|
The California College Republicans recognize that our nation
continues to be enriched by the determination, energy, and diversity of
immigrants. We also recognize that our government’s current immigration
policies harm everyone.
Illegal immigrants are given incentives to continue to break
the law and many die in the process. Illegal immigrants themselves are given
incentive come illegally, and then exploited because of their status. Legal
immigrants who follow the law are punished for their honesty when they face
competition from their illegal counterparts and an unfair stigma attached to
their community. Taxpayers pay billions of dollars in additional education,
healthcare and law enforcement costs. Businesses encouraged to break the law by
hiring cheap illegal labor in order to stay competitive. THIS IS NOT RIGHT.
In 2003, the Department of Justice estimated that
approximately 270,000 illegal aliens were incarcerated, with about 107,000 in California. The federal
government reimbursed the state for 44,356 illegal alien felons. Rather than providing services and addressing
local needs, communities have found themselves using local taxes to fund the
shortfall. The city of San Diego pays over $50 million a year from
city coffers to arrest, prosecute, and incarcerate illegal aliens who break the
law.
The annual cost of providing medical care for illegal aliens in California alone is $1.4
billion. Between 1993 and 2003, 60 California
hospitals closed because services went unpaid.
In 2005, California Senator Dianne Feinstein noted that 9 hospitals had
closed down the year prior “due in part to a spike in costs associated with
care for undocumented aliens.” In 2003,
the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors estimated that $340 million was being
spent annually to provide medical assistance to illegal aliens in Los Angeles County.
While some advocates tell the stories of hard working
illegal aliens finding their way across the border to make a better life for
themselves and their families, that same porous border has allowed an influx of
gangs, drug cartels, and has led to a deterioration of human rights that many
of these same immigration advocates fail to address. As Mexican drug cartels battle for control of
border towns in the United States
and Mexico,
there has been a dramatic increase in violence on both sides of the border. The
debate on the porousness of our border cannot rest on labor issues alone,
rather it must also include a frank discussion on the criminal element that our
current border structure facilitates.
Many communities find themselves in the middle of gang and
drug wars, with illegal immigrants exploited in the crossfire. In 2005, while
over 450 people died trying to cross the border, the Central Intelligence
Agency has reported that annually 50,000 women and children are brought to the
United States to work as prostitutes, indentured servants, and other types of
forced labor. This is not a Latino problem, but includes immigrants from Vietnam, China,
Russia, Thailand, Poland,
and Korea.
Millions have braved the desert and thousands have fallen
victims to slavery, exploitation, and forced prostitution. The Mexican government touts it stance for an
open border and seeks to educate the government of the United States
on protecting immigrant rights. With reports of corrupt police departments,
government agencies, and with a workforce that has grown by 2 million people
each year since 1990, the government of Mexico has exported its problems at
the cost of its people’s future. As men leave their homes to seek
economic opportunity, entire towns of women and children are left behind. The prospects of mass mobilizations calling
for radical change in Mexico
is being met with Mexican governmental agencies handing out maps outlining
paths to the United States.
It’s time we stand up and demand responsible policies from
our government. We wouldn’t play a game with these rules, so why do we let our
government play by them?
|
Press 
