Here are some good comments about the real cost of illegal immigrants from the US Senate.
We certainly do not see many of the bleeding heart liberals who support illegals offering to help pay for the real costs or to help clean up the mess. They just pontificate and then expect others pay up.
- Some of the real dollar costs and some other costs to the welfare of our society:
“ . . .a study by the U.S.-Mexico Border Counties Coalition estimated that hospitals in Arizona were required to provide a whopping $100 million to $200 million a year in uncompensated health care for illegal aliens.
Think what that means to health-care delivery in Arizona. A mother about to deliver her baby may encounter clogged emergency rooms and long wait times because hospitals must devote scarce resources to also treat illegal aliens. Since they are not compensated for the care they are required to provide, hospitals have only a few choices: pass on the costs to paying patients (usually American citizens); absorb the costs; or limit (or eliminate) services they provide to the community.”
Now that is scarry. Reduced medical care for US citzens and legal residents who are ready and willing to pay so illegals who refuse to pay can be treated. How can this be just?
“Aside from uncompensated health-care costs, communities are also required to bear the costs of arresting, prosecuting, and jailing illegal immigrants who commit other crimes. According to a study by the University of Arizona, those costs amounted to as much as $125 million per year – and that was just in the 28 southwestern border counties in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas.”
- Costs to the environment: (even the tree huggers should be upset by this)
“Our natural environment is damaged by many thousands of illegal border crossers, who trample sensitive lands and leave tons of trash behind them. Local governments are forced to devote an increasing share of scare resources to deal with illegal immigrants . . – which in turn diminishes the ability of local governments to provide improved resources for their own citizens.”
- Amnesty of any type is not an acceptable answer.
“Turning a blind eye to illegal immigration, or sanctioning such behavior, undermines the rule of law in our country. It mocks those who wait patiently, sometimes for years, to enter the U.S. through legal channels. It encourages more people to immigrate illegally with the expectation that they, too, might benefit from some future amnesty. Any reform of our nation’s immigration laws should be careful to avoid amnesty by any name.”
Read more:
kyl.senate.gov/print_page.cfm?File=legis_center/border.cfm