It's not easy to quantify the cost of illegal immigration. For every kid who goes to school or gets medical treatment on the taxpayer's dime, there are ten families worth of illegal immigrants who pick our fruits and vegetables, bus our tables and take care of our yards at a rate significantly less than minimum wage. So whatever you put into the collective American pot that goes toward taking care of the cost of illegal immigration, you probably get back in services and goods that cost much, much less than they would if it were American citizens holding those jobs.
So there are mix of variables when trying to determine the cost of illegal immigration. And what makes it an even harder topic to tackle is that the topic is a political hot-button issue, with republicans and democrats lined up on opposite sides of the aisle ready to leap to attack (or defend) depending upon what you say, think or do. In the process, facts have become less of a concern than maintaining lockstep dogma with those on "the same side as you."
Some things to understand when figuring out the cost of illegal immigration: The United States government does not spend 11 to 22 billion dollars per year on illegal immigrant welfare. This is a popular canard trotted out by the Lou Dobbs'es of the world, and it's not based in fact.
That's actually a good rule of thumb: If the information you're getting on the cost of illegal immigration comes from Lou Dobbs, or comes from a report that links to Lou Dobbs, or comes from someone who watches Lou Dobbs on television, it's a compromised source. Dobbs's personal income is based upon maintaining viewership for his television show. When viewership started declining, he began to use harsher and harsher rhetoric toward illegal immigrant. This caused viewership to go up. So he got even harsher. And got more viewers.
So in essence, Dobbs fabricates information about the cost of illegal immigration - usually going out of his way to make them as outlandish as possible - for money. If someone's doing something so egregiously for cash, you have to take their "facts" with a grain of salt.
For example, Dobbs once said that a full thirty percent of prisoners in American jails are illegal immigrants. This is patently false; a CIS report put the number closer to eleven percent. While that's still a significant percentage, that doesn't change the fact that Lou Dobbs is a liar.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Native American Indian's give immigrant amnesty to the rest
The United States is now solidly part of the western world, having been colonized from the sixteenth century to the twentieth, when the Apache's, not willing to extend immigrant amnesty to the western invaders, were finally released from their prisoner of war camp and allowed to return to their ancestral homes, as close as they could get to it. Conquest, not some divine law, put the land of the United States, North America, into the hands of those who now claim it as their own. Manifest destiny drove the European invaders from one end of the continent to the other, immigrants all, none applying for amnesty to the natives who wanted them out, not when killing the natives was the easier path. To the New World they came, as if the Divinity had created this continent only on their arrival, bestowing right of claim on them for the civility of their ways. But if law is to be universal, then Americans can't escape the fact that this land was taken without the cover of law, that they and their progeny are essentially illegal immigrants and, some natives would say, should be asking for immigrant amnesty themselves. Fortunately for these invaders, amnesty is no longer necessary: those who were rightful, de facto owners of the land are mostly dead or were herded into concentration camps we euphemistically call reservations.
Today, as it was in the colonizing days of the Americas, a new set of immigrants have invaded the land, coming, not with sabers, horses, rifles and cannons, but with bodies hardened for back-breaking work, not so much looking for Eldorado's land of gold, but for the chance to live the life of a modern, civilized man. These immigrants came in full view, in full knowledge of the U.S. government -immigrant amnesty by silent consent - to fill jobs that U.S. citizens, fully equipped with high school diplomas and corporate office, warehouse, factory and plant experience, no longer wanted. Many of these immigrants came under the laws of immigration to this country, and never was there one available immigration position left unfilled for these blue collar legals, yet the demand for such workers not only remained, but grew to such a proportion, that a nod and a wink replaced the tedious immigration procedure, especially when the crops were in danger of destruction and U.S. agriculture stood to lose great profits throughout the world.
There was no call for exportation of these immigrants then, no counter call for amnesty, for jobs were aplenty for all, no, not until the U.S. leadership let the prominence of America fall in international economics, when jobs became scare, that calls resounded throughout to deport these illegal immigrants, to deny immigrant amnesty, thereby making those once unattractive jobs available for the children of those illegal immigrants who came on wooden ships centuries before with no invitation in hand.
Let us be fair. Perhaps we should allow the Native American Indians, what's left of them, to determine who should and who should not receive immigrant amnesty. It was theirs first.
Today, as it was in the colonizing days of the Americas, a new set of immigrants have invaded the land, coming, not with sabers, horses, rifles and cannons, but with bodies hardened for back-breaking work, not so much looking for Eldorado's land of gold, but for the chance to live the life of a modern, civilized man. These immigrants came in full view, in full knowledge of the U.S. government -immigrant amnesty by silent consent - to fill jobs that U.S. citizens, fully equipped with high school diplomas and corporate office, warehouse, factory and plant experience, no longer wanted. Many of these immigrants came under the laws of immigration to this country, and never was there one available immigration position left unfilled for these blue collar legals, yet the demand for such workers not only remained, but grew to such a proportion, that a nod and a wink replaced the tedious immigration procedure, especially when the crops were in danger of destruction and U.S. agriculture stood to lose great profits throughout the world.
There was no call for exportation of these immigrants then, no counter call for amnesty, for jobs were aplenty for all, no, not until the U.S. leadership let the prominence of America fall in international economics, when jobs became scare, that calls resounded throughout to deport these illegal immigrants, to deny immigrant amnesty, thereby making those once unattractive jobs available for the children of those illegal immigrants who came on wooden ships centuries before with no invitation in hand.
Let us be fair. Perhaps we should allow the Native American Indians, what's left of them, to determine who should and who should not receive immigrant amnesty. It was theirs first.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Irish Immigration an Ongoing Phenomenon
For most people who know anything about the history of immigration to the United States, Irish immigration is almost always associated with the great Potato Famine of the 1840s.
That was when Ireland's major cash crop, the potato, failed, which spurred mass emmigration on the part of the Irish that would leave the current population of Ireland less than half of what it was nearly 170 years ago.
The interesting thing about Irish immigration, however, is that it never actually stopped. Such communities as Woodlawn in the The Bronx, New York, have a sizable Irish immigrant population to this very day.
I am an American of Irish lineage, and my family arrived in the United States in 1904 as a result of the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland. A friend of my family, who was a very little girl when she emigrated here not too long after my family did, told me horror stories about clashes between the Irish Republican Army and the British police — atrocities that, three generations removed, I could not even begin to fathom.
It is always interesting to me to read about the various waves of immigration to the United States in history texts and the time periods with which they are associated, because our family was one of thousands that made the move from Ireland at that time.
On the other end of the time spectrum, there is my friend, Matt, who emigrated from Ireland to the U.S. in 1991. He is hardly indicative of Irish immigration to America in general, because he came to Texas instead of the Northeast, which is where most Irish immigrants go, and he actually moved to the United States because he met and fell in love with his American wife while she was on vacation in Dublin.
He is, however, another exception to the widely-held belief that Irish immigration was chiefly a 19th century phenomenon.
Another misconception that many people hold about Irish immigration is that they think most Irish moved to the United States. The reality is that the Irish have emmigrated to countries throughout the world – to Canada, to Australia, and to the U.K., and to Mexico and Central America and South America.
While there are less than seven million people living in Ireland, there are more than 70 million people of Irish ancestry in the world.
I think this just goes to show what a huge impact that Irish immigration has made on so many nations throughout the world, including the United States. John Hancock, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was of Irish heritage.
With such a large number of descendants throughout the world compared to such a small native population, one has to wonder if Irish immigration has been more prolific than immigration from any other country.
That was when Ireland's major cash crop, the potato, failed, which spurred mass emmigration on the part of the Irish that would leave the current population of Ireland less than half of what it was nearly 170 years ago.
The interesting thing about Irish immigration, however, is that it never actually stopped. Such communities as Woodlawn in the The Bronx, New York, have a sizable Irish immigrant population to this very day.
I am an American of Irish lineage, and my family arrived in the United States in 1904 as a result of the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland. A friend of my family, who was a very little girl when she emigrated here not too long after my family did, told me horror stories about clashes between the Irish Republican Army and the British police — atrocities that, three generations removed, I could not even begin to fathom.
It is always interesting to me to read about the various waves of immigration to the United States in history texts and the time periods with which they are associated, because our family was one of thousands that made the move from Ireland at that time.
On the other end of the time spectrum, there is my friend, Matt, who emigrated from Ireland to the U.S. in 1991. He is hardly indicative of Irish immigration to America in general, because he came to Texas instead of the Northeast, which is where most Irish immigrants go, and he actually moved to the United States because he met and fell in love with his American wife while she was on vacation in Dublin.
He is, however, another exception to the widely-held belief that Irish immigration was chiefly a 19th century phenomenon.
Another misconception that many people hold about Irish immigration is that they think most Irish moved to the United States. The reality is that the Irish have emmigrated to countries throughout the world – to Canada, to Australia, and to the U.K., and to Mexico and Central America and South America.
While there are less than seven million people living in Ireland, there are more than 70 million people of Irish ancestry in the world.
I think this just goes to show what a huge impact that Irish immigration has made on so many nations throughout the world, including the United States. John Hancock, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was of Irish heritage.
With such a large number of descendants throughout the world compared to such a small native population, one has to wonder if Irish immigration has been more prolific than immigration from any other country.
Immigration to America
It would be wrong to say that immigration to America has "become" a hot-button issue, since immigration to America has simply always been a hot button issue. From the days of the earliest European settlers, through the great waves of European immigration in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, to the modern immigration tides from East Asia and Latin America today, immigration to America has always been a political football for demagogues looking to score cheap points with isolated, tribalistic denizens of the country's less enlightened areas.
Depending upon your point of view the history of immigration to america began in earnest with the Pilgrims and the Plymouth Colony of the early seventeenth century. This was the first permanent establishment of europeans on the east coast of the continent, though it should be noted that Vikings had established villages in both Greenland and on the northern tip of Newfoundland over seven hundred years previous.
That said, the real beginning of immigration to America started with the europeans in the eighteenth century. Records vary, but various sources say that somewhere from four hundred thousand to one million europeans - mainly of German and British descent - immigrated to America between colonial times and the year 1814. In addition to the Dutch settlements along the Hudson River and the British settlements in New England, there was also a wave of French immigration to America along the gulf coast - specifically Louisiana - and Scots-Irish immigration to America throughout Appalachia but most specifically to what is now western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky. And of course there were hundreds of thousand of slaves that immigrated to America during the same time, however, since the slaves weren't crossing the Atlantic of their own accord, they are generally not counted in immigration to America statistics.
The real explosion in immigration to America happened at the close of the Napoleonic Wars, sometimes called the Napoleonic World War, which played its last act in 1815. That, combined with a relaxation of immigration laws, saw a surge or Europeans making their way to America.
The biggest post-1815 waves of immigrants came from Ireland, Germany, the United Kingdom and France. While a great many French settled in Quebec in what is now Canada, most of the other groups dispersed throughout the United States.
But numbers really picked up starting in 1845 with the Irish Potato Famine, followed by a general famine throughout Europe and a number of failed revolutions three years later. By the 1850s, nearly one million Europeans per year were immigrating to America.
Depending upon your point of view the history of immigration to america began in earnest with the Pilgrims and the Plymouth Colony of the early seventeenth century. This was the first permanent establishment of europeans on the east coast of the continent, though it should be noted that Vikings had established villages in both Greenland and on the northern tip of Newfoundland over seven hundred years previous.
That said, the real beginning of immigration to America started with the europeans in the eighteenth century. Records vary, but various sources say that somewhere from four hundred thousand to one million europeans - mainly of German and British descent - immigrated to America between colonial times and the year 1814. In addition to the Dutch settlements along the Hudson River and the British settlements in New England, there was also a wave of French immigration to America along the gulf coast - specifically Louisiana - and Scots-Irish immigration to America throughout Appalachia but most specifically to what is now western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky. And of course there were hundreds of thousand of slaves that immigrated to America during the same time, however, since the slaves weren't crossing the Atlantic of their own accord, they are generally not counted in immigration to America statistics.
The real explosion in immigration to America happened at the close of the Napoleonic Wars, sometimes called the Napoleonic World War, which played its last act in 1815. That, combined with a relaxation of immigration laws, saw a surge or Europeans making their way to America.
The biggest post-1815 waves of immigrants came from Ireland, Germany, the United Kingdom and France. While a great many French settled in Quebec in what is now Canada, most of the other groups dispersed throughout the United States.
But numbers really picked up starting in 1845 with the Irish Potato Famine, followed by a general famine throughout Europe and a number of failed revolutions three years later. By the 1850s, nearly one million Europeans per year were immigrating to America.
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