[Ed note: I agree.]

Thank you for your report. It is good to hear an unbiased opinion from someone who was really there. There has just been enough speculation.

Again, thank you for taking your time to go across county and to report back.

I attended the meeting last night. I have some concerns about the Chief having a meeting with the Mexican Consul, but Chief Deane was impressive and above board last night. He did not placate the crowd there. He was honest and told them like it was.
The question of the drunken driving road block came up and Deane told the crowd that if they are pulled over in this, and they don’t have a license, don’t speak English or they have questionable documents they WILL be asked their legal status.
The crowd tried many times to corner Chief Deane into promising them something and he wouldn’t have any of it. He told them that there might even be certain circumstances that the police would question their legal status even when they are witnesses to a crime. That went over well with the crowd. (sarcasm)
The Mexican Consul started the meeting off in Spanish when there were clearly many non-Hispanic’s in the group. The thing that disturbed me about this was, it was NEVER translated into English, so I have to wonder what he said to the crowd. This happened several times during the meeting.
As for Chief Deane being against the resolutions implementation, he has NO option but to enforce it. He might not be happy about it but after hearing him speak last night, I do believe he WILL and that he will honestly put forth a concerted effort to enforce the “Rule of Law” resolution.
I too have questions about Chief Deane’s dealings with the Mexican government but I am willing to reserve judgment until we get those answers.

Maureen,
Where is your update posted? I’ve checked out every thread.
I’ve spoken to a few that were looking forward to YOUR thoughts on the evening’s events. I know you always do what you say. So I’m a little curious where it is.
*I hope you know I’m not trying to give you crap here.*

The meeting with the community was fine, but Representatives of a Foreign Government should not have been there, plain and simple. You liberal types get all pissy when America butts in the business of Foreign Governments and Nations, what do y’all call it? American imperialism. But, you sure do not mind when the shoe is on the other foot.

Tell me how can Sharon Pandak who lost twice in the race for chairman manage to get on the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority? That certainly doesn’t seem right to me. Somebody should investigate that situation.

Bruno-You hit the nail on the head. Corey Stewart does not really care about anything but his own personal gain. Illegal immigration was what he used to further his own career. His antics will cost the taxpayers of PW Co millions of dollars and higher taxes, not just this year but in years to come.

As for the meeting at the Hi Mart. I was there. Chief Deane did a great job. I had many questions regarding the rule of law as well as the Latino/Hispanic population. He patiently answered all the questions. This meeting, even though some of you may not like it, was just one of many meetings that have been held as a community education program. As for the Mexican Consulate, his presence there helped to affirm what Chief Deane was saying and to relay information to the Community about the round up of the 34 concrete workers.

All in all it was a good and informative meeting. I wish the HSM types that were not there would not put a spin on what happened and the intent of the meeting. There were no hidden agendas. It was purely informational with a further explanation of the “Rule of Law”.

What a load of crap. How many ERs which were located along the border have closed in the last few years? What was the reason, too many illegals coming in for service. Who pays for illegals? You and me.

If Americans wanted citizenship for illegals, the Senate Bill would have passed. It did not, why? Because Americans do not want Citizenship for illegals.

How do illegals who get paid in cash, pay taxes on that money? ‘nough said about how illegals somehow pay more in taxes then they use.

It costs roughly 50% more to educate an ESL student, who most likely is an illegal, then it does to educate a non ESL student. Do illegals pay 50% more in taxes to cover the costs of ESL education? No, they do not.

How is a house that has more than one illegal family living in it with children attending public schools, paying their fair share of real estate taxes?

Illegals make up less than 5% of the total work force in this Country. How is it this Country would not make it without them?

We do not need to have mass deportation, just start to enforce the laws we have now, and as we have seen here in PW County, the illegals will move on.

The Texas study is wrong, what about the localities in Texas? They spent more on illegals.

So, take you pro criminal BS and go hang out with the child rapists. You and anyone else who makes excuses for illegals should be more then willing to have such rapists baby sit your children, or other family members.

June 12, 2007

The current debate regarding the comprehensive immigration reform bill is complex and hotly contested, yet the fundamental legislative framework is clearly within reach despite the Senate’s recent failure to move forward with bipartisan legislation supported by President Bush. This is why the president’s trip to Capitol Hill today to meet with fellow Republicans is so important to the political, social, and economic future of the nation.
With so much at stake, it’s important to have the correct information about the state of immigrants in the United States today and a clear understanding of the importance of comprehensive immigration reform. The following are a series of reality checks on commonly held myths about immigration and immigrants, based on several reports released by policy experts of the Center for American Progress.

Reality Check: Immigrants in the U.S. Health Care System

Myth: U.S. public health insurance programs are overburdened with documented and undocumented immigrants.

Reality: Twenty-one percent of total medical costs were paid through public sources for native-born citizens, compared to 16 percent for documented and undocumented immigrants. In terms of taxes paid per household, this equates to $56 for health care for documented immigrants and $11 for health care (emergency Medicaid services) for the undocumented.

Myth: Immigrants come to the United States to gain access to health services.

Reality: Immigrants are most likely to be employed in indus­tries that do not offer health insurance coverage, such as agriculture, construction, food processing, restau­rants, and hotel services. Uninsured rates in these industries are more than 30 percent for all workers compared to 19 percent for workers across all industries.

Myth: Undocumented immigrants are “free-riders” in the U.S. health care system.

Reality: The National Research Council concluded that immigrants will pay on average $80,000 per capita more in taxes than they will use in government services during their lifetimes. The Social Security Admin­istration, for example, estimates that workers without valid social secu­rity numbers contribute $7 billion in Social Security tax revenues and roughly $1.5 billion in Medicare taxes annually, yet elderly immigrants rarely qualify for Medicare or long-term care services provided through Medicaid.

Reality Check: Immigrants and the U.S. Work Force

Myth: Out-of-work natives could replace undocumented immigrants in our workforce.

Reality: Removing all undocumented immigrants from the U.S. workforce would leave 2.5 million low-skill jobs unfilled. In a paper commissioned by the Center for American Progress, William & Mary economist David A. Jaeger found a telling disparity between myth and reality in the effects of immigration on the workforce: out-of-work natives could not effectively replace undocumented natives. The jobs that undocumented immigrants currently hold require a substantially lower skill set than most jobless natives possess. As a result of the skills gap, only 105,000 natives could appropriately replace the 2.5 million immigrants in very low-skill jobs, leaving 2.4 million positions unfilled. Such a loss would put states with large immigrant populations, such as Arizona and California, in dire straits.

Myth: Undocumented immigrants are a drain on the U.S. economy.

Reality: Even conservative estimates show that undocumented immigrants play a substantial role in supporting the U.S. economy and boosting its potential. In Arizona, they earn 2.9 percent of total wages; that is 2.5 times more than physicians and 3.1 times more than lawyers and police officers or firefighters. Immigrants’ presence in the labor force not only buttresses that force’s lower tiers, it also fosters overall economic growth.

A 2006 study found that state revenues collected from undocumented immigrants in Texas exceeded by $424.7 million what the state spent on these immigrants in public services such as education and health care in 2005.

Reality Check: The Feasibility of a Mass Deportation Policy

Myth: Deportation is a realistic and economically feasible way of taking care of the backlog of undocumented workers currently in the United States.

Reality: Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has stated “[T]he dirty secret is that we couldn’t deport 10 million illegal immigrants if we wanted to.” Deporting 10 million undocumented immigrants would cost $41 billion annually over five years, or $206 billion total, using conservative estimates of key variables. Compared to other current budget figures, the cost of a mass deportation policy would:

Exceed the entire budget of the Department of Homeland Security for the 2006 fiscal year ending in October 2007 ($34.2 billion)
Approach the total amount of money requested by the 33 federal agencies responsible for homeland security activities for FY 2006 ($49.9 billion)
More than double annual spending on border and transportation security ($19.3 billion)
Comprise half the annual cost of the Iraq war ($74 billion)
More than double the annual cost of military operations in Afghanistan ($16.8 billion)

Reality Check: The Majority of the Public Supports Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Myth: There is weak support among the public for immigration reform.

Reality: Voters consistently express support for comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship. Data from a recent CNN poll, for example, show that 80 percent of the public favors a program that would allow illegal immigrants who have been living in the United States for several years, have jobs, and are willing to pay back taxes, to apply for citizenship. A Quinnipiac University poll from last November similarly showed that a very strong 69 percent-to-27 percent majority of registered voters favor a similar program.

Perpetuation of Myths is Not in the Nation’s Best Interests

The majority of the U.S. public understands that these myths misinform the immigration debate, which is why we as a country overwhelmingly support a tough but not punitive approach to immigration reform. President Bush has an opportunity and an obligation today and in the coming weeks to persuade restrictionists not to perpetuate myths that skew the debate. Misinformation about the important policies under discussion is not in our nation’s best interests.

To read more about CAP’s reports on immigration, please see:

Immigrants in the U.S. Health Care System
Replacing the Undocumented Work Force
Deporting the Undocumented: A Cost Assessment
Legal Immigrants Strongly Oppose Congressional Immigration Proposals
What the Public Really Wants…On Immigration Reform

To speak with our experts on this topic, please contact:

For print, John Neurohr, Press Assistant
202.481.8182 or jneurohr@americanprogress.org
For radio, Andrea Purse, Deputy Director of Media Strategy
202.446.8429 or apurse@americanprogress.org
For TV, Sean Gibbons, Director of Media Strategy
202.682.1611 or sgibbons@americanprogress.org
For web, Erin Lindsay, Online Marketing Manager
202.741.6397 or elindsay@americanprogress.org
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