Ending Illegal Immigration

By Michael A. Jackson

Illegal immigration is crippling our state. Contrary to what people would like you to believe, it is a problem for everyone in California except for career politicians or millionaires. Not so amazing, is the fact that the people most hurt by illegal immigration are the legal immigrants and the working poor. The legal immigrants and the working poor have to try to compete directly with illegal aliens that will work for less money and who do not pay taxes. This competition with illegal aliens either takes jobs away from U.S. citizens and legal residents or keeps their salaries so low that they cannot hope to get above the poverty line. The illegal criminal element, also tend to prey on people in the minority communities, which only makes a bad situation worse.

Some politicians that have a vested interest in supporting illegal aliens would have you believe that they are all hardworking, tax paying contributors to California's economy; that illegal aliens are only taking jobs that no one else is willing to do. In some cases this may be true, but overall it is not. As more illegal aliens enter California, they are taking more and more jobs from tax paying citizens. On the contrary, I believe that both U.S. citizen and legal immigrants are willing to take jobs as gardeners, restaurant workers, house painters, mechanics, and household maintenance; which are increasingly being taking over by illegal aliens. Employers tend to hire illegal workers on a cash basis, which is estimated at removing a tax source of 7 Billion dollars a year. An estimated additional $10 billion is sent back to their native country by illegal aliens. Add to that $17 billion out of the California's economy, the cost of un-reimbursed emergency room and medical costs and a huge loss to the workers comp system from fraudulent claims by illegal aliens. Lastly, our already overcrowded schools have to educate all the children of illegal aliens to the tune of $2.2 billion, which removes services from legal residents.

We cannot afford to be a welfare state. An analogy of what is happening is . . you are a family with two children in a three bedroom house, then you come home one day and someone has moved into one of your children's rooms and stays! You are expected to feed them, provide housing and medical care and pay for the educational expenses for their children. You receive no additional financial help and must cut back on what you can provide for your own family.

Proposition 187 was passed by 60 percent of the voters. It would have denied the State (the taxpayers) paying for all non-emergency services to illegal aliens. Governor Gray Davis passed an executive order to eliminate it. I have experienced the repercussions of overcrowding and long waits first hand twice this year with my three year old son.

We need to:

A) Repeal giving illegal aliens driver licenses.

B) Computerize voter registration roles, remove illegal aliens from the voter roles, and hand them over to INS.

C) Turn over illegal alien convicts to INS upon there release.

D) Pick up gang members that are illegal aliens and hand them over to the INS.

E) Modify and reintroduce a new Proposition 187 to the voters and get it to the United States Supreme Court.

F) Work with Mexico to get Cop-Killers and other violent felons extradited to California.

G) Implement a one strike policy, if you are an illegal alien and you perform another illegal act, you will be turned over to the INS.