Illegal immigration isn't criminal...

... but slander is.

My beef with the afore mentioned "plan" of Ryan's is simply that no one has shown me that any kind of draconian immigration legislation, at present or in the past, has ever WORKED!

Show me an historical precedent where ANY immigration laws have both curbed illegal entry AND avoided heightened ethnic or racial tensions within our society... and then I'll listen to your arguments and comments. In the mean time, your opinion is no more valid than mine.

About the title of this post, it's true. With the "death" of H.R.4437 (the Sensenbrenner Bill), any hopes of making illegal or undocumented entry into this country for the purpose of residence, employment or standard of living "criminal" in the eyes of the US Code of Regulation became mute. Thus, it is only a civil infraction to be an "illegal"... meaning the maximum fine is $3,000 coupled with the possibility of deportation at the discretion of the immigration authorities.

Do I think this is a satisfactory situation? Absolutely not. Do I think that the number of illegals already within this country constitute a problem within our society? Without question, YES. Does the fact that anywhere between 12 and 20 million illegals have entered into the US in the last 20 years show me that there is a serious threat to national security literally surrounding us at every moment? Of course I do.

My point from the very beginning has simply been that the reason these people are "illegal" is that the system by which their status is determined is failing at every possible level of operation. The means by which a secure and safe border around this country could be achieved have proven too great or too costly (or too something)... otherwise they would have been met 10 years ago, when the first "laws" calling for the completion of a partial wall were put in place.

10 years of a Republican-controlled Congress and nearly 8 years of a GOP White House failed to garner even ONE piece of substantial immigration reform legislation, at a time when the illegal population was growing at exponential numbers (the lowest estimates I have found are 2,640 new illegals every day for the last 17 years!).

Ryan's outrage at a health care program like SCHIPs that allows applicants to avoid questions that would show illegal status while applying is undoubtedly understandable, and unquestionably justified... I just don't feel that the CAUSE of this problem lies with the 7 to 9 million CHILDREN in this country that have no viable health care coverage because of the failings of the immigration system. As clearly stated in the Constitution, any child born in the US is a US Citizen, with all the rights, privileges, and guarantees found therein (see 14th Amendment). Thus, the immigration status of the parents of an unknown number (but well over 4.5 million) of children CITIZENS of this Nation should have no bearing on the CITIZEN's ability to use the SCHIPs system.

I will look into this book you are raving about, but understand this... I understand the argument that illegals are a drain on society because they draw more than they contribute, but I would be willing to wager that for every citation you can produce showing that drain, I can produce one just as valid against it. These kinds of statistics are arbitrary at best.

I'm not being shitty... honestly, I'm not. Look, I'll give ONE example, okay? Bear with me...

In 2007, the Social Security Administration released a report showing that the total SSI tax amount for 2005 was just over $1,590 billion dollars, and that an estimated $150 billion of that was "misrepresented" revenue... meaning it was money taxed against (amongst other filings) both the illegal employee and the illegal employers (Wal Mart, Tyson Foods, et al)... that is nearly 9.5% of total revenues for the SSA that will never be drawn upon by its contributors. These figures are clearly shown in the SSA report found here.

If we assume that the total population of illegals in this nation is right at 20 million, then that represents 6.6% of the total US population of 303.3 million people. If 6.6% of the total population is contributing 9.5% of the measurable SSA revenue for a given year, is that unrequited contribution taken into account in reports and works like the book you are referring to? And if it is, then how is it reflected? How are the numbers applied?

If, as you have said in the past, the US public is as frustrated and angry over the illegal immigration problem as you are, then why did H.R.4437 get so little support from middle-class white America? Why was the polled public (which I admit is a very small percentage of actual numbers... but it is all we have) so against the Bill from it's inception? Why was the Party that champions such causes unable to get it through the Senate (36 of 202 Democrats in the House voted FOR the Bill... 18%!)? Why did over 1 million protesters take to the streets in 11 major US cities over a bill that would simply have made illegal ENTRY into this country a CRIMINAL act, and would have had very little effect on those already here?

What you are suggesting in your "plan" is to segregate and marginalize right around 7% of the total US population at this time... roughly 20 million people living and working (and paying taxes... lest we forget, even illegals have to have their wages Federally taxed and file their returns each year... the IRS tax code is ALSO outside of the INS reporting authority) in a COUNTRY AT WAR. Forgive me if that seems like a counter-productive attitude during a time when military enlistment is at a 20 year low, and demands on the military are at a 20 year high, or when Federal budgets are running 15% to 28% HIGHER than projected revenues for the next 11 YEARS!

All I have ever suggested is rather than marginalizing nearly 7% of the people already living here, let's make it easier for them to become the Citizens that they want to be... and streamline the process for those trying to get in illegally now. To suggest that this can't be done SAFELY and SECURELY for less than it would cost the nation to "secure" 7,551 miles of open mainland border, along with another 5,981 miles of coastline still seems utterly ridiculous to me. Please, I'm begging you... show me I'm WRONG here! 159,000 of the finest, best-trained and best-equipped troops the world has ever seen struggle to "secure" ONE CITY against less than 10% of their number in armed insurgents for FOUR YEARS! How much harder will it be to "secure" 13,522 miles of US border and coastline against the prospect of 2,700 illegal entries A DAY?

If you want my opinion on how we can cut down on illegal abuse of public assistance, then we can discuss that, too. NO ONE should get living assistance that isn't a Citizen... PERIOD. If I can't get FEMA or MDA assistance after an event like Katrina, then no illegal should be getting Section Eight housing assistance or food stamps. No welfare assistance if you aren't legal. No Federal benefits outside of emergency services (and YES, I know these are the most expensive benefits, but my morals DO enter into this here). No State or Federal registration (i.e. drivers licenses, state IDs or permits) and no extended education benefits for illegal adults (not when 21% of LEGAL high school graduates can't afford to go to college full time).

To deny health care to children of illegals is to deny health care to at least some Citizens... and that I have a problem with, but it is something I am willing to discuss as a solvable problem within the current guidelines of the Federal and State regulations. Otherwise, I think I am pretty "conservative" about welfare for illegals.

There... that is my opinion. I do not think it is THAT outside of the "norm" in America, and I think it is a rational, reasonable opinion... not the ravings of an emotional "bleeding heart" Liberal, as Ryan seems to think.