Reply to Establishment Republican's Reason for Opposing Immigration EO

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Since illegals are so contributory and so well-off, they need no access to food stamps, free medical, or any other social welfare program, correct?[/quote]

21:25 here. That's distorting the point. From looking at the cost of welfare, incarceration and education against the economic benefits provided to our society as a whole because of the spending and productivity of illegal immigrants, it's probably close to a wash whether it's economically costly or beneficial to deport them all. It's possible that their presence is still a drain on the economy that is not completely offset by their economic activity, or it's possible that there is a net economic benefit to society.

However, when you factor in the cost of deporting them, including the costs associated with dealing with all of the children who under the Constitution are citizens of the US and entitled to all of the benefits of citizenship, it would cost us far more to deport the illegal immigrants than it would to allow them to remain here.

As far as the provision of social benefits (food stamps, medical care, etc.) to illegal immigrants is concerned (and these are not in any particular order and most of these apply to all those receiving social safety net support, not just illegal immigrants):

- first, by analogy, just because someone is driving on a revoked or suspended driver's license or driving a car whose registration has expired doesn't mean they forego the right to a police/fire response or medical treatment if they are in an accident on the Beltway;

- second, a number of the children of illegal immigrants are citizens who are entitled to all of those benefits;

- third, many illegal immigrants are working and paying taxes despite their immigration status and are paying to support those services;

- fourth, there is a societal benefit to making sure that those at or below the poverty line get fed, have access to medical care, get education, etc. There are plenty of studies showing the beneficial impact of appropriate nutrition for women during pregnancy and for children (and the corresponding adverse impacts of the lack thereof, particularly increasing the costs of pregnancy and the medical costs associated with children's care and adverse longer term societal impacts);

- fifth, there is a security benefit to providing free medical care for people because it enables us to catch and treat outbreaks of communicable diseases before they become far costlier problems;

- sixth, in addition to being the morally right thing to do, there is a societal security benefit to providing people at or below the poverty line with food security because it decreases the likelihood that people will turn to criminal means to feed themselves and their children. The cost to society of providing food security is lower than the cost to society of the impact of such theft and the increased law enforcement efforts necessary to prevent it.[/quote]

Your argument is in support of open borders, and you carefully pick and choose what to quantify and what to say is our moral/societal responsibility.  Not everyone agrees.

The US is a sovereign nation.  We have an immigration process and immigration laws.  Our President is responsible for enforcing those laws.  If you want to argue that the laws should be changed, that is Congress' job.  (If it takes years to gain enough concensus to pass a law, then it takes years.  Many of our country's issues have.  In addition, most adults entering our country illegally knew it was illegal, and those overstaying their visas, etc. know it is illegal to stay.)   This should not be an EO!  This issue crosses party lines as evidenced by the polls and the posts on this site.  Let's have a public debate, and let the people talk to their representatives.  Our government relies on a balance of power.  To undo this balance of power with wide reaching, broad impacting EO's is a frightening prospect for our future.  
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