New Immigration Bill an Orwellian Nightmare for Small Business

I think that ultimately, our social security system is in a debacle. With the flood of baby boomers retiring, the government is going to have to leverage in on immigration laws for loss prevention. However, in our current economic situation, I do not think it is a feasable solution to the social security issue. Overall, the events leading up to this is non-effective management of the budget, lack of trained government personnel, and the lack of resources. Do we do the same with Canada?

Then, the scenario is...what is the biggest chunk of budget they can obtain? That is the answer, although not the solution, but a pole.

Any act that would worsen our already troubled unemployment problem, with no way of obtaining immediate "mistake" resolution - should NOT be implemented. With margins of error that wide and innocent, legitimate citizen's livelihoods on the line, a system with little to no error margin must be in place. Being homeless or destitute is bad enough when it comes upon you naturally. But when it's unjustly thrust upon you because of a government error - That's not ok! There should have been IMMEDIATE resolution for that guy who was flagged as a possible illegal.

Your analysis is dead on. I am going to write my congressman and two senators and voice my opinion against these measures.

Business big or small that has a need for nearly 20 million illegals over a period of 10 years - deserves what it gets. Business,farming, the hotel industry, restaurants, building trades, meat processing, etc etc etc. USED to get along quite well using American labor it was willing to pay a living wage. The problem is NOW they have become so used to cheap labor in never ending waves they can't stand the idea that they might have to cough up the funds to pay for years of being SUBSIDIZED by the taxpayers of the US. Identity scams BEGAN in earnest when we allowed the floodgates to open post Cold War but specifically since NAFTA helped destroy the Mexican economy and sent hordes of workers north. We have always had some Mexican labor in the US but now it is arriving - legally and illegally from all over the world. The COST of all this - which even Alan Greenspan and Milton Friedman called a business subsidy - is in the billions of dollars. The identity theft business has prospered THANKS to the US government and business failing to secure ports, borders, visas, and who gets the PRIVILEDGE of coming to the US. very month, month in and month out, year in and year out, your U.S. senators and House representatives along with President Bush allow 182,000 legal and illegal immigrants to move into America?give or take a few hundred thousand. By years end, they total 2.18 million virtually uneducated, unskilled and lack English language abilities while arriving with a plethora of diseases and other health care needs. Who pays? You do! How much? Each year, you shell out $346 billion in taxes to pay for those immigrants across 15 federal agencies. The Department of Health and Human Services spent $672.9 billion in 2007 according to financial analyst Edwin S. Rubenstein. ?Immigrants are poorer, pay less tax, and are more likely to receive public benefits than American citizens,? said Edwin Rubenstein, reporting on the National Research Council?s new book: ?The New Americans: Economic, Demographics and Fiscal Effects of Immigration.? The Social Contract Winter 2007-08. www.thesocialcontract.com ?Currently Congress considers an expansion of benefits to 400 percent of the poverty line--$83,000.00 for a family of four,? Rubenstein said. ?Approximately 6.7 million children and adults are covered. In 2006, federal expenditures totaled $5.5 billion. About $605 million was spent on immigrants.? Adding to this bombshell cost assessment for legal and illegal immigrants; the ?Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1985? requires hospitals to serve illegal aliens who seek emergency care. Your tax collars pay $167 million for illegal aliens. Drug addiction and alcoholism make up the fastest ?disabilities? illegal aliens claim in our ER hospitals: In 1983: 3,000 cases In 1994: 101,000 cases In 2003: 325,000 cases ?EMTALA givers illegals more than medical treatment. A ?disability? diagnosis automatically qualifies them for immediate cash transfer payments,? Rubenstein said. ?The numbers are staggering.? 127,900 illegals on SSI in 1982 601,400 illegals in 1992 2,000,000 illegals in 2003 In the Southwest alone over 87 hospitals were forced to close courtesy of the flood of use by illegal migrants - an unfunded mandate for the states paid for by citizens losing hospitals and taxpayers paying the bill. Business should quit whining and make sure the dimbulbs in DC deal with the BORDERS and VISA system before they get their shorts in a twist about use of some sort of identity system by business. The rational behind this article is not poor small business having to work harder to make sure they are hiring those here either on a green card or legal residents. This article is about maintaining a free ride by business on the backs of taxpayers on one hand, and depressed wages that result from a never ending stream of cheap labor arriving to take jobs our blue collar and lower class used to do. The Orwellian part of all this is how fast a business type can tap dance in service to a corporate agenda on the backs of US taxpayers.

I Completely See Eye to Eye with You. I 100% understand where you are coming from, Diane. I am now unable to work after putting in many years with the government. And I have a six year-old daughter who needs medical and dental care -- and I am struggling to get her under the Oregon Health Plan. They actually created a "lottery" for gosh-darned-sake! If you didn't know about this "lottery" until it was too late, you are out of luck. And if you did know about it and you are not randomly selected, you are out of luck. I don't care about me... but every child in the U.S. should receive health and dental care - no exceptions. When I think of all of the money and resources illegal aliens (who don't pay taxes) are getting from those of us who have paid taxes and whatever else the government asks - and then think about how I am FIGHTING to get my daughter some health care and we are surviving on food boxes because "food stamps" are now a luxury too (also consumed by largely the illegal aliens)! -- it makes me sick. I am not proud. At the same time, while I realize this is a travesty and I know something must be done about it... I feel that implementing a system that will further injure innocent Americans is not the answer. I'd love for the U.S. to implement a system whereby if an individual is not a legal resident of our country and abiding by our laws and regulations, they do not get access to our systems, food, shelter, and medical funds. It's only fair... that's what the entire tax system was based on so very long ago, right? I love the overall idea of the new immigration bill. I just don't want anything to be implemented that is going to cause more harm American tax paying citizens. For me, the bottom line is not about business ethics and practices, cheap or free labor. At the end of the day, it's about whether or not we have something decent to eat and when my daughter needs medical attention, she is able to get it. Do you know what happens when you take your child into the emergency room for anything... here in Oregon... if you don't have insurance... you are billed hundreds of dollars. Then when you can't pay it, because you only get $230.00 a month to live on, (not even enough to pay 1/2 month's rent), within a couple of months of that hospital visit -- you are harassed by a collection agency for the money. A couple of months later you are provided with a summons that they are going to take your only money from you to pay that hospital bill. --- When you were forced to go there in the first place because you are unable to get your child any medical insurance. So now, your money can be forcefully taken from you, you become homeless, and God knows what after that! My heart is fluttering with anger and fear right now. Expressing my view about this matter is never easy. It causes terrible feelings to erupt. I was living comfortably in the lower to middle class sector prior to becoming painfully disabled. I had no idea what people were going through regarding poverty and medical needs until I experienced it myself. I once held my head up high and felt that I was a contributing member of society who didn't need anyone's help. Now, well, now I am struggling to even care about life any more. It's nothing but a battle, electric shut off notices, never knowing how we are going to make the rent, barely enough gas to get my daughter to and from school, eating macaroni and cheese every day, (you get the point). I feel disregarded. It shouldn't be this way. What happened to Big Brother and Uncle Sam. I know that if every illegal alien was removed from receiving government resources, my daughter would have medical care today. That's the thing -- most of our American citizens (rich or poor) know this. So why don't we just ABSOLUTELY DEMAND that something be done! Why? Could it really be that the business owners and the rich are so selfish as to not take action because it benefits their pocket books? This is an unacceptable state of affairs. Unbelievable.

I can tell you that the Federal Government already has laws in place. One of which says that if an employer employs an illegal alien that he(she) can be fined up to 11,000 Dollars per event. I'm familiar with a number of small businesses in the construction indutry that utilize illegals only. If the feds would enforce this law and fined the employers that amount of money, the employers would effectively be paying for the return of the illegals to their homeland. That would free up money in the system (both State and federal) to help the Oregonian in Protest. Frankly Keith, I don't agree that it's either Orwellian or impractical to expect small business owners to uphold the current law. I don't understand why your position is to negate what has worked in the past when our leaders cared more about the people that elected them rather than new, albeit improper voters. I realize that small businesses would have to decide to obey or not to obey. The difference is pretty easy to spot. when a service company or a construction outfit arrives and no one speaks English. It's a pretty good sign that they weren't brought up in our school system. Maybe you could address accountability for small businesses when they hire illegals. Thats a bigger problem than Phony ID cards and americans that fall into the cracks in the system.

Oregonia in Protest, I definitely feel for your difficult situation, but blaming illegal immigrant for all your problems is called "scapegoating." Adolph Hitler used it to great effect.