Ms. Poulemanos used this study to bolster her claim that Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones and state Rep. Courtney Combs, R-Hamilton, are simply using their public statements against illegal immigrants for publicity, “while inciting animosity and contempt for our Hispanic population, documented or undocumented.”
Ms. Poulemanos then continues her diatribe against Sheriff Jones, stating that he “offers no real solutions.” This is before she states that we should “put aside our emotions and look at the facts.”
I wonder why Ms. Poulemanos used “facts” from a 6-year-old research study of only one state? More recent demographic and economic data, especially during a recession, tells more of the true economic impact of illegal immigration on our economy.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform — in its January 2009 study “The Costs of Illegal Immigration to North Carolinians” — concludes that illegal immigration has cost North Carolina $1.3 billion a year for K-12 education, uncompensated health care and incarceration of illegal immigrants.
An additional $1.2 billion per year that is earned in North Carolina is sent abroad, according to FAIR — $1.2 billion that otherwise could be spent for goods, services, local and state taxes, and fees.
The FAIR study also concludes: “This information is a counter to efforts to influence policymakers by employers who benefit from lower wage costs from hiring illegal workers and by ethnic advocacy groups that try to mask the fiscal impact of illegal aliens by ignoring the difference between the contributions of legal immigrants and those in the country illegally.
“Misleading information often describes the economic output of illegal aliens as if that amount of goods and services would disappear if legal workers were hired instead. Rather than harming the economy, replacing illegal workers with legal workers would benefit the economy through increasing wages and tax collections as well as increasing local spending and jobs when earnings are not sent abroad.
“In addition, reliance on welfare benefits by American workers should decrease as their job opportunities, wages and working conditions improve.”
CNN reported in 2008 that illegal immigration has devalued wages nationally by $200 billion per year. There are other “facts” to consider.
First, Ohio is not North Carolina.
Ms. Poulemanos offers no comparison of a financial impact analysis of illegal immigration costs to other states, or the nation as a whole. My research has revealed illegal immigration cost analyses for several states.
For lack of space, I will say that the analyses showed losses ranging from hundreds of millions to billions of dollars for each state — even after considering the contributions made by undocumented workers.
FAIR estimates the annual illegal immigration costs to Ohio taxpayers for emergency care, education and incarceration to be $327 million in 2010, and $627 million in 2020.
The conservative Heritage Foundation conducted research on the cost of illegal immigrants to the states and communities in which they assimilate. Their research concludes that: “61 percent of illegal immigrant adults lack a high school diploma; 25 percent have only a high school diploma. The poverty rate for illegal immigrants is double the rate of Americans. Over a lifetime, the typical low-skill immigrant household will cost taxpayers $1.2 million.”
Robert Rector, a senior researcher for domestic policies studies at the Heritage Foundation, completed a national financial impact report in May 2007. Based on actuarial analysis, he concluded that if illegal immigrants were permitted to stay — and granted amnesty — total local, state and federal government costs for an estimated 7.9 million amnesty recipients would be $2.4 trillion.
A June 3, 2010, Rasmussen poll found that 58 percent of U.S. voters say a child born to an illegal immigrant in this country should not automatically become a U.S. citizen.
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution — that provides automatic birthright citizenship — was ratified in 1868 after the end of the Civil War. With the end of slavery, the expansion of the West and the growth of the country, citizens and immigrants were self-reliant. There was no welfare state and no social programs paid by taxpayers. Immigration issues today weren’t even imagined then. Legislation is being proposed to update this law.
On June 8, 2010, USA Today reported that illegal immigrants are leaving Arizona because of the Arizona immigration control legislation. Many illegal immigrants will return to their native country, or move elsewhere when economic incentives are removed through state legislation.
As the Hamilton JournalNews reported on May 7, a Rasmussen poll found that 59 percent of likely Ohio voters favored an Arizona-type immigration law. Ohioans want state and national borders protected, and their laws obeyed.
The actions of Sheriff Jones and Rep. Combs are not about racism or discrimination. Their actions are about fiscal responsibility and the wishes of a majority of Butler County voters. Neither Sheriff Jones nor Rep. Combs are against legal immigration.
The majority of American taxpayers are not willing to write blank checks to the world’s population to relocate here. It’s neither fair nor realistic, and it’s not logical.
Butler County voters have the attention of Sheriff Jones and Rep. Combs, who are “grabbing headlines for self-serving purposes,” according to Ms. Poulemanos.
Those “self-serving purposes” are to let constituents know that they are doing exactly what voters asked them to do.
Asher Collett Jr., a Fairfield Twp. resident, is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, Northwestern University and Miami University with degrees in criminal justice and political science. He is a retired law enforcement officer, now working in the private sector.