Legal immigration and naturalization should be a function of the Federal Government. If, however, the Federal Government will not enforce the law then the individual States must – if not for the law itself, then for human rights and economic reasons.
Our State budget deficit in 2010 was approximately $3 billion, as it has been for the previous two years. Florida has the fifth largest Illegal population in the United States and growing, and Illegals cost Florida a net of over $5.4 billion annually, including cost for benefits, jobs lost for Americans, and money going overseas and out of our economy.
Even if the estimated taxes collected from illegal workers are treated as an offset to this fiscal cost, net outlays still amounted to more than $2.3 billion per year. That means conservatively, that out of every dollar our hard working (and unemployed) Floridians pay for non-American’s benefits; illegal generate about 40¢ for the State.
Illegals are a matter of National Security. All of the terrorists involved in the September 11, 2001 attack on America, arrived here legally, but remained after their visas expired. Many of these men were trained to fly right here in Florida. Had our laws been enforced, the terrorist acts of 9/11 would never have happened.
Illegals are attracted to America by benefits and entitlements. Millions of our fellow Americans have no medical insurance. We can’t afford to care for our own elderly and needy citizens, yet, illegals take billions of dollars in free medical care because they don’t declare their income, in addition to drawing Welfare and Social Security benefits. Moreover, Florida taxpayers spend nearly $2.9 billion annually on basic education for children of illegals, and as much as $3.45 billion with the inclusion of special classes such as English as a Second Language.
Illegals are a human rights issue. More and more I hear people saying, “We need undocumented workers for the construction industry, agricultural industry, landscape industry, etc. to properly function.” This type of assumption is absolutely alarming to me – not only because Central Florida has 11.9% unemployment and an estimated 17% underemployment , but more so because those in America who subscribe to this paradigm have no respect for basic human rights. Many proponents of illegals in the work force either are unaware of, or have turned their backs on, issues such as human trafficking, dangerous work conditions, abuse and inability to report abuse to authorities, substandard housing, below minimum wage pay, work without benefit, and worse. If we allow, but even worse promote, such situations to exist, then aren’t we going against our very core American principles?
Immigration into our country is not a problem. Immigrants contribute heavily to the success of our nation, and without them, we would have a much different standing than what we have right now. Immigrants lead to a much more diverse workforce to span all current industries. Immigrants pay their taxes and follow the law to keep the country’s economic and social stability.
Illegals is a huge problem in the United States and Florida. Between the economic hardship illegal immigration causes and the human rights issues suffered by these illegals, it would be negligent of Florida’s elected officials did something now.
