'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
The Heritage Foundation said Monday that legalizing illegal immigrants would cost taxpayers a net $6.3 trillion over the next 50 years — releasing a report that ignited a venomous battle over an immigration bill and who is truly representing the conservative movement in the debate.
After decades of steady growth, immigration-enforcement spending has dropped slightly under President Obama — though the amount is still more than the budgets of the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and all other federal law enforcement agencies combined, according to a report released Monday.
Stung by their election defeat, Republicans are eager to try to woo Hispanic voters, arguing that once their party puts immigration reform behind them, the ethnic group will be open to the GOP's conservative message.
Two-thirds of those who have found employment under President Obama are immigrants, both legal and illegal, according to an analysis that suggests immigration has soaked up a large portion of what little job growth there has been over the past three years.
Several weeks ago in my hometown of Portland, Ore., the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU) held its quadrennial national convention. For 10 years, I belonged to the NPMHU, but in 2005, I resigned my membership.
Immigrants lag behind native-born Americans on most measures of economic well-being — even those who have been in the U.S. the longest, according to a report from the Center for Immigration Studies, which argues that full assimilation is a more complex task than overcoming language or cultural differences.
The fallout from the Supreme Court's split decision this week on Arizona's tough immigration law could give GOP nominee Mitt Romney and his party a fresh opportunity to reframe the immigration debate and cut into President Obama's huge lead among Hispanic voters, experts say.
Amid all of the apparently good news about security along the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona, one dark spot stands out: The number of people dying in the desert as they attempt to make illegal crossings remains stubbornly high.
Illegal immigration has been in a "sharp decline" over the past two years, the Pew Hispanic Center said in a report released Wednesday, and the Obama administration immediately touted the data as proof that it has made progress on securing the nation's borders.
Steven A. Camarota, research director at the Center for Immigration Studies, said even assuming all illegal immigration is halted, the U.S. would have to create more than 30 million jobs in the next decade in order to make up for the past few years plus accommodate population growth and the surge of legal immigration envisioned in the bill.
Report: Legalizing illegal immigrants to cost $6.3 trillion →
He said the conclusions from the Heritage study are obvious with a look at the demographics of the population in question.
Report: Legalizing illegal immigrants to cost $6.3 trillion →
