Can We Afford the
Costs of Illegal Aliens?

Smuggling illegal aliens into the United States is big business. Fees range from $1,000 for Mexicans to $4,000 for Central Americans and up to $50,000 for Chinese or Middle Easterners. A loaded 18 wheeler can be worth $100,000 to $200,000. Tragic truck and van accidents have been reported all over the United States as the illegals are transported far from the border.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, about 65% of all the cocaine and most of the marijuana that enters this country comes from Mexico. Nevertheless, less than 2% of trucks coming across our southern border are inspected.

It should be no surprise that the combination of clusters of illegal aliens and the persistence of illegal drugs has increased the crime rate. Phoenix police report that 60% of the homicides involve Mexicans mixed up in smuggling both drugs and people, Tucson's crime rate has grown 12 times the national average, and a vehicle is stolen in Arizona every 10 minutes. City gangs are a big problem in many states.

The costs of treating illegal aliens in U.S. hospitals are bilking the taxpayers in border states and inflating prices for patients who pay their own hospital bills, insurance companies and Medicaid. This situation is caused by a combination of U.S. officials allowing Mexican cars to cross our border plus the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, an unfunded mandate that forces U.S. hospitals with emergency room services to treat anyone who shows up for care including illegal aliens. A study made by the U.S. - Mexico Border Counties Coalition found that U.S. hospitals in border states provide at least $200 million a year in uncompensated emergency care to illegal aliens. In the four border states, 77 hospitals now face a medical emergency.

Texas, California and New York have been disobeying federal law by giving subsidized college tuition rates to illegal aliens. This gives a taxpayer benefit to illegal aliens that is denied to U.S. citizens in the 49 other states. The monetary difference, which varies from state to state, can be as high as $11,000 per year.

The Social Security Administration is engaged in discussions with Mexico about an agreement to allow Mexicans to receive U.S. Social Security benefits. One plan is to allow Mexicans, who were not employed in the U.S. long enough to collect U.S. Social Security benefits, to count the time they worked in Mexico as part of the mandatory 10 years or 40 quarters. Another expensive plan is to provide benefits to the estimated 5 million Mexicans who are working illegally in the United States after having supplied fake Social Security numbers to their employers. This would put hundreds of thousands of Mexicans onto the rolls of the U.S. Social Security system just as the first wave of baby boomers starts getting retirement checks and cost U.S. taxpayers up to $345 billion.

American taxpayers should wake up and see how they are being ripped off by the high costs of tolerating the invasion of one million illegal aliens who now enter our country each year.