Immigration Activists and Concerned Citizens,

As I have said, mass immigration is not the root cause of all of our problems, however it is making all of our problems in the USA much worse. The data below speaks to this comment.

The U-6 unemployment rate in North Carolina is near 10%. It is a more encompassing point of data by the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics. The recent report by Pew Research shows median household income fell 8% nationwide between 1999 and 2014, as our middle class in the USA is shrinking.

Of the 25 metros that suffered the worst, the population grew 20% faster than the U.S. population over the 15-year span. Many of those areas also experienced the highest increases in the nation in its foreign-born population over the same period. Yes, Econ 101 does apply and adding each year one million legal immigrants with an additional 400,000 net illegal immigrants continuing to either cross our borders or come here with short term visas and never leave, worker oversupply continues to lower wages and cause citizens to lose jobs just as the U.S. Chamber and N.C. Chamber of Commerce know and continue to push for more foreign labor.

Immigration Activists and Concerned Citizens,

Go to the link just below for a summary and report on “The Cost of Welfare Use by Immigrants” as over 50% of immigrants are using welfare, a much higher rate than citizens. And guess who is paying for this government cost? You are and your children will pay also but with interest charges.

Click on this link “The Cost of Welfare Use By Immigrants.”

Regards,

Our homeland security is and has been at risk due to our porous borders, with Mexican drug cartels willing and able for a price to help terrorists illegally cross our southern border. Mexican cartels are already the largest traffickers of unlawful drugs into the USA to poison and cause addiction among America’s children. Our ports are also porous. We have not implemented the OBIM system to track short term visa holders and tourists to make sure they leave on time. Over one third of illegals are those who have overstayed their visas.

Currently we allow more than a million legal immigrants to the USA each year, a quantity which drives up our unemployment rate, social services and education costs, and does not serve our national interests nor our national security. We do insufficient background and security checks on legal immigrants. We know little to nothing about the real identity and true motives of illegal immigrants.

For a high percentage of refugees we cannot properly conduct background and security checks due to confusion within their native country. If refugees cannot be thoroughly vetted, they should not be allowed to enter the USA. First of all, as a CIS study has shown, it is twelve times more expensive to care for refugees moved to the USA than to care for refugees in safe areas within or near their native country. We cannot risk the safety of citizens if refugees cannot be thoroughly vetted, whether the politically correct or “drama” progressives like it or not.

Thanks to Governor Pat McCrory for asking the federal government to halt the flow of Syrian refugees into North Carolina. He is one of more than a majority of Governors across our nation to press this matter for our safety and protection.

Any federal legislation to allow an amnesty for illegal immigrants is bad policy for our nation. Previous legislation would allow legalization for illegal immigrants even before real enforcement. In fact most earlier amnesty legislation does NOT require illegals to go to the back of the line in their home country, does NOT really require back taxes to be paid by illegals (under which of their aliases), does NOT have real triggers that require enforcement first, and the list goes on and on. Eleven to thirteen million illegal aliens would receive amnesty.

Regards,

Ron Woodard
Director
NC LISTEN
(919) 460-8156
www.nclisten.com

First of all we must reject the Gang of Eight national immigration bill (S.744) as currently written. It is a replay of 1986 in which the US Congress granted an amnesty for illegal immigrants with only promises to control our borders and more promises to do real enforcement of our laws. The promises were not kept and there is no reason to trust Congress this time. The Gang of Eight bill actually increases legal immigration to two million immigrants each year when we have over 18 million citizens who are either unemployed or cannot find a full-time job. This is nothing less than ridiculous.

It is a both a right and responsibility of our government to manage immigration so that it serves the national interests of the USA, as eloquently spoken by the late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan and former Chairperson of the US Commission on Immigration Reform. Obviously we need to stop illegal immigration (steps to take on page 2), but we also need to reform legal immigration for our knowledge-based society and have it built upon very high skill-levels and advanced education with the exception of allowing a traditional number of refugees per year. Less legal immigration, almost exclusively based on very high skills and advanced education, would benefit the USA. The key point is advanced skills and education, the smartest of the smart. Outside of some small shortages of STEM workers in spots around the nation, there is no shortage of college educated workers in the USA. One can look at statistics as real proof. And we have over sixteen million citizens who are either unemployed or cannot find a full-time job. In the past we have had too much unskilled legal immigration and illegal immigration. Mass illegal immigration in particular has caused an increase in unemployment and driven down wages for low-skilled citizens and created more poverty. Among the top legal immigrant sending countries of legal immigrants, welfare is the highest for households headed by immigrants from Mexico (57%), Guatemala (55%), and the Dominican Republic (54%).

Should we consider a pathway to citizenship (amnesty in reality) for illegal immigrants? Robert Rector, a senior research fellow of the Heritage Foundation, says legalization of illegal immigrants will cost more than six trillion dollars net over their lifetime for the total public benefits they will be entitled to receive minus taxes paid. How will we really determine the amount of “back taxes” owed by illegal immigrants to the federal government…..under which illegal immigrant’s fake name? How much will this analysis cost the taxpayers? How do we do an effective background check since again illegals have so many aliases? How much will that investigative work cost taxpayers? What is the amount of the so-called fine the illegals will pay? How many would-be legal immigrants waiting in line now would gladly pay a “fine” to be able to jump in the front of the line of others? And the biggest insult is the notion of illegals getting in the back of the line. Is it the end of the line that would-be legal immigrants enter while still in their native country? Or is it the end of an imaginary line inside the USA as if the illegals had green cards? We have a backlog in paperwork and processing today while admitting one million legal immigrants each year, but how is it that we have plenty of time and money to process paperwork for thirteen million illegal immigrants, while at the same time, continuing to admit the one million legal immigrants each year? Isn’t it interesting that those proposing amnesties never mention the punishment that citizens will endure with an amnesty, only the suggested “humanitarian” benefit the illegals will receive? Citizen taxpayers are being punished by having to fund the huge cost of public benefits of illegals and their dependents. And every social services dollar going to illegal immigrants and their dependents is one less dollar going to our own poor, since there is not an unlimited amount of taxpayer money. Low-skilled citizens are punished by lost jobs and driven-down wages due to illegal immigration. How humanitarian is it to keep granting amnesties (since the IRCA amnesty in 1986 the USA has granted six “mini-amnesties”) while would-be legal immigrants wait years and years in line? Any action other than illegal immigrants returning to their native country and getting in the back of the line is in fact an amnesty.

Should consideration be given to the so-called “Dream or Achieve” Act amnesty? Both of these are marketed as helping children of illegal immigrants. Children aren’t really deported. They simply follow and go with their parents. 18-32 year old persons are adults, not children. As young adults, those illegally in the USA can go back to their native country to attend trade school or college and/or work legally. The only persons hurt with such an amnesty are young adult citizens who, one for one (as college is a selection process), will be disenfranchised for every illegal immigrant allowed to enroll in a U.S. college or take a job in the USA.
We need to reduce legal immigration and make it much more advanced education-based AND diverse (ten sending countries hog most of the legal immigration slots). More diversity automatically makes it likely that legal immigrants will learn English and not easily reside in ethnic enclaves in America. Use the opportunity of reforming immigration to do welfare reform at the same time. Reduce legal immigration to a total of 150,000 per year until our high real unemployment rate (use U-6 data per the Dept of Labor) is significantly lowered. Why are we allowing nearly one million legal immigrants to the USA each year to include this year, while over 16 million Americans are either unemployed or want and cannot find a full-time job? Maybe we need to listen to citizens instead of the whining of the US Chamber of Commerce and other cheap labor advocates.