Illegal immigrants spurn needed benefits

‘Immigrants are now afraid to report crimes’
Immigrants’ activists contend that the federal crackdown could lead to long-term problems for government authorities.

All sorts of local, state and federal programs are funded according to formulae based, in part, on population data: The fewer people in a given location, the less money is available.

Likewise, the same data govern apportionment of congressional seats. In districts with large immigrant populations, getting illegal immigrants to respond to census takers is crucial. Noting widespread fear of deportation among illegal immigrants, U.S. Census officials took the unusual step late last year of calling on authorities to end the crackdown in time for the 2010 census.

State and local officials have made similar calls.

In Virginia, for example, each student listed on a census card, legal or illegal, means about $2,300 for the child’s school system. The census is prohibited from asking about immigration status, but many illegal immigrants still refuse to take part.

“That is our concern, that people, because of what is going on in other jurisdictions, will feel we’re trying to gather information for some other purpose,” said Robert Smith, superintendent of the Arlington County schools.

Fear also hampers police, whom illegal immigrants particularly avoid, for the same reason.

“We’ve really seen an impact in public safety, because immigrants are now afraid to report crimes because of fear of detention or deportation,” said Caroline Keating-Guerra, an organizer for the Austin, Texas, Immigrant Rights Coalition. “That goes for witnesses or victims of crimes.”

Economic impact debated
Employers in low-paying industries join immigrants’ activists in saying the crackdown is short-sighted and insist that, if anything, illegal immigrants should get more help from the government.

Carol McDowell, president of McDowell Enterprises, a metal plating company in Elkhart, Ind., agreed. She said that immigrant workers were needed to keep the economy running and that the government should seek ways to help illegal immigrants survive and become naturalized.

“There are not enough Americans to do the jobs that are being created in America today by entrepreneurial companies,” McDowell said.

“The federal government has failed to provide a pathway to individuals who have been allowed to cross the borders to be legal so that they can fully contribute and give their tax dollars back to the nation,” she said.

And the government does collect plenty of tax money from illegal immigrants, said Tom Roach, an immigration attorney in Pasco, Wash.

“They pay sales taxes, federal income taxes, Social Security taxes, taken right out of their paycheck, sent right to the federal government,” Roach said. “Social Security is about to go broke, but thanks to the illegal aliens, there’s presently $345 billion in the Social Security fund, which is helping to keep it afloat.”

But proponents of crackdowns argue that those arguments are beside the point. Illegal immigrants, by definition, are criminals, they say, and should be brought to account.

“This is a rule-of-law issue,” said Jackie Walorski, a Republican member of the Indiana House of Representatives. “I cannot imagine that we’re going to ... say to the children in this generation right now that it’s OK to pick and choose what law you want to abide by.”

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