I just heard a story on NPR about illegal immigrants in California and people who want to give them driver’s licenses.
The example they gave was a guy who has been living and working here illegally since he was 9. He himself told of having many car accidents and fleeing the scene because he was illegal and uninsured. He lost his $600 per week job because he no longer has a car. But they say he should get a driver’s license.
Someone who breaks the law constantly, flees accident scenes… yup, that’s exactly the kind of person who should be given a license.
At the risk of my liberal credentials, can I point out that this guy did not have insurance, probably pays no taxes — ’cause he’s illegal — and thus takes home the same pay I do. The third of my salary that I pay in taxes in some small way goes to support this guy and other illegals, if only in a miniscule way.
I often get riled up over paying so much in taxes to support other people’s children. Because a bunch of people decided to copulate, I have to pay? Hardly fair. I’m not opposed to taxes for schools — a well-educated citizenry is good for all of us. (Assuming they’re well-educated, which is rarely the case. But I digress.) The point here is that I can’t afford to pay to fix other people’s lives all the time. If you decide to have kids, make sure you can support them. (Unless of course, you’re Catholic and Republican, in which case just pop them out like crazy.) If you decide to illegally enter this country, don’t expect all the citizens to support you.
I just don’t understand the push to give illegal aliens so many rights — folks, it’s right there in the first word, they’re illegal. Yes, life here is better. Yes, we want people to live better lives. But there is a process to become a citizen, difficult and byzantine as it is. If you are here illegally, don’t expect to get the benefits of citizenship.
Yep, while I was listening to this story, I was callously thinking… ‘He’s an illegal immigrant, why isn’t he being deported? Or if not deported, made a citizen who has to pay taxes.’
Those officials are fooling themselves if they think those guys are going to buy insurance.
Maybe it’s one of those things where they look the other way because the US needs cheap labor.
I understand that a great many illegal immigrants do jobs that regular Americans don’t want to do, but instead of giving them rights as illegal immigrants, wouldn’t it be better to make an effort to make them legal, therefore getting them into the tax paying system? This seems like a no brainer to me.
Humm, for a second there you sounded kinda Republicany.
Well is was George W. Bush who said “The really rich people figure out how to dodge taxes anyway.”
I’d like everyone to pay their fair taxes, (whatever that is). The problem is that these illegals are probably paid so little that they couldn’t afford to pay taxes, and if they were paid more our food costs would go way up, etc…