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The Chambers of Commerce have chal-lenged the unions, claiming there is a needfor more temporary workers. If the unionsthink theyre going to push a bill throughwithout the support of the business com-munity, theyre crazy, said Randel John-

son, the U.S. Chamber of Commercesvice-president of labor, immigration, andemployee benefits. Theres only going tobe one shot at immigration reform. As partof the trade-off for legalization, we need toexpand the temporary worker program.

According to critics, both the unionsand business entities seem to be lookingafter their own interests instead of the in-terests of blue-collar Americans and thecountry as a whole. They argue that the

statistics show no new blue-collar work-ers are needed, and that any legalizationof the illegal immigrants already herewill penalize less-educated Americans.When we look at things that we wouldnormally expect to find in a labor short-

age: very rapidly rising wages workersare scarce, wages are bid up a lot ofemployers offering their workers ben-efits like healthcare, we dont find that,explained Steve Camarota of the Centerfor Immigration Studies. We find thatgenerally especially at the bottom ofthe labor market wages are stagnant ordeclining. The share of employers offer-ing benefits is declining.

Of the 7.3 million immigrants who en-tered the United States be-tween 2000 and 2007, 2.6

million did not even have ahigh-school diploma. Overhalf did not have a collegeeducation. And illegal im-migrants are generally farless educated than those whoenter the country legally.Owing to lower levels ofeducation among illegal im-migrants, they are usually indirect competition for jobs

with Americas poorest and mostvulnerable workers, leading toincreased unemployment.

Making matters worse, themassive illegal-alien presence,according to economists and

analysts, depresses wages es-pecially for lower-income, less-educated Americans. Labor isa commodity not unlike petro-leum, explained former Im-migration and NaturalizationService agent Michael Cutler.The meatpacking industryused to pay 19 dollars an hourand now they pay nine dollarsan hour. With the increasedsupply of labor, the law of sup-ply and demand demonstratesunequivocally that the price of

labor will decrease.University of Pennsylvania

management professor PeterCappelli called the notion thatillegal immigrants do jobsAmericans wont do a com-plete myth. If illegal workers

left the U.S. tomorrow, what would hap-pen? Some people think nobody woulddo those jobs. If that were to happen,companies would change those jobs, andwages would go up, Cappelli added.Yes, companies would hire the people

who are not necessarily doing those jobsnow. This goes on in every labor market.There are no jobs that we can think ofwhere, over time, work doesnt get done.It doesnt happen.

The costs illegal immigrants impose onAmericans through taxpayer subsidies areanother alarming component of the prob-lem. The Center for Immigration Studiesestimated that in 2002, illegal aliens cre-ated a $10 billion deficit just at the federallevel. That represents nearly $3,000 per il-legal immigrant household. The organiza-

tion also estimated that if amnesty were tobecome law, that figure would balloon toalmost $30 billion. That was seven yearsago, and since then the government andthe welfare state have continued to expandas the number of immigrants in Americaillegally has exploded. A more recent andalarming study by economist and presi-dent of ESR Research Edward Rubensteinreveals that the total economic impact ofmass immigration is far higher than the

Depressed wages caused by the influx ofimmigrants led to an estimated revenue

loss to the government of $100 billion for

fiscal year 2007. Examining 15 federal

departments, the study estimated the cost

of immigration at $346 billion over

$9,000 per immigrant per year.

Supporters of special drivers cards for illegal immigrants listen to a speech outside the Wisconsin Capitol.Proponents demand the cards under the pretext of making roads safer.

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public has been led to believe, and thatthe problem is getting worse. According tothe study, entitled The Fiscal Impact of Im-migration, depressed wages caused by theinflux of immigrants led to an estimatedrevenue loss to the government of $100

billion for fiscal year 2007. Examining 15federal departments, the study estimatedthe cost of immigration at $346 billion over $9,000 per immigrant per year. Asdaunting as these figures are, they prob-ably understate the problem, concludesthe report summary.

State and local governments also paya hefty price for illegal immigration, ac-cording to various studies conducted onthe issue. According to the Federation forAmerican Immigration Reform, an orga-nization that advocates stricter limits onimmigration, taxpayers in just the state

of California supported illegal-immigrantfamilies to the tune of about $10 billionin 2004. The study focused on calculat-ing the cost in just three areas: education,medical care, and incarceration. It con-cluded that each native household in thestate pays almost $1,200 supporting ille-gal immigrants, noting that if other fac-tors were taken into account the numberswould be even higher.

The large influx of illegal immigrants isnot only affecting the country economical-ly, but is having political and cultural ef-

fects as well. According to a report issued

by the U.S. Joint Forces Command calledJoint Operating Environment 2008, theU.S. population will be very different by2030 especially if immigration contin-ues unimpeded. While pointing out thatthe extent to which immigrants assimilate

will play a major role in Americas futureprospects, the report states that at least15% of the population of every state willbe Hispanic in origin, in some states reach-ing upwards of 50%.

If the demographics change this rapidly,and if the new arrivals by and large fail toassimilate learn the language and gainan appreciation of our heritage of limitedgovernment and disproportionatelybecome dependent on our social-welfaresystem, then as they become voters (ei-ther legally following amnesty or illegallythrough vote fraud), they will skew the

American constituency leftward. Many ofthem could also be manipulated by self-proclaimed leaders claiming that the His-panic community is being victimized bywhite, racist Americans, causing massivesocial unrest a theme that is alreadybeing pushed by Latino groups such as LaRaza and MeCHA.

All for AmnestyEven though American families (mainlyblue-collar families) are being financiallyharmed by the consequences of the im-

migration wave on Americas economy,

President Obama and many Democratsand Republicans continue to push forcomprehensive immigration reform otherwise known as amnesty. Essentially,the federal government would grant citi-zenship to illegal aliens who meet certain

requirements and agree to pay a fine.During his presidential campaign, Presi-dent Barack Obama promised immigrantgroups that he would work to have an im-migration bill on his desk during his firstyear in office. He told the National Asso-ciation of Latino Elected and AppointedOfficials that immigration reform wouldbe a priority I will pursue from my veryfirst day.

But with the economy in its presentsituation, along with Obamas higher pri-oritization of issues like carbon taxes andhealthcare, immigration legislation may

have to wait until next year.Because of all the negative aspects of

mass immigration on middle- and lower-income Americans, amnesty or anythingremotely close is going to be a tough sell.A 2007 bill granting amnesty to illegalimmigrants had strong support from for-mer president George W. Bush, but it stillwent down in flames after a wave of publicoutrage descended on Congress. LabeledComprehensive Immigration Reform bysupporters, the bill also enjoyed the back-ing of Senators John McCain and Barack

Obama, but to no avail. Critics pointed tosimilar efforts in the past thatthey claim only led to moreillegal immigration. Such aproposal would still be verydifficult to pass despite thelarger number of Democrat-ic legislators, according toanalysts. Even Obama toldSpanish radio host Eddie So-telo that present conditionswould make passage of im-migration reform politically

tough, probably tougher nowthan it was because of the factthat the economy has gottenworse. Perhaps because ofthis, some lawmakers are in-

Family and friends wait outsidea chicken plant in South Carolina,after a raid there resulted inthe detention of about 300suspected illegal immigrants.AP

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troducing smaller proposals that accom-plish immigration goals in pieces without

attracting headlines.One such bill was introduced in the

U.S. Senate in mid-May by DemocraticCalifornia Senator Dianne Feinstein,with companion legislation in the Houseof Representatives. Known as the Agri-cultural Job Opportunity, Benefits andSecurity Act (S. 1038), the bill aims toreform the temporary agriculture workersprogram and offer illegal-immigrant farmemployees a path to citizenship. Wevesupported immigration reform for yearsand even though growers are not suffering

labor shortages now, we know that as soonas the economy improves we will be backwith the same kind of problems we hadbefore, explained California Farm BureauFederation president Doug Mosebar, whosupports the measure.

Another piece of immigration legisla-tion aims to provide a path to legal statusand eventually citizenship for illegal im-migrants who entered the country beforethe age of 16, provided they meet certaincriteria. The Development, Relief and Ed-ucation for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act

would also make them eligible for govern-ment aid to attend a college or university.Since there is always an undercurrent

of pressure being put on Congress to ramthrough amnesty legislation, it pays toknow what the potential benefits and con-sequences of such a law would be. Willit mean locked-down borders in exchangefor amnesty, as some proponents claim, orwill it merely result in more promises ofborder enforcement and more defaults on

the same? Obamas words send the mes-sage that he realizes Americans are tired

of being told lies about immigration re-form, but his actions are saying that he like a long string of presidents beforehim is going to make many promisesabout securing the border that he has nointention of keeping.

If the American people dont feel likeyou can secure the borders, Obama pro-claimed during his April 29 news confer-ence, then its hard to strike a deal thatwould get people out of the shadows andon a pathway to citizenship who are al-ready here, because the attitude of the

average American is going to be, Well,youre just going to have hundreds of thou-sands of more coming in each year. Thepresident has taken some action on U.S.security ostensibly to prove his sincer-ity since taking office, requesting $27billion for border and transportation se-curity, an eight percent increase over thisyears budget according to officials.

The new money would fund programssuch as the addition of about 350 specialagents to coordinate efforts with Mexicanofficials and further integrate intelligence

activities on the border. It would also dou-ble the amount of resources dedicated topreventing the flow of guns into Mexicoand supply the Transportation SecurityAdministration with new X-ray machines.But the new monies arent intended to stopillegal immigrants from crossing U.S. bor-ders, and they wont be used for it.

At the same time, Obama has also askedfor the elimination of some programs thatare meant to discourage illegal immigra-

tion, including the State Criminal AlienAssistance Program (SCAAP), which re-

imburses states and counties for the costof jailing certain illegal immigrants. (Infiscal year 2009, the program doled outnearly half a billion dollars.) He also askedto scrap plans for extending the securityfence over large portions of Americassouthern border. Texas Republican Rep.John Culberson said that eliminating fund-ing for the fence is more proof that thenew administration will not truly secureour borders.

And despite the reported request for in-creased funds, some analyses of the bud-

get claim that spending on border-securityissues is actually going down significant-ly when compared to the Bush years. Itdepends on what is counted as borderissues. The Houston Chronicle reportsthat the administration is only requesting$779 million for border security-relatedexpenses, compared to the $1.9 billionspent by the Bush administration.

Analysts say a focus on security andenforcement by Obama before he callsfor all-out amnesty could give him thepolitical cover he needs to legalize the im-

migrants already in the country illegally.According to White House officials citedin various reports, Obama will call for newenforcement efforts aimed at employerswho hire illegal immigrants, rather thanat the workers themselves. A cynic wouldsee this as a ploy not only to get amnesty,but to leave the borders open; then, afterthe immigrants get amnesty, Obama couldmerely instruct Immigration and CustomsEnforcement to stop checking whether em-

Now hiring: This billboard announcing job vacancies appeared in Mississippi shortly after an immigration raid at the electronics plant resulted inabout 600 suspected illegal immigrants being detained.

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ployers were complying with the program.He could also simply defund the program,effectively nullifying it. After all, it is like-ly the government already knows whichcompanies are hiring a preponderance ofthe illegal immigrants because they file

fake Social Security numbers for their il-legal workers. The lawbreaking is usuallyignored, except, of course, when having araid on a business suits political ends.

If amnesty does go through, Obamadoes not intend to take the blame for anyfuture waves of new illegal immigrants.He intends to spread the blame around. ANew York Times article from April 8, en-titled Obama to Push Immigration Billas One Priority, cited administration offi-cials who said the president plans to createworking groups composed of bipartisanlegislators and a variety of immigration

organizations to begin discussing possiblelegislation. He wants both sides of the po-litical aisle on board.

And there will be plenty of blame topass around because the government willleave the border open. The 1986 Immigra-tion Reform and Control Act gave amnestyto about two million immigrants, accord-ing to the Center for Immigration Stud-ies. In exchange, Americans were prom-ised a secure border. This amnesty willgive citizenship to only 1.1 to 1.3 millionillegal aliens, Ted Kennedy promised in

1986. We will secure the borders hence-forth. He also pledged: We will neveragain bring forward another amnesty billlike this. But the law failed tostem the tide of illegal immigra-tion, as evidenced by the mas-sive number currently presentin America. Also apparentlyforgotten by the governmentwere the broken promises ofborder security that accompa-nied the multiple smaller am-nesties that have been passed

since that time.Amnesty critics contend that

there is no reason to believethe government will upholdits end of the bargain thistime around either. In fact,many Americans contendthat politicians appear un-

concerned even about thefact that a significant por-tion of illegal immigrantsare killing, robbing, and rap-ing Americans as well asbreaking sundry lesser lawson a daily basis.

Available statistics indicate higher ratesof criminality among those in the coun-try illegally (statistics that do not includethe crime of entering the country illegal-ly) compared to individuals in Americalegally. According to an article by theCenter for Immigration Studies entitled

Crime & the Illegal Alien, 95 percentof outstanding homicide warrants in LosAngeles are aimed at illegal immigrants.About two-thirds of fugitive felony war-rants are also for illegal aliens. Accordingto the department of justice, non-citizensmade up 27 percent of the federal prisonpopulation in the United States in 2000(how many of them were here legally isnot known). The numbers for state pris-ons based on DOJ statistics were relative-ly lower, estimated to be close to sevenpercent nationwide. Other estimates range

much higher some over 20 percent. Butsince the government does not actuallytrack the number of illegal immigrants in

prison, the accuracy of estimates is diffi-cult to determine. In any case, since theyrepresent an estimated four to six percentof the population, most analyses concludethat illegal immigrants commit more crimethan Americans as a group.

Critics complain that illegal immi-grants seem to spit on U.S. laws with-

out getting deported for doing so andthat Americans end up paying the pricefor government negligence. One personwith personal experience in this area isIowa resident Mona Kilborn. Her motherwas killed in a car accident by a feloni-ous illegal immigrant with a fake driverslicense who ran a stop sign. The driverhad previously been arrested for posses-sion of methamphetamines and child en-dangerment, but not deported. I talked toeveryone ICE, state reps, the mayor,even bishops to try to find out why the

[immigration] law cant be enforced, shetold THE NEW AMERICAN. I still haventgotten a good answer. The police chief

Despite the reported request for increased

funds, some analyses of the budget claim

that spending on border-security issues

is actually going down significantly whencompared to the Bush years. It depends

on what is counted as border issues.

Illegal-immigrant deportees atan Immigration and CustomsEnforcement facility in Illinois awaittransfer. They are among the morethan 10,000 immigrants deportedfrom the six-state region handled outof Chicago in 2008, more than doublethe number from four years ago.

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