The No.1 issue and concern of most Arizona residents is securing our borders and stopping the flow of illegal aliens into our state. However, the passion and complexity surrounding the border issue sometimes lead to misinformation and misunderstanding. Arizonans must remember that a lot of what you hear is merely spin. We also must consider the unintended consequences of some of these so-called "corrections". We must be careful what we wish for.
Without question, illegal aliens are costing Arizona governments millions of dollars. I know of very few people who do not support securing the borders and stopping the flow of illegals coming into our state.
But we also must be careful of the spin and misinformation that surround the issues and distort the debate. Some "facts" are not, in fact, factual. For example, some e-mails and postings to Internet Blogs suggest that our Senior Citizens are being victimized by higher property taxes. They point to higher law enforcement costs as a result of illegal immigration. The fact is, property taxes fund mostly education, not law enforcement. That's true on several levels of government and agencies of law enforcement. Property taxes do not pay for law enforcement in your cities. Property taxes don't pay for your state police or your federal border agents.
Another key element that has been missed is the amount of money going into the Social Security fund from fictitious Social Security numbers, mostly from undocumented workers, who never claim it. Nationally, the numbers are reported to be $47 billion annually. The total is estimated at $600 billion in unclaimed contributions. That money is helping to keep the fund solvent. Have you ever wondered - after being told for years the Social Security fund will run out of money - why it hasn't? Maybe that is a factor in why the federal government has been slow in securing our borders. In Arizona alone, the Social Security contributions are reported to be in excess of $1 billion per year.
I totally support securing the borders and reducing the negative impacts of illegal immigration. But the fact is that it remains the responsibility of the federal government.
Some want this enforcement to be done by every business in Arizona. Businesses would have to absorb the expensive costs for background checks. And there are questions whether the federal system can handle the volume of checks. Local employers might not be able to fill open jobs. Requiring private companies to check all employees' legal status is an unfunded mandate on those businesses.
Legislators who support this requirement say they are against any new taxes. What else can this be but a "business tax" to fund what should be the federal government's responsibility? So what happened to their pledge of "No New Taxes"?
The very people screaming the loudest had better consider that without these contributions to the Social Security fund, their parents' benefits could be cut or the contributions they now pay might be increased. With a guest worker program, each of these workers would continue to contribute to Social Security and at the least the contributions will continue to keep the fund solvent.
Immigration legislation is complicated, with many consequences, some unintended. So be careful what you wish for: You might get more than you bargained for.
______________________________________________________________
Clancy Jayne lives in Phoenix, is a small business owner & former
State Legislator. His weekly column can be seen in the Arizona Republic each Wednesday.
Without question, illegal aliens are costing Arizona governments millions of dollars. I know of very few people who do not support securing the borders and stopping the flow of illegals coming into our state.
But we also must be careful of the spin and misinformation that surround the issues and distort the debate. Some "facts" are not, in fact, factual. For example, some e-mails and postings to Internet Blogs suggest that our Senior Citizens are being victimized by higher property taxes. They point to higher law enforcement costs as a result of illegal immigration. The fact is, property taxes fund mostly education, not law enforcement. That's true on several levels of government and agencies of law enforcement. Property taxes do not pay for law enforcement in your cities. Property taxes don't pay for your state police or your federal border agents.
Another key element that has been missed is the amount of money going into the Social Security fund from fictitious Social Security numbers, mostly from undocumented workers, who never claim it. Nationally, the numbers are reported to be $47 billion annually. The total is estimated at $600 billion in unclaimed contributions. That money is helping to keep the fund solvent. Have you ever wondered - after being told for years the Social Security fund will run out of money - why it hasn't? Maybe that is a factor in why the federal government has been slow in securing our borders. In Arizona alone, the Social Security contributions are reported to be in excess of $1 billion per year.
I totally support securing the borders and reducing the negative impacts of illegal immigration. But the fact is that it remains the responsibility of the federal government.
Some want this enforcement to be done by every business in Arizona. Businesses would have to absorb the expensive costs for background checks. And there are questions whether the federal system can handle the volume of checks. Local employers might not be able to fill open jobs. Requiring private companies to check all employees' legal status is an unfunded mandate on those businesses.
Legislators who support this requirement say they are against any new taxes. What else can this be but a "business tax" to fund what should be the federal government's responsibility? So what happened to their pledge of "No New Taxes"?
The very people screaming the loudest had better consider that without these contributions to the Social Security fund, their parents' benefits could be cut or the contributions they now pay might be increased. With a guest worker program, each of these workers would continue to contribute to Social Security and at the least the contributions will continue to keep the fund solvent.
Immigration legislation is complicated, with many consequences, some unintended. So be careful what you wish for: You might get more than you bargained for.
______________________________________________________________
Clancy Jayne lives in Phoenix, is a small business owner & former
State Legislator. His weekly column can be seen in the Arizona Republic each Wednesday.
5 comments:
Clancy:
One of the worst problems of the past several administrations is the inability or unwillingness to do the right things and to do them right.
Neither party can produce an administration that can clean up this mess. It is now necessary to start over with a new, workable program that all but the most radical can agree on. By starting over I mean with few exceptions for humanitarian reasons (to be negotiated in good faith) I mean everyone who does not belong here with at least a valid and appropriate green card must leave and reapply.
Meanwhile, everything that can be done to secure the border must be done. Anyone coming through illegally after a certain date faces criminal charges.
If the administration starts now, perhaps they can develop a really sensible program, not a political-sensible program to bring in the people that we need temporarily and to track them.
We want people from Asia, Europe, South America, Central America--people from all walks of life and all nations and races; we do not want just one! And we want people to be part of us and at one with our system and our freedoms, and our civilization! We sure do not need anyone coming to "reconquer"!
As long as we have racist groups such as MechA, LaRaza, and others on that border and Global corporations like Ford paying for street demonstrations and parades, we should accept no one. Force and intimidation should never work.
Anyway, good wishes, Clancy. I hope I am adding to and not subtracting from your summation.
hjs
Hi Clancy,
Your essay on Immigration was excellent! I wish I had been able to express those ideas as eloquently as you during the campaign last year. When I spoke to the Republic editorial board about the Social Security fund being bolstered by immigrants they looked at me as if I was crazy. I don't think they believed the numbers -- because they are so high.
The Democrats were pushing for employer sanctions and convinced me that the public wanted sanctions -- and all Dems should be united on this issue. Your point on forcing businesses to do the fed's job is absolutely correct. ( Now both parties are talking about employer sanctions.) I now believe that Arizonans should not be forced to protect our border, and Arizona employers should not be forced to act as Immigration experts.
I wish we could lock our US Senators and Representatives into their respective chambers and have the doors guarded by members of the Colts Defensive line.. None of them come out until they have agreed on comprehensive immigration legislation.
Ann Wallack
Hi,
I read our article. I too have worked on this issue for over 30 years.
I have owned several businesses during this time and was also in the
Governor's office. Williams & Babbit.
FAIR is a great source of factual info on aliens. www.fairus.org.
You mentioned S.S. but even if we begin paying at ages 18 through 65, it
will still fail, as it pays out more
than it takes in. We may have 15 million illegals in age groups 40's and
50's. If given citizenship, they will pay in only a few years and be
eligible. Guest worker programs are a failure. We've been that route
before.
We gave citizenship to illegals in the 80's and immediately they all
jumped on fed programs, housing, welfare, you name it. They brought in
their elders and immediately our SSI costs tripled. Today, a worker
may bring in 4 generations of his family. No Latinos want guest worker
status. They demand citizenship. I
just talked to an illegal, age 45, who has brought up 4 brothers and now
is working to bring in all the families cause he thinks they will all get
citizenship. And as each party is being blackmailed by Latinos, they
will give them citizenship, as both parties want the potential voters. I
predict social costs in the trillions
We know the feds will do nothing, because every industry makes money off
the backs of these illiterate workers. Illegals have come by the
millions, then march by the millions, waving their Mexican flags and
demanding citizenship. Then the Republic demands that we "reform" our
immigration laws and give them
citizenship. Interesting. They violate our laws and it is we who must
reform. Rather silly.
It is Mexico and the Americas south of who need reforms. I've traveled
most every village in Mexico in
40 yrs. The Spanish had a 250 yr head start on us, but vast
corruption, waste, fraud, and dictatorship reigns all over the
southern Americas. Mexico's "democracy " is a totally corrupt fraud.
Drug lords rule
those countries south of us. One hell of a mess and we may have 20,000
Latino gang members up here.
Scott Hunter
Hi, I'm so sick of reading and hearing about immigration. It's too late, it will never be the same. My wife and I have lived in our home for over 33 years. We like our home and have worked hard to keep it nice and make improvments. Forget the money involved, let's talk about the quality of life. By allowing this to happen my standard of life has gone down. I have become a minority in my own neighborhood and home. The cars in the yards, no pride in the yards, the loud Mexican music, the gathering of people in the front yard sitting on kitchen chairs drinking and listing to the music from the pickup with the doors open.
This will never change. It will only get worst now. Our state or national government will never make these people go back to Mexico. I don't blame the Mexicans for wanting to improve there life. I blame our government for allowing this to happen.
We have men and women losing there lives and in harms way to keep our freedom and quality of life in the U.S.A. and yet a lot of them will come home to a home not like they knew but like mine.
I taught for years with "unfunded mandates" put on education by our esteemed legislature - that is not to say I don't agree with part of what you say. I still think we need to be cognizant of what business is not doing when it comes to hiring. In other words, being a little more aware of their hiring practices and just a little more careful in hiring. In another area of "unintended consequences", what about the legal immigrant who comes here and then brings his entire family over after establishing himself "legally"- another cost to the tax payer. Business must try to help solve this problem - they are lobbying Congress to leave the status quo. Otherwise we would have done something about this years ago as I stated to McCain, Kyl, and John Shadegg -- all who have been there quite long enough to have done something when it was not so expensive! According to Shadegg, we must first "help to develop businesses for these illegals in Mexico" before we can solve the problem of them not crossing the border. Didn't we do that with the Marshall Plan after WWII? And now look at Germany, Japan, France etc. We are the "butt of their jokes" today. Bev
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