Illegal immigrants are a drain on our economy
Re “Immigrants do jobs others won’t fill,” Nov. 5:
Recent published opinion regarding how good illegal aliens are for our country is a joke. Yes, most illegals are hard workers, because in most states they do not qualify for liberal government policies such as food stamps. Most illegals work for cash, no taxes or Social Security withheld, many will apply for Social Security when they reach 65 even though they did not contribute. Is this good for our country's economy?
Estimates are that illegals send as much as $5 billion per month out of our country to relatives in their home country. Does the author of the recent opinion have any comprehension of our trade deficit? Money earned in our country but not spent in our country is a great drain on our country's economy. Recent estimates are that U.S. dollars sent to Mexico contribute from 7 to 10 percent of Mexico's economy. This does not include the economies of other countries.
For the past 10 years our great news media, politicians and our government officials have used the figure that we have 11 million illegals in our country, that possibly may have been accurate 10 years ago. What about the daily influx of illegals? What about the estimated minimum of 1,100 every 24 hours who enter our country illegally? This estimate comes from border patrol agents who cannot speak on the record and includes those who are here on expired visas and have no intention of returning to their homeland.
Keep in mind that illegals are here for what they can get from our economy. In many states and cities they get public assistance, thus they fall into the sector of our society that would rather live off of government benefits than work, a drain on our economy.
Twenty six percent of the prisoners in our federal prison system are illegal aliens, another drain on our country's economy. Visit the emergency room of hospitals in any large city, or any city, and see the number of Hispanics there, assume that half are legal (probably not), and they are receiving health care free to them, but someone else is paying for it. Another drain on our economy.
The above has not taken into consideration the burden on our generous public education system that the offspring of illegal aliens are putting on the working taxpayers that fund our public schools. Again the public shool system is free to the illegal alien but - some one is paying, the working taxpayer.
Our economy will not collapse without illegal aliens if our living on food stamp, rent assistance, free phone, etc. sector of our society will go to work. Nor will it collapse if our sector of business that employs for cash, will obey the law and not employ people for cash, thus having to pay their share of Ssocial Security and unemployment taxes.
Had our bleeding-heart liberal Congress not given away millions of our country's jobs with the North American Free Trade Agreement and Central America Free Trade Agreement, our textile mills would still be open employing millions in the southeast United States. Possibly some legislation to prevent other countries from dumping their cheap labor products on our markets would help. The only jobs gained by these trade agreements were in port cities. Here in South Carolina, thousands worked in the textile industry. Not many got rich, but they supported families, paid taxes, and spent their earnings here, thus supporting our economy and not being a drain on our economy.
All of this considered, keep in mind that our governor has petitioned the federal govenment to drop the tariff on China-manufactured tires and allow China to dump their substandard, slave labor-manufactured tires on our markets, thus severely hurting one of our best employers in our state, Michelin. I have personal experience with tires manufactured in China, the tires are junk.
Without illeagal aliens, homes will be built, our construction industry will not collapse. Yes, the farming industry would suffer, however a bracero program that has worked sucessfully in the past could remedy this.
The writer lives in Conway.
This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 9:49 AM with the headline "Illegal immigrants are a drain on our economy."