Bumper stickers seem to be a good business these days and there are all different kinds out there. I saw this bumper sticker on a car the other day. It really got me thinking. To me this is a statement against immigration reform and the fight to get our immigration problem under control, or maybe even a denial that there is a problem. On the surface this may seem like a valid statement. After all the United States was founded on the idea of mass immigration. Why should we change from this principle and fight immigration. On the surface this all sounds and feels good. There are three big connection here that are not being made.

First, this argument has to be broken up to legal and illegal immigration. We the people were not all illegal immigrants. The fight in America right now is illegal immigration not legal immigration and not immigration in general.

Second, at the start of this country when millions on people flocked to its shores it was not a welfare state. It was far from being a welfare state. If you came to America back then you had to fend for yourself and make your live here as there was no welfare to lean on. No free education and no free meals. It was a harsh land the immigrant had to be ready to make their own way in. This is not the case any more. America has a welfare system that will help feed you, provide healthcare (as no ER can turn people away) and provide you any education. A 2004 estimate had states spending over 28 billion a year on education for illegal immigrants. Education is great, but this is a drain on the US education system that is already falling behind and struggling to find funding to keep up.

Third, illegal immigration causes more crime and raises crime rates.

“violent crime and drug distribution and possession is also prevalent among illegal aliens. Over 25% of today's federal prison population are illegal aliens. In some areas of the country, 12% of felonies, 25% of burglaries and 34% of thefts are committed by illegal aliens.” source

There is a huge drug problem on our boarders with drug cartels getting stronger in Mexico and more daring when it comes to the US Mexico border. Gangs in the US are getting more formally engaged with drug cartels to care out their needs on the US side of the boarder.

Here are a few more statics from that same source.

• In Los Angeles, 95% of some 1,500 outstanding warrants for homicides are for illegal aliens. About 67% of the 17,000 outstanding fugitive felony warrants are for illegal aliens.
• 80,000 to 100,000 illegal aliens who have been convicted of serious crimes are walking the streets. Based on studies they will commit an average of 13 serious crimes per perpetrator
• Illegal aliens are involved in criminal activities at a rate that is 2-5 times their representative proportion of the population.
• Illegal aliens commit between 700,000 to 1,289,000 or more crimes per year.
• Illegal aliens commit at least 2,158 murders each year – a number that represents three times greater participation than their proportion of the population.
• Illegal alien sexual predators commit an estimated 130,909 sexual crimes each year.
  • Nearly 63% of illegal alien sex offenders had been deported on another offense prior to committing the sex crime.
• The very brutal MS-13 gang has over 15,000 members and associates in at least 115 different cliques in 33 states.

I am not against legal immigration at all. I do believe that illegal immigration is a huge problem in this country and a drain on our society. The flow of illegal immigrants needs to be faced and at least slowed. The problem is not a simple as a bumper sicker.