Live Breathe and Die

Archive for April, 2006

In Phoenix Arizona today, a pickup truck loaded with eight illegal aliens and driven by a smuggler came under fire from smugglers in another vehicle.  The driver of the pick up truck was killed in the altercation.  The eight illegal passengers were sent to area hospitals, where they received free medical attention at taxpayer and paying-patient expense.  The burnt out wreckage of the pickup truck and the flying bullets could have easily have found innocent victims in the mindless melee.

In a neighboring city, Mesa Arizona, the city prints all notices that go to city service customers in English and Spanish.  This results in twice the expense for printing and paper.  Legal residents shoulder the burden of the additional expense.

These scenarios present themselves week after week in cities throughout the southwest. The price of illegal aliens and the accompanying subculture of smugglers, document forgers, crime, disease and forced culture on legal residents is but part of the argument against illegal immigration.

Illegal immigration's cost to cities, counties, states and the federal government is incalculable.  The toll to innocent life, the burden on social services, insurance premiums and the strain on healthcare is staggering. Illegal immigration takes much more than it gives.  It must be stopped.

One gets an unusual insight into the immigration process when you sponsor a legal immigrant.  As a sponsor, you must prove the financial resources to support the immigrant so that they will not become a dependent of the state.  There was a time when I had to gather up all my pay stubs, W-2's and investment statements and take them to a U.S. Embassy to begin the process as a sponsor.

No one in the main stream media or in the pro-illegal immigration camp ever discuss two key components of the immigration process which are crucial to protecting Americans.  Even those in the opposing camp fail to mention these two enormously important steps in the legal process, which by all accounts makes illegal immigration a detriment to the country.

When I was involved in helping my spouse go through the legal immigration process, I learned that legal immigrants have to have a medical exam before entering the U.S. and they must pass a criminal background check/police report.  Both steps are necessary to the legal process and both steps protect Americans from communicable diseases and those with a history of criminal behavior. 

Illegal immigration offers no protection to Americans.  It circumvents the steps above and all other processes put in place to protect America and it's citizens.  As residents in cities in the southwest know, illegals coming from Mexico are involved in a disproportionate number of crimes.  While most Mexicans illegally crossing the border would limit their criminal activity to sneaking into the country and purchasing phony documents, a larger number than would be allowed through the legal process are criminals. Is it any wonder that a city like Phoenix leads the nation in auto theft and identity theft?

Can we overlook the danger of allowing those with diseases spread through direct contact, sneezing and coughing to enter the country in large numbers.  Many restaurant workers, who prepare and handle food come into the United States from Mexico without medical exams. And don't forget the illegal standing behind you in Wal-Mart who sneezes or coughs on you, while their tuberculosis went undetected because they chose an illegal route into the country.  Is this the worry of someone who is a fanatic, or simply common sense?

Legal immigration is a laborious process for sure.  I spent four whole days sitting in the INS offices, having taken vacation time from work.  The number of forms completed, and the fees, were both problematic and frustrating. Through it all though, there is a purpose and process that makes sense.  It makes the immigrant documented and assures the American public that this person is a safe neighbor.  Anything less is a compromise that we just can't make.