"You know that being American is more than a matter of where your parents came from," President Harry S. Truman said. "It is a belief that all men are created free and equal and that everyone deserves an even break."
Immigrants contribute greatly to America’s economic and cultural vitality. According to a report by the National Academy of Sciences, a typical immigrant and his or her children will pay an estimated $80,000 more in taxes than they will receive in combined local, state and federal benefits over their lifetimes. In addition, the contribution of unclaimed money for undocumented immigrants from payroll taxes has grown to $7 billion and approximately $1.5 billion in Medicare taxes.
The Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act of 1996 limits documented immigrants from accessing federal programs and state partner programs. Moreover, the law requires immigrants to wait five years after attaining lawful permanent residence, commonly known as a "green card," before receiving cash assistance, Medicaid, Social Services Block Grants, and other federal means-tested programs. Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for these programs, and charges on the local and state level that argue otherwise do not accurately reflect the status of immigrants under current law.
The proliferation of city ordinances to "ban" undocumented immigrants from certain localities, like the defeated ordinance in Fremont, only serves to distract the public from the pressing need for comprehensive immigration reform. During the last eight years, a number of bills, including the McCain-Kennedy Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, have seen defeat in Congress.
Fremont Mayor "Skip" Edwards acted wisely in breaking the tie vote of the city council. The proposed ordinance failed to imagine the greatness of America as a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws by promoting a poor myth: Immigrants take more than they give. It did not recognize our history or anticipate our future as a state and nation made stronger by the contributions of immigrants and their hardworking children. Restrictive policies on the state and local level are not legally viable solutions. The push for comprehensive immigration reform on the national level is the way forward.
Editor’s note: Jones is a former Fremont resident, a 2005 graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a 2004 Harry S. Truman Scholarship winner.
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Your comment: “Immigrants contribute greatly to America’s economic and cultural vitality”. Yes, absolutely, unequevocally. Let’s understand for clarification purposes that these are LEGAL immigrants. Yes, no?
You are referring to the National Academy of Sciences report of a “typical” immigrant. Would you please help me understand if they (or, you once again) are referring to a LEGAL immigrant or an ILLEGAL one. Please forgive me Mr. Jones; I am not an educated man. I tried to find this reference at the NAS website but could not. I’m sure I was not looking in the right place. Could you please direct me?
Secondly, if they are referring to a LEGAL immigrant who is following the laws set forth in becoming an American citizen, then I say BRAVO to them, and thank them for the contribution to our country!
I would really have to question the report by the NAS, unless they are referring to LEGAL immigrants. The Heritage Foundation, with senior research fellow Robert Rector as author, reported the following:
A new study by the Heritage Foundation's Robert Rector found a household headed by an individual without a high school education, including about two-thirds of illegal aliens, costs U.S. taxpayers more than $32,000 in federal, state and local benefits. That same family contributes an average of $9,000 a year in taxes, resulting in a net tax burden of $22,449 each year.
Over the course of the household's lifetime that tax burden translates to $1.1 million. If the lower figure of 12 million illegal aliens is used for estimation purposes, the total tax burden translates to $2.2 trillion.
"Over the next ten years the total cost of low-skill households to the taxpayer (immediate benefits minus taxes paid) is likely to be at least $3.9 trillion," Rector writes. "This number would go up significantly if changes in immigration policy lead to substantial increases in the number of low-skill immigrants entering the country and receiving services."
Mr. Jones, I am having a diffcult time deciding where to apply the title of your letter, “Comprehensive Reform Is Needed”. First of all, that fabulous political buzz word of the 21st century ‘comprehensive’, really caught my eye. The politico’s have made that word mean nothing more than ‘mud’. Yes, I understand you are suggesting ‘reform’, but please tell me in what way. After reading your letter, I’m puzzled as to where you want to apply that reform.
You have mentioned immigrants a few times, plus 'undocumented' once, but have not referred to ILLEGAL immigrants. Hopefully you are not suggesting that we ignore the ‘federal’ laws as written.
Mr. Jones, your entire letter seems to have a bit of ‘smoke’ clouding many important issues. I noticed that the Editor found it necessary to make a note describing you as a former Fremont resident. I would like to thank you for your continued interest in our community. Looks like you graduated about three years ago from UNL, and what’s that… a 2004 Harry S. Truman scholarship winner… oh, uh-huh.
The issue Mr. Jones, and to everyone else, is – LEGAL VS. ILLEGAL! Either find a way to support the laws as written for our society and THEN rally for your reform, or suffer the consequences of not having ANY LAWS FOLLOWED!