Commentary ImmigrationCounters.com informs the public of the realities of illegal immigration while challenging the myths and misinformation surrounding it. After decades of passively watching this problem grow, most Americans are now more aware of the severity of this issue. Our government has demonstrated a complete lack of urgency to control illegal immigration both on the borders and within the interior. Because of this failure, that which traditionally had been the American way of welcoming immigration is now dividing the country. Opposing illegal immigration and wanting the laws enforced is not un-American. It's time to set the record straight on what is un-American, illegal is un-American. The issue of illegal immigration doesn't need more laws, studies or debates, it needs leadership and enforcement. America doesn't need immigration reform, it needs leadership reform. Because our government has failed to enforce the existing immigration laws, why should anyone be confident they'ill do so with expanded immigration reform? Because of these failures, legislators have been addressing the problems at their local levels with bills to manage it incrementally, piece-by-piece, rather than trying to fix the national problem at once--an impossible task. What most Americans expect is to have our borders secure, enforcement of the existing laws within the interior, meaningful punishment of employers who hire illegally and removal of incentives like birthright citizenships and public school enrollments. We must also address the fact that we're soft on criminals caught in crimes and aren't deported. No other country would allow this to continue. 40% of them entered the country legally and overstayed their visas. Yet there's still no reliable method to verify if Visa overstays have left the country. Another incentive that must be addressed is the birthright citizenship program that has resulted in millions of children and parents receiving instant rights and benefits. Some have called them "GPS babies" and this certainly cannot be what the authors of the 14th Amendment intended to occur. Public housing and other benefits are provided for the illegal parents through their 'anchor children' while citizens are turned away because of limited resources. This antiquated program must end. Government agencies and officials at all levels must address the costs associated with this kind of abuse. Past mistakes have been made in attempts to fix illegal immigration and our communities can no longer afford these kinds of mistakes. America must have immigration enforcement that reflects the nation's call to respect our laws, in balance with the human side of illegal immigration. This must override the narrow interests of the business lobby, expanding government agencies, government officials who envision their dependent class and those who see it as a source of new votes. Recent language by Senator Reid, Senator Schumer and their peers reveal they're very much out-of-touch with the realities of illegal immigration. For example, there's nothing "draconian" (according to Sen. Reid) about our immigration laws being enforced, laws which are the most liberal and inviting in the world. According to Sen. Reid our border security fence project is "a symbol of fear and intolerance." Representative Pete Stark is on record mocking that if a new border fence is constructed, he will "start a ladder company." Equally disturbing are comments by Representative Pelosi who expressed her outrage of ICE deporting parents apart from their birthright children, yet she refuses to address the root cause of that problem, our government allowing millions of birthright babies. If our government would stop the practice of birthright citizenships then the family separation scenario would be greatly reduced. With emotional platitudes she ignores the cause and expresses disdain towards hard working federal agents doing their jobs. These same legislators and their peers are opposed to e-Verify for fear of mistakes (it's 99% accurate for legal workers and 54% accurate when fraudulent ID numbers are used) while failing to address the fact that ID fraud is already rampant in the illegal alien communities. On one side of the federal hand it doesn't really try to require businesses to validate something as important as the legal right to be employed, yet on the other hand it does enforce how businesses store paint or provides a certain level of lighting. This is an utter failure of priorities! America cannot suddenly disregard our forefathers' immigration principles simply to appease PACs from the U.S. Chamber Of Commerce and the National Council of La Raza. Respecting our laws and morale principles is precisely what has made our country strong, stable and unique in the world. These concerns don't represent a selfish interest in stopping our nation from the inclusion of healthy and legal immigration; rather, they're about being a nation of laws. These laws and responsibilities apply to everyone without a hint of racism or xenophobia. Our imperfect history cannot be rewound as some activists would like in their "Reconquista," to re-conquer the land (as in the days of the Pueblo People, a land of barrenness before the borders were established). Angry foreigners should direct their energy towards their own governments or towards Spain for the Spanish c onquest of the Aztec Empire and the Spanish colonization of the Americas . Mexico won its independence from Spain, yet now they're quick to abandon the independence they won and leave their homeland? Why is there so much anger and attitudes of entitlement towards the United States? This is in large part due to the Latin leaderships' continuous propaganda of blaming America for their problems, someone else to blame for their failures. Its easy money for their countries, jobs, services and educations they don't have to provide. The pro-amnesty groups would like to compare today's illegal aliens with the immigrants from the past, such as those that approached Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty (some were even turned back). Today's illegals are actually an entirely different group that has lied on their visitor visas, overstayed their visas, snuck across the border (while leaving mountains of trash), committed tax fraud, ID fraud, insurance fraud and Social Security fraud, exploited the system by their birthright babies, exploited the social services, wired billions out of our country, gained illegal employment and failed to meet naturalization requirements. We have learned that illegal aliens will be as corrupt as the system allows them to be. Compared to the Ellis Island immigrants, today there are hundreds of immigration laws and requirements in place including sofisticated forms of ID and a complex governmental and employment infrastructure. These systems cannot be bypassed. Every developed country has immigration laws. Without them sovereignty and national identity are weakened, security is lost and a perpetual string of problems occur. The United States naturalization laws have been established as far back as 1790. Since 1929, illegal entry into the United States is a federal crime. America is not a place, it is a nation. Its people are not residents, they are citizens! There are many anti-enforcement religious organizations that try to find a parallel between historical events of migration in the Bible and today's illegal immigration. What they fail to acknowledge is what the Bible says about respect for the laws and respect for those in government authority. Those who truly want to obey God will do just that and realize God's provision in their native countries rather than trying to obtain it illegally through lawlessness in America. These organizations also fail to acknowledge the fact that even during biblical times becoming a citizen of many countries was actually quite difficult, becoming a citizen of Rome was difficult as one example. The American Conference of Catholic Bishops (excluded from paying federal income taxes yet they want the taxpayers to import the poor) have been quite aggressive in their push for amnesty. We would challenge them to open up some amnesty into their pristine Vatican City of Rome, 200 from Mexico with unknown criminal backgrounds, uneducated and with some serious health issues would be a good start. How about some gang members becoming full citizens of Vatican City, and the drug cartel's new opportunities because of easier access to Italy? Most Americans respect the laws while raising their children to do the same, yet they're reminded daily of the millions in the country who violate not only immigration laws but virtually every law that exists. They notice the unscrupulous businesses that hire them and the government agencies that cater to them at great expense. Our officials are charged with the responsibility of this oversight and have failed to do so on a scale unimaginable. It's obvious our officials have allowed this problem to grow un-checked. For example the Border Patrol will approach suspicious individuals walking or driving within about a 100 mile range inland to verify their legal status. However, once illegals make it into our cities and communities where the impact and risks are even greater, they now become unapproachable and off-limits for fear of "profiling." This is an inconsistent and ineffective practice. Government agencies and lobbyist also have a history of under-estimating statistics and costs. If a path to citizenship (i.e., Amnesty) is offered, government leaders will quickly realize there are significantly more than just 10-11 million in the country--in fact, the numbers could easily be double their estimates. This would be an offense to the millions of honest immigrants who have become citizens through the legal process. The opportunity to live and work in America must remain an invited and controlled privilege, not to be gained by backdoor tactics or by paying a small fine. Illegal immigrants are not "victims" who need us to rescue them. The CIA reports that the Mexican unemployment rate was recently only 4%, lower than 150 other countries and lower than the unemployment rate of the United States. Mexico is ranked #13 in GDP, higher than 172 countries. Mexico is home to the richest man in the world, has nine billionaires and has more millionaires than Germany. This problem is much broader than what some media images suggest (e.g., the harvesting of crops, immigrants feeding their families, or emotional photos of parents deported from their anchor child--an extremely rare event). A significant number are single males with no families to feed. In fact, illegal immigrants know that having an anchor child greatly reduces their chances of being deported. Yet the same media is not sympathetic to American parents separated from their children when they're caught breaking the law. A significant amount of the money being wired to Mexico and Latin America is not for their families, it is to pay off the human smugglers and drug cartels back home. Otherwise their family members' safety will be jeopardized. Americans have witnessed millions of illegals openly engage in undesirable activities while enjoying special treatment that our own citizens don't receive. Such activities include catch-and-release (a type of sanctuary status that even foreign diplomats don't get), failure to appear in court, immigrant gangs, drug and human smuggling, violent crimes, massive identity fraud, illegal voting, driving under the influence, hit-and-run accidents and various other motor vehicle violations, tax free incomes, free social services (including housing and food stamps), free emergency room care, public school enrollments, a full range of medical services for family members due to chain migration--including elderly parents who draw on the healthcare system and maternity care for their anchor babies. As if this weren't enough, they then wave their foreign flags in the streets of America demanding their rights yet they don't have the courage to demonstrate in their native countries to fix their own countries' problems. Across the nation, District Attorneys routinely cut plea bargains with illegals caught in crimes who aren't deported or incarcerated, only to repeat their crimes in the future. If they agree to be deported (many times agreeing to self-deportation), they often return to the U.S. in short order and are more emboldened against our laws and courts. Up to 80% on deportation orders have not been deported. These kinds of activities are hard on the nation and its communities, yet amazingly people are expected to accept the concept that illegal immigration is somehow "good for America." Americans must ask themselves if these are the people they want to reward with citizenship while others have waited in line to be here legally? Americans are now learning that the 14th Amendment was not intended to give special benefits to illegal mothers and their birthright babies, this amendment was intended for the children of slaves. Americans are becoming outraged that their leadership has allowed this amendment to be used as a magnet for illegal immigration, an incentive to break the law. Are all illegal immigrants bad people? Of course not. Some work hard and try their best to support themselves independently, since when has this become something unique in life? However, all illegal immigrants have in bad faith violated federal immigration laws. This, in turn, leads to a long string of other violations, impacts on society and attitudes that affect our communities. The illegals themselves often pay a high price for living in the shadows. For example many crimes against illegal immigrants go unreported for fear of deportation. As a result some in law enforcement claim that asking for the legal status of persons would hinder their ability to reduce crime, claiming that illegals would be afraid to report crimes for fear of deportation. That position contradicts itself because with effective immigration enforcement those same individuals committing the crimes would not be in the country to begin with. Our government has also confused the illegals by not sending a strong message to the world about our laws. Instead the message has been: "If you get across the border, you're 'home free." Now they're stuck in the middle of this problem, trading their problems from their home countries for even bigger problems here. Most illegals will not assimilate because they never planned to or need to. With so many catering to their wishes and needs there's little incentive to assimilate. Instead of becoming Americans, more than any immigrant group in American history they turn their communities into 'little Mexico.' No other group has tried to force themselves onto America as this one has. Preserving ones culture is certainly worthy, pushing your culture and language onto others while in their country illegally is offensive! Many live quite well here, while some with thrifty lifestyles wire billions of dollars back to their native countries for powerful savings accounts. An entire housing market has evolved in Latin America to build homes from remittance money, paid for in full by cash. With no mortgages these are nice homes that many law abiding Americans will never realize themselves. In many cases Americans who lose their jobs and homes are as a result of illegal hiring, the undercutting of prevailing wages, jobs lost to NAFTA and offshore business. Rarely are the labor savings passed onto the American consumers. When the business organizations lobby our elected officials (a partial list is provided on this page) that they need cheap workers otherwise they can't fill their jobs, this is a self-serving myth. Citizens and legal immigrants would proudly fill those jobs, but at prevailing wage. Business organizations are salivating at undercutting the prevailing wages or expanding their consumer markets. This is their shortsighted "rush to the bottom line" at the expense of lost jobs to citizens and eliminating competitive businesses who obey the laws. This is not the American way of healthy competition that encourages progress. Rather, it is the worst form of activity in business. Business lobbyists also fail to consider how this shifts numerous social costs onto the nation. Americans know that one phone call from their President could charge the United States full-time or National Guard military to secure (even under strict rules of engagement) the remaining open-border sections known for crossings. But our previous President capitulated with the Mexican President's request to not use the military to secure our borders, knowing how effective this would be. Internally, because of their activities in the country, more than 600,000 state and local law enforcement officers come into contact with illegal aliens every day. State and local police make up approximately 96 percent of U.S. law enforcement and are an effective force multiplier for federal law enforcement, yet few are using the ICE 287(g) program so that small numbers are being turned over to ICE. This practice must stop. ICE very often claims it doesn't have the resources to pick up even those already detained for them, Americans are tired of the excuses. If even our military bases' security is largely contracted out, ICE can certainly implement a process for trained contractors in government vehicles to pick up those who simply need to be transported. Because government managers have failed to manage the existing immigration laws, how will they manage a new and greatly expanded immigration program? Because illegal immigrants have failed to follow the existing laws, why would anyone think they'll suddenly come forward and follow more immigration laws or pay fines? Americans also see the inconsistency between "talking tough" about border security while at the same time providing billions of dollars in government services for those in the country illegally. Most of the agencies don't even bother to ask for their legal status! By providing free services to illegal immigrants, these agencies use up resources that our citizens need--citizens who deserve to have priority. The costs for providing those 'free' services are being shifted over into higher taxes and insurance costs. As a result, many inner city hospitals are closing or moving, schools are stretched to the limit, taxes are on the increase. The American people can no longer be forced bear the weight of the failed leadership of its neighboring countries, we cannot continue to "import poverty." Those countries and their people must bear that weight for themselves. Illegal immigrants will not value American life if it's too quickly realized and by entering through a back door. All countries must of their own sweat equity and in the light of day develop better standards and opportunities for themselves, only then will it be embraced. The business lobby for cheap, illegal labor is shortsighted. The undocumented are becoming more selective about the jobs they'll do and how much they're paid. If they're granted legal status they'll soon demand the same prevailing wages and standards that citizens receive, thereby eliminating the attraction of the business lobby. Most illegal workers are not here for farm labor. The shortsighted business community harms their own long term interests and that of America by lowering the employment standards instead of raising them. We're seeing the results of this. The question is if America is going to remain a nation of laws and principles or will the vanishing dollar overrule all else? Will living in America continue to be embraced, or will our country simply become a job site, a place to exploit the system? When our laws and principles are allowed to be broken on a scale this large we now find ourselves facing the results few could have imagined.