THE NARCOmex CARTELS NOW OPERATE IN 2,500 AMERICAN CITIES!
FROM
2005… DO YOU THINK IT’S BETTER OR WORSE…?
Is Mexico
still a nation?
The
Monitor's View
A survey released last week by the Pew
Hispanic Center found more than four in 10 Mexicans are willing to leave their
country to live in the US. One in five would risk a dangerous, illegal border
crossing. Most surprising, one in three college graduates wants to flee. Before
Washington takes up immigration reform this fall, it needs to take a hard look
at Mexico's disillusionment.
Already, one in eight adults born in Mexico
now lives in the US. And the Mexican economy is kept afloat partially by an
estimated $16 billion sent back by immigrants to relatives.
Such
numbers reveal a people so fed up with Mexico's dysfunctional politics and
stagnant economy that their nationalism is wilting. While more than half of
Mexico's 106 million people are officially poor, the Pew survey found an
inclination to migrate "evident across a broad swath" of the
population.
This wide
push to leave is probably now as strong as the pull of higher wages, social
advancement, and family connections in the US. And yet, Mexican leaders remain
in denial about this propensity for mass exodus.
All this
spells trouble for proposals by President Bush and some in Congress to set up a
temporary worker program as a way to reduce the burden of illegal migration.
The Mexican demand for such US "guest" visas could be, by some
estimates, half a million a year. Yet the numbers in the proposals fall far
short of that. The US could hardly absorb such a large wave of humanity without
further challenges to its civic stability.
In other
words, a guest-worker plan is a false promise of ending the waves of illegal
border crossings. The challenges on America's southern flank are only getting
worse. Arizona and New Mexico this month declared emergencies along their
borders with Mexico, citing a rise in crime related to drug and people
smuggling - and an inability by Washington to stem the violence. And the US
ambassador to Mexico also criticized its leaders for not curbing border
violence; he made a point by closing the consulate in Nuevo Laredo.
Just five
years ago, Mexico had great hope of reform after the ouster of the
Revolutionary Institutional Party, or PRI, which had governed since 1929. But
President Vicente Fox's reform efforts have faltered. The nation's three main
parties remain internally divided and unable to compromise. Decades of oil
wealth have left people too willing to take handouts rather than accept the
kind of taxation that creates citizens with a stake in government. With Mr. Fox
a lame duck, Mexico is heading for a presidential election next July that could
see another weak leader.
As
dissatisfaction with politics and justice translates into Mexicans voting with
their feet, the US needs to recognize that the "border issue" is much
more of a "Mexico issue."
The US
should further beef up border security, but also help Mexico regain national
integrity. Legally hiring Mexicans is hardly a solution.
As it is
doing with Africa, the US must peg better economic relations to better
governance in Mexico, such as laws allowing referendums and run-offs for
presidential elections. Rather than view such pressure as gringo meddling, the
Mexican people might just welcome a challenge to their government. And think of
staying put.
*
The principal
beneficiaries of our current immigration policy are affluent Americans who hire
immigrants at substandard wages for low-end work. Harvard economist George
Borjas estimates that American workers lose $190 billion annually in depressed
wages caused by the constant flooding of the labor market at the low-wage end.
*
From the Los Angeles Times
CAPITOL JOURNAL
Illegal immigrants
are a factor in California's budget math
George Skelton
Capitol Journal
February 2, 2009
From Sacramento — Based on my e-mail, a lot of folks think the solution to California's state budget deficit is to round up all the illegal immigrants and truck them down to Mexico.
Wrong. Even if it were logistically possible and the deportees didn't just climb off the truck and hitch another ride back up north, their absence from the state wouldn't come close to saving enough tax dollars to balance a budget that has a $42-billion hole projected over the next 17 months.
Painful cuts in education, healthcare and social service programs still would be needed. Sharp tax increases would be required.
That said, let's be honest: Illegal immigration does cost California taxpayers a substantial wad, undeniably into the billions.
But it hasn't been PC for officeholders to talk about this for years, ever since Gov. Pete Wilson broke his pick waging an aggressive campaign for Proposition 187. That 1994 ballot initiative sought to bar illegal immigrants from most public services, including education. Voters approved the measure overwhelmingly, but it was tossed out by the courts.
Wilson was demonized by Democrats within the Latino community. And many think the Republican Party never has recovered among this rapidly growing slice of the electorate.
So it's not a topic that comes easily to the tongues of politicians, even Republicans.
Besides, most of the policy issues are out of California's hands. The federal government has jurisdiction over the border. Federal law decrees that every child is entitled to attend public school, regardless of immigration status. And every person -- here illegally or not -- must be cared for in hospital emergency rooms.
But the state does add a few benefits that aren't required.
And as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders dig into the books trying to find billions in savings, at least a brief look at what's being spent on illegal immigrants seems in order.
First, nobody seems to know exactly. Numbers vary widely, depending which side they come from in the ongoing angry debate over whether people who entered the country illegally to work should be allowed to stay or loaded on the southbound truck.
But here are some no-agenda numbers:
* There were 2.8 million illegal immigrants living in California in 2006, the last year for which there are relatively good figures, according to the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. That represented about 8% of the state's population and roughly a quarter of the nation's illegal immigrants. About 90% of California's illegal immigrants were from Latin America; 65% from Mexico.
* There are roughly 19,000 illegal immigrants in state prisons, representing 11% of all inmates. That's costing $970 million during the current fiscal year. The feds kick in a measly $111 million, leaving the state with an $859 million tab.
* Schools are the toughest to calculate. Administrators don't ask kids about citizenship status. Anyway, many children of illegal immigrants were born in this country and automatically became U.S. citizens.
If you figure that the children of illegal immigrants attending K-12 schools approximates the proportion of illegal immigrants in the population, the bill currently comes to roughly $4 billion. Most is state money; some local property taxes.
* Illegal immigrants aren't entitled to welfare, called CalWORKs. But their citizen children are. Roughly 190,000 kids are receiving welfare checks that pass through their parents. The cost: about $500 million, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office.
Schwarzenegger has proposed removing these children from the welfare rolls after five years. It's part of a broader proposal to also boot off, after five years, the children of U.S. citizens who aren't meeting federal work requirements. There'd be a combined savings of $522 million.
* The state is spending $775 million on Medi-Cal healthcare for illegal immigrants, according to the legislative analyst. Of that, $642 million goes into direct benefits. Practically all the rest is paid to counties to administer the program. The feds generally match the state dollar-for-dollar on mandatory programs.
So-called emergency services are the biggest state cost: $536 million. Prenatal care is $59 million. Not counted in the overall total is the cost of baby delivery -- $108 million -- because the newborns aren't illegal immigrants.
The state also pays $47 million for programs that Washington does not require: Non-emergency care (breast and cervical cancer treatment), $25 million; long-term nursing home care, $19 million; abortions, $3 million.
Schwarzenegger has proposed requiring illegal immigrants to requalify every month for Medi-Cal benefits, except pregnancy-related emergencies.
There also are other taxpayer costs -- especially through local governments -- but those are the biggies for the state. Add them all up and the state spends well over $5 billion a year on illegal immigrants and their families.
Of course, illegal immigrants do pay state taxes. But no way do they pay enough to replenish what they're drawing in services. Their main revenue contribution would be the sales tax, but they can't afford to be big consumers, and food and prescription drugs are exempt.
My view is this: These people are here illegally and shouldn't be, regardless of whether they're just looking for a better life. Do it the legal way. And enforce the law against hiring the undocumented.
On the other hand, they are here. We can't have uneducated kids and unhealthy people living with us. We have moral obligations and practical imperatives.
The Obama administration and Congress need to finally pass an immigration reform act that allows for an agriculture work program and a route to citizenship.
Meanwhile, California should be honest about the costs. Illegal immigrants are not the sole cause of the state's deficit. But they are a drain.
Capitol Journal
February 2, 2009
From Sacramento — Based on my e-mail, a lot of folks think the solution to California's state budget deficit is to round up all the illegal immigrants and truck them down to Mexico.
Wrong. Even if it were logistically possible and the deportees didn't just climb off the truck and hitch another ride back up north, their absence from the state wouldn't come close to saving enough tax dollars to balance a budget that has a $42-billion hole projected over the next 17 months.
Painful cuts in education, healthcare and social service programs still would be needed. Sharp tax increases would be required.
That said, let's be honest: Illegal immigration does cost California taxpayers a substantial wad, undeniably into the billions.
But it hasn't been PC for officeholders to talk about this for years, ever since Gov. Pete Wilson broke his pick waging an aggressive campaign for Proposition 187. That 1994 ballot initiative sought to bar illegal immigrants from most public services, including education. Voters approved the measure overwhelmingly, but it was tossed out by the courts.
Wilson was demonized by Democrats within the Latino community. And many think the Republican Party never has recovered among this rapidly growing slice of the electorate.
So it's not a topic that comes easily to the tongues of politicians, even Republicans.
Besides, most of the policy issues are out of California's hands. The federal government has jurisdiction over the border. Federal law decrees that every child is entitled to attend public school, regardless of immigration status. And every person -- here illegally or not -- must be cared for in hospital emergency rooms.
But the state does add a few benefits that aren't required.
And as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders dig into the books trying to find billions in savings, at least a brief look at what's being spent on illegal immigrants seems in order.
First, nobody seems to know exactly. Numbers vary widely, depending which side they come from in the ongoing angry debate over whether people who entered the country illegally to work should be allowed to stay or loaded on the southbound truck.
But here are some no-agenda numbers:
* There were 2.8 million illegal immigrants living in California in 2006, the last year for which there are relatively good figures, according to the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. That represented about 8% of the state's population and roughly a quarter of the nation's illegal immigrants. About 90% of California's illegal immigrants were from Latin America; 65% from Mexico.
* There are roughly 19,000 illegal immigrants in state prisons, representing 11% of all inmates. That's costing $970 million during the current fiscal year. The feds kick in a measly $111 million, leaving the state with an $859 million tab.
* Schools are the toughest to calculate. Administrators don't ask kids about citizenship status. Anyway, many children of illegal immigrants were born in this country and automatically became U.S. citizens.
If you figure that the children of illegal immigrants attending K-12 schools approximates the proportion of illegal immigrants in the population, the bill currently comes to roughly $4 billion. Most is state money; some local property taxes.
* Illegal immigrants aren't entitled to welfare, called CalWORKs. But their citizen children are. Roughly 190,000 kids are receiving welfare checks that pass through their parents. The cost: about $500 million, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office.
Schwarzenegger has proposed removing these children from the welfare rolls after five years. It's part of a broader proposal to also boot off, after five years, the children of U.S. citizens who aren't meeting federal work requirements. There'd be a combined savings of $522 million.
* The state is spending $775 million on Medi-Cal healthcare for illegal immigrants, according to the legislative analyst. Of that, $642 million goes into direct benefits. Practically all the rest is paid to counties to administer the program. The feds generally match the state dollar-for-dollar on mandatory programs.
So-called emergency services are the biggest state cost: $536 million. Prenatal care is $59 million. Not counted in the overall total is the cost of baby delivery -- $108 million -- because the newborns aren't illegal immigrants.
The state also pays $47 million for programs that Washington does not require: Non-emergency care (breast and cervical cancer treatment), $25 million; long-term nursing home care, $19 million; abortions, $3 million.
Schwarzenegger has proposed requiring illegal immigrants to requalify every month for Medi-Cal benefits, except pregnancy-related emergencies.
There also are other taxpayer costs -- especially through local governments -- but those are the biggies for the state. Add them all up and the state spends well over $5 billion a year on illegal immigrants and their families.
Of course, illegal immigrants do pay state taxes. But no way do they pay enough to replenish what they're drawing in services. Their main revenue contribution would be the sales tax, but they can't afford to be big consumers, and food and prescription drugs are exempt.
My view is this: These people are here illegally and shouldn't be, regardless of whether they're just looking for a better life. Do it the legal way. And enforce the law against hiring the undocumented.
On the other hand, they are here. We can't have uneducated kids and unhealthy people living with us. We have moral obligations and practical imperatives.
The Obama administration and Congress need to finally pass an immigration reform act that allows for an agriculture work program and a route to citizenship.
Meanwhile, California should be honest about the costs. Illegal immigrants are not the sole cause of the state's deficit. But they are a drain.
*
*
OBAMA AND THE FUNDING OF MEXICAN FASCISM FROM THE WHITE HOUSE
FROM JUDICIAL WATCH
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