Open letter to Republican Senators about Immigration Reform

I come to you to make my case for you to contribute to the approval of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

The first point I want to make is regarding President Ronald Reagan. It seems he is an admired president among the Republican community. He signed measures that brought economic prosperity to the country. He was also the president that had the guts to pass an immigration reform.

People say that the amnesty approved with that bill brought an explosion of new immigrants. Well, it could also be said that the economic prosperity that followed opened new jobs and opportunities and there were not enough people here to cover those jobs, and so it was the economic prosperity what brought new immigrants. Recession times have shown a decrease in immigrants. Do we want economic prosperity or do we want recession? Immigrants are a sign of economic health.

11 million illegal immigrants are, as expected, a diverse group of people. 10% work in management positions. I imagine this is comparable to the citizen population. There are many illegal immigrants that hold college education degrees. Some of these higher educated people could be illegal because they overstayed their visas, and some of them live here since they were children and went through the education process in United States. They didn’t have access to scholarships, but they were able to get private loans and are now professionals working in corporate America, but still illegal.

There are several lies distributed by extremist in the Internet and other media to denigrate the immigrants. I imagine you, being intelligent people, base your decisions in real numbers, real facts and not in biased rumors with no support, but nevertheless, so we speak in the same language, here some clarification to 3 or 4 facts.

Some people say that illegal immigrants do not pay taxes. You should know that 80% of Texas revenue comes from sales taxes and property taxes, and illegal immigrants cannot avoid those taxes. They also buy lottery and pay all kinds of fees for transactions such as buying a car, or renewing car stickers. The only tax item in discussion is income tax. Illegal immigrants get their income tax deducted from their paychecks if they work for a company, even when they use a fake id. The small group that receives cash payments may opt to report or not such income, just as much as any citizen would. It is in the best interest of the illegal immigrant to report any income in order to prove his legal behavior once he has an opportunity to legalize his situation, so many do. So, as you see, more than 90% of any government taxes and fees are paid by illegal aliens, just as much as citizens do.

Some people complain that illegal immigrants have lots of babies. That is probably true. At least, as a group, they have higher fertility rates. This could also be a good thing. Here a quote from Time magazine: "Between now and 2030, demographers forecast the E.U. will have lost 13 million -or almost 4%- of people ages 15 to 64. Meanwhile, the number of people over 65 will increase by more than 40%. On a continent where the fertility rate is well below 2, these questions arise: Who will make up the workforce? Who will care for the disproportionate number of elderly citizens?" Shouldn’t we make sure the people that are the future, the people that will take care of us when we are old, are at least legal?

Some people say that illegal immigrants are criminals, or that they overpopulate the prison system. In reality, according to the U.S. department of justice only 94,498 inmates are non-citizens, which make less than 1% of the illegal immigrant population. I imagine that is around the same proportion of criminals in the citizen population. Most people are good people. So we should go after that small part that are real crooks and not after common good people.

Being illegal is being outside the law; we understand that clearly, and that is the main issue in discussion. Different crimes have different punishments according to gravity and how they affect other people. So it is important to reason how grave is for a person to work, pay for his own expenses, contribute to the economy, and pay taxes. Should that person be outside the law at all? Of course, there should be a process to legalize the situation. People should and are willing to pay a fine for their transgression, but if they are otherwise law abiding, hard working people, needed in their jobs, they should be able to get a path to legalization.

Some people say that illegal immigrants take jobs that would otherwise go to legal workers. But undocumented workers also create demand that leads to new jobs. They buy food and cars and cell phones, they get haircuts and use legal services, they watch television and cable, and they generate big business for many companies.

Some people say that illegal immigrants are a burden for Social Security and Medicare funds, but in reality they don’t even receive any services from those areas while they contribute about $7 billion per year into Social Security.

Overall, as demonstrated here, most illegal immigrants contribute to society and function for all purposes as any citizen of US.

You know some measurers make no-sense. Some people suggest sending 11 million people back to their countries of origin, but you know that is not possible. 11 million people are 2 huge cities emptied out. Do you imagine the disruption that such imaginary possibility might bring? Plus the moral burden of such dictatorial exodus? Especially since their only crime has been to respond to a call for workers that the country needed.

Other measures like the wall in the border don’t make sense, since 40% of illegal immigrants entered the country with valid visas. The Arizona law SB 1070 is a desperate attempt supposedly against the violence and drug trafficking situation, but those complex problems need much deeper action than racial profiling.

So we know we have to confront reality as it is and contribute to the dialogue and solution, because we are all part of the same reality.

People came here because they were invited. They were invited directly, with ads placed in Mexican and other countries’ media at different times by different industries, such as meat packers, salmon fisheries, or even the military to attract needed workers. They were invited indirectly when the opportunities were here and they were available and ready to fill those posts. Immigration laws should respond to the needs of the industry. If workers are needed, establish a path so that those workers could legally be part of the building of America.

Contributing to the approval of Comprehensive Immigration Reform could be in your political benefit. A big proportion of Hispanic people voted for Bush. They share with the Republican Party some religious beliefs, the respect for life, the drive for prosperity, but they also share with you a big respect for family. So that is why immigration reform is a big issue for them, because it touches their families and close friends. A big proportion of illegal immigrants that can legalize their situation through comprehensive immigration reform would probably become Republican followers if they see their beliefs and expectations supported by the people in charge.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform will mean to get some extra funds from fines and fees that people will have to pay in their way to legalization. It will also mean that any funds spent so far in this limbo of illegality can be dedicated better to solve real problems, to fight terrorists and drug dealers, instead of wasted in harassing common good people. We will have 11 million less imaginary problems, 11 million more people contributing to America, as they have done so far.

Sources:
10% in management
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration_to_the_United_States#Number_of_illegal_immigrants
40% are overstay
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/jul/12/luis-gutierrez/democratic-rep-gutierrez-says-40-percent-illegal-i/
Illegal immigrants are estimated to pay in about $7 billion per year into Social Security.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_impact_of_illegal_immigrants_in_the_United_States
Only 94,498 inmates are non-citizens
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/pim09st.pdf

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