien problem. They are looking at facts, statistics and their emails. They are getting angry and loud! Want to know what all the fuss is really about? Consider the following highlight from an article posted in the LA Times:

From the L. A. Times in 2002
1. 40% of all workers in L. A. County ( L. A. County has 10.2 million people) are working for cash and not paying taxes. This is because they are predominantly illegal immigrants working without a green card.
2. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.
3. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens.
4. Over 2/3 of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal, whose births were paid for by taxpayers.
5. Nearly 35% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally.
6. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages.
7. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south of the border.
8 Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.
9. 21 radio stations in L. A. are Spanish speaking.
10.. In L. A. County 5.1 million people speak English, 3..9 million speak Spanish.
(There are 10.2 million people in L. A. County . )
(All 10 of the above facts were published in the Los Angeles Times)
Less than 2% of illegal aliens are picking our crops, but 29% are on welfare. Over 70% of the United States annual population growth (and over 90% of California, Florida, and New York) results from immigration. 29% of inmates in federal prisons are illegal aliens.

Now, I'm usually not one to rely to heavily on statistics. But when I read those statistics I am well and truly frightened and alarmed! Aren't you? How could we let this happen? How could our government let this happen? How could we let 40% of people in LA work "under the table". To answer in brief - we didn't! It's a lie. A well-circulated lie. It looks like a believable lie. But there was actually no such article. Some "facts" are simply made up. What's worse, there appears to be a number of statistics taken from various sources, then twisted or modified to suit the users needs. Yes, that's right. The American people have all become politicians! And we are using lies and false facts to get all of our fellow Americans on our side.

Here's an example: let's look at #4. Over 2/3 of all births....blah...blah...blah. In 2001, the Department of Health Services reported that 62.7% of all births that year were classified as "Hispanic". Not illegal aliens. Not on Medi-Cal. Just having an ethnic descent of Latin origin. That's quite a stretch, even for politician wanna-bes. The problems with this sort of scam-data is that they mix in a few near-real facts just throw you off. 29% of the people in federal prisons are not illegal. There was a report printed by the New York Times that did indicate that 23% of inmates in county prisons are deportable. Not exactly the same data or meaning, nonetheless it sounds close enough - right? Yet another example - there is absolutely no form of proof that 300,000 illegal aliens are living in garages. Who told them this? Did they walk around and count? And why is it only Hispanic illegals who are being targeted? There are plenty of others to consider.

So what's the real answer? Well, we won't find it in lies. We won't find it in twisted statistics. Most likely, most of us will look to our hearts. I am not a fan of giving asylum to all illegal aliens. I'm also not an advocate of simply deporting all of them. I see no reason we cannot continue to use a case-by-case approach. There are some people here illegally who literally fled for their lives to come here. I'm not all about putting them on a boat or plane and sending them back "home" to die. There has to be a middle ground somewhere.

Newsflash: Our ancestors who came here were at one time "illegal aliens". That's because when our ancestors came here anybody could come here. From anywhere. For any reason they wanted - even if they just felt like it. Of course there had to come a point where the open-door policy was eliminated. But can we not even stop and think about our wonderful country's history and at least understand how this problem came to be in the first place? We are the "Land of Opportunity". We live in the greatest place in the world. Of course people are breaching our borders and sneaking in when official channels have not worked for them. Who wouldn't want to live here?

Money is a huge concern, and the reason the majority of Americans feel so strongly about this issue. We can't afford to put them all on the new Obaaaamaaaa health care plan that they would be entitled to. So they must go, right? We can't afford to keep all of the illegal aliens - yet rounding them all up and sending them back is a never-ending process that could very well end up costing us even more money. How is that beneficial when we are already drowning in deficit?

Can we just send back the criminals? I think that would be a great start! Surely no one would argue that this is cruel or wrong? There is no cost associated with "rounding them up", we have them in custody already. And it certainly would go a long way toward helping Americans find their middle ground with their elected representatives over this issue. It might even turn some of those love-to-hate-them politicians into heroes. I hope that Obaaaamaaaa and his followers (yes, I still call them sheep!) will consider that middle ground when making plans to extend the invites, and send those prison buses straight to the harbor.