Your Equity in America and the Immigration Bear Market
by Glenn R. Jackson
President Bush speaking on June 28th, 2002 regarding the continuing crisis in U.S. public markets, and the betrayal of the American investor said, “But corporate America has got to understand there’s a higher calling than trying to fudge the numbers, trying to slip a billion here or a billion there and may hope nobody notices – that you have a responsibility in this country to always be aboveboard.” Amen to that, now what about the governments responsibility regarding U.S. immigration policy? Many of the open borders crowd, of which the President is one, are fond of telling Americans that theirs is a nation of immigrants, as if that is enough reason to take the hinges off the door.
Nevertheless our nation’s history is a salient point when you consider the investment in personal sacrifice in labor, military service, and political renewal that is our inheritance from our forebears. The investment of our parents and their parent’s parents to ensure the blessings of liberty and prosperity to this nation in perpetuity is not to be dismissed. Nor is that investment to be lightly given away for free to satisfy the ruling elite’s need for perpetuation.
As many of the nation’s corporations are beginning to pay the piper for accounting sleight-of-hand tricks that unduly inflated corporate share price and investor portfolios with bankruptcies and corporate failures. The President and the political class are hiding their own management failings, mishandling of the public trust, and betraying of our nation’s inheritance. The private market’s accounting tricks can take nothing away from the tried and tested governmental accounting bag of tricks. With the accounting books spread over hundreds of government agencies and with government watchdog groups composed of political appointees, where is the U.S. citizen to find “accountability.”
Recently released by the Center for Immigration Studies is a paper by Harvard Professor George Borjas, “An Evaluation of the Foreign Student Program.” Three findings jump out of Professor Borjas’ paper. “The TOTAL net gain to the (U.S.) economy from the employment of foreign students and foreign graduates is less than $1 billion per year, while a portion (275, 000 foreign students) of that total receive a subsidy of $2.5 billion per year from U.S. taxpayers.” That represents a net loss to the American taxpayers of over $1.5 billion annually and climbing. Also noted by Professor Borjas are the 73,000 U.S. schools certified by the INS to accept foreign students and the corresponding subsidies, a number that is “about twice the total number of state-accredited colleges, universities, vocational, and high schools in the country.”
The certified recipients of taxpayer subsidies undoubtedly include programs like the University of South Florida’s Islamic studies program, whose director left the U.S. for Syria where he assumed the leadership role in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Or is the remainder of these certified schools like the Al-Qalam All-Girls school in Springfield, VA. Where FoxNews reports that seventh graders are taught that bin Laden is “ a victim of American’s biased views”. Or maybe they are like the Islamic Saudi Academy outside of Washington D.C., where the same Fox story reports that the Washington Post finds juniors being taught “the Day of Judgment can’t come until Jesus Christ returns to earth, breaks the cross and converts everyone to Islam, and until Muslims start attacking Jews.”
Financially, socially, or culturally it is clear that this aspect of U.S. immigration policy is operating at a net loss to the U.S. taxpayer. What about President Bush’s favorite immigration industry, importation of unskilled labor across the nations border with Mexico?
Again you find a net loss to the U.S. taxpayer. Another report at the Center for Immigration Studies notes that the net financial burden, taking into account governmental services used, range from $11 to $20 billion annually. Nearly 28 million more immigrants now reside within our borders since 1990. Estimates are that as many as 1.2 million illegal aliens have illegally registered to vote in the United States. During 1999-2000 unemployment among U.S. blacks rose from already high levels an additional 2%. Illegal immigration imports criminals, felons, and those with questionable mental histories. Over 20% of current federal prisoners are illegal aliens.
The nation’s immigration policies are operating at a tremendous loss annually to the United States. The damage is significant to the nation’s culture, social fiber, and over-taxed workers. The net investment of our forefathers is being squandered by an oversize Federal government intent only in its own growth and perpetuation.
Yet there is the great truth as claimed by President Bush “of a higher calling.”
When comparing the impact of corporate betrayals to governmental betrayals the President should remember the words of Christ found in the Book of Matthew. “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.”
Glenn R. Jackson is Chairman of the American Reformation Project, former State Chairman for Buchanan Reform and former state Chairman of the Georgia Freedom Party. Glenn also served on the Executive Committee of the Reform Party USA. Glenn holds an MA in Philosophy from Georgia State University in Atlanta.
© Glenn R. Jackson