October 3, 2007 

Immigration: Many Questions, A Few Answers 
by the Honorable Lamar Smith 
Excerpted from a lecture given July 30, 2007, posted on the Heritage Foundation website

Immigrants and the American Tradition
America has a wonderful tradition of welcoming newcomers. We admit more than one million legal immigrants every year, almost as many as all other countries combined. Our generosity and compassion should continue. But it should be tempered by the knowledge that those who want to harm us will use any means possible, including our immigration policy, to do so.
It's no surprise that so many people want to come here: we are the freest and most prosperous nation in the world. Immigrants have benefited America in many ways. They are laborers, inventors, and CEOs. They include the scientist Albert Einstein, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and countless others who have contributed to America's strength.
However, there is a difference between legal and illegal immigration. Legal immigrants play by the rules, wait their turn, and come in the right way. Others cut in front of the line, break our laws, and enter illegally.
We understand their desires. Our hearts go out to them. If we were in their shoes, we would want to get to the United States too. Most are hard-working, decent people. But we cannot accommodate everyone. No nation can survive without respect for its laws and without secure borders.
In one poll, almost half the residents of Mexico said they would move to the U.S. if they could. Perhaps hundreds of millions of people around the world would do the same thing. But that would lead to mass chaos. Every nation has to know who and how many are entering and why.
Not enforcing immigration laws has left our borders out of control and has led to disrespect for the rule of law.
The Costs of Illegal Immigration
Today, anywhere from 12 million to 20 million illegal immigrants are in the U.S.--enough to populate America's three largest cities, New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Half a million more enter illegally every year.
Those who would do us harm respect no borders. For instance, four of the 19 terrorists who attacked us on September 11, 2001, were in the country illegally. Border security equals national security.
Illegal immigrants also depress wages and often take the jobs of legal workers. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, low-skilled workers lose an average of $1,800 a year because of competition from illegal immigrants for their jobs. That's a huge economic hit.
The highest unemployment rates among Americans are in the occupations with the highest number of illegal immigrants. Almost one-quarter of all African-Americans and 40 percent of all Hispanics do not have a high school degree. These low-skilled legal workers are the victims of porous borders.
Some say there are jobs Americans won't do. But that demeans Americans who work hard in every occupation. Any honest job is a worthy job.
There is another cost to illegal immigration besides lower wages and lost jobs. Communities and taxpayers pay the bills for their education, health care, and government benefits. Overcrowded classrooms, long waits at hospital emergency rooms, and expensive government services result from a failure to secure our borders.
In California alone, hospitals spend over $1 billion a year on health care for illegal immigrants. And the National Research Council has found that an immigrant with less than a high school education will, over his or her lifetime, impose a cost on taxpayers of $89,000. It is unfair to force legal residents and taxpayers to continue to pick up the tab.
Some say the taxes illegal immigrants pay offset the costs of providing them education, health care, and government benefits. But, at their low wages, most illegal immigrants don't even pay taxes. And when they do, their taxes don't cover other government services, like maintaining highways, providing for our national defense, and taking care of the needy and elderly.
Also, at their wages, if illegal immigrants participate in Social Security, they will get back $100,000 more than they pay in, further bankrupting the system for everyone else. The cost of illegal immigration is staggering. And it is growing by the minute.
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Amnesty and Guest Worker Proposals
Most Americans feel that illegal immigration poses serious challenges. Several solutions have been suggested to cope with illegal immigration, though they often result in more questions than answers. One is to give the 12 million to 20 million immigrants illegally in the U.S. amnesty and a path to citizenship, which is the greatest honor our country can bestow.
What message does this send to legal immigrants who have played by the rules and waited their turn to come in the right way? What message does this send to law-abiding Americans who work hard to pay their taxes--only to see their tax dollars go to lawbreakers? What message does this send to terrorists? It says once you are in the country you can gain a legal identity that gives you cover to ply your treacherous trade. What message does this send to every would-be illegal immigrant? It says in bright flashing lights: If you get across the border, you're home free.
Of course, if illegal immigrants are given amnesty, that will only encourage others to enter illegally, too.
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The Honorable Lamar Smith, a Republican, represents the 21st District of Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives.