Let’s look at two issues: entering the country illegally and staying in the country illegally.
Entering the country illegally
It must be obvious to people who enter the country without a visa or proper documentation that it’s not right. They don’t enter by walking down the street into the USA. They have to find a hole in the fence to sneak through under the darkness of night or swim across the river then walk through the desert, dodging border guards and dogs.
Another way to be in the country illegally is to enter on a tourist or work visa, then not return home when the visa expires. No doubt they know it’s wrong. I know it’s a civil violation. I think it should be a more serious crime—at least a misdemeanor—but this part of the problem doesn’t bother me too much.
Staying in the country illegally
This is the more bothersome part to me. People who live in the country illegally are not able to work legally. So they either (A) work under the table, (B) work above board with counterfeited documentation, or (C) don’t work, but subsist on government welfare.
A. Work under the table. When they are paid under the table, they don’t pay taxes because the employers don’t report the wages. That means that the rest of us who do work legally and pay taxes pay for their share of the benefits of living in this great country. We pay for their children’s education, police protection, fire protection, etc.
B. If they don’t work under the table, it means they purchased a fake social security card or have stolen someone else’s identity. I heard a statistic today that 75% of all illegal aliens in the US have a stolen or falsified identity. These are crimes of fraud, impersonation, and counterfeiting. And these crimes are not just a single occurrence when they first got the job, but every time they sign employee papers, cash a paycheck, file tax returns (for those who do), file for welfare benefits, and vote.
C. They don’t work, but subsist on government benefits. This is the category that bothers me the most. I know one family who was working here illegally (point “A” above). But now, the lady’s husband is in jail for crimes committed while living in the USA, so she’s living by herself with her children. Although she has no job, she rents a decent house in my neighborhood, has all the food she needs, nice clothes for the kids, a car, and money for gas to live a decent life. She gets food stamps sufficient to feed the family, free public education for the children, rent subsidies, and welfare money sufficient to house and clothe the children and maintain the car. Since her husband is in jail, she has learned that she can sue him for child support and when the judge rules that her husband is liable to pay child support, there is a government program that will pay the child support for the husband since he is incarcerated. This family contributes nothing financially to society, yet society completely sustains them—even though the husband is in jail for criminal activity.
Solutions
Let's stop worrying about "being" in the country illegally, but focus more on the clear crimes in A, B, and C above.
Rather than feel slighted by the above, or try to hunt down illegal aliens, let’s take reasonable actions:. Here are 3 quick suggestions:
1. If you don’t like that the babies of illegal immigrants born here become instant citizens, the sane thing to do in a free society is to change federal policy so that babies born here only become citizens if the parents are citizens.
2. If you don’t like that immigrant children are in public schools, the sane thing to do in a free society is to change federal policy that allows any child in the United States to be enrolled, but require citizenship. Let's not simply stigmatize the little ones for being “illegal.”
3. If you don’t like that immigrants without health insurance use hospital emergency rooms for their routine health care (like runny noses), the sane thing to do in a free society is to repeal federal law that requires emergency rooms to treat all people who enter their doors. Instead, let's provide less expensive clinics for people without health insurance.
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