In California cities, illegal immigrants with criminal records are lining up to get INTO jail. “Please, Mr. Sheriff, arrest me and put me in protective custody.” (Of course they say it in Spanish.) Why?
Last week the federal government arrested over 200 immigrants in Los Angeles without documentation, and 88 percent of them have criminal records. They will be sent to a federal prison or expelled from the country. Interestingly, they had warrants for 200 others but could not arrest them. Do you know why? Because they were already in jail and California officials refuse to hand them over. California is building more jails, but they won’t cost much. They only need locks to keep the Federal officers OUT.
A judge in New York City declared that the owner of an old building did not have a legal right to paint it, and fined him for doing just that. There was nothing obscene or derogatory about the paint job on the 4-story brick building; it was just plain white paint used to cover up graffiti. The fine was $6,000,000. That’s not a typo; that’s a 6 with six zeros after it. If you own a barn with a “Mail Pouch” ad, or a building with an American flag painted on it, before repainting you had better have a big bank account. No, wait. Never mind. That judge would applaud painting over the flag.
Immigration Arithmetic. The immigration debate in Washington is weird, and it all relates to simple math. Yes, it’s political, but the politics is dominated by math. First, Democrats insisted that 800,000 immigrants brought here illegally by their parents should be granted citizenship. But when President Trump suggested that 1,800,000 be put on a path to citizenship Democrats rose up against the idea. The answer to this puzzle is in the math. Why oppose something they originally favored? And why did they seize on the idea of allowing children of illegal immigrants to stay instead of insisting on citizenship for the parents? Well, only a small minority of Americans want to give citizenship to adults. But children… innocent, helpless children… that’s a different story.
Here’s where the math comes in. Once these “children” became citizens under the DREAM Act, they in turn, just like any U.S. citizen, could petition to make their parents legal citizens also. Once Congress, as Democrats insisted, voted to allow the original 800,000 DACA illegals to stay, of course all other “children” of undocumented immigrants should receive the same benefit. That increases the number way beyond 1.8 million; probably at least 3 million. Democrats also insisted on keeping “chain” migration which means those 3 million new citizens could petition to have parents already here illegally, and hordes of family members back in their home country, could become new American citizens. Add those to the original number and you have at least 10 million. Democrats also did not want to change the “lottery” system, which favors less developed countries, to an immigration system based on merit. (Merit means that we want to attract immigrants who will contribute to the American way and build the country.) Ones who come on “merit” are likely to be entrepreneurs, computer specialists, nurses, engineers and others who would thrive in our free enterprise system. Ones who come in a “lottery” system will, by chance, include a few of those, but mostly immigrants without needed skills, little education, and who would be beholden to the government for assistance.
So for the Democrats, 800,000 was expected to balloon to 10,000,000 very quickly. And in ten or fifteen years, without “The Wall” and effective border security, we would have the same DACA and DREAMer situation all over again. Yes, by simple arithmetic, 800,000 in 2018 could add up to 20,000,000 by the 2030s.
If you think that math looks impossible, consider another government program, with dollars. When Medicare was begun in the mid-1960s the projected annual cost was $10 Billion. It multiplied to $700 Billion today.
Historic quote by Will Rogers:
“I tell you the whole world is cockeyed, and we mustn’t be surprised at anything. Mr. Coolidge, who never said and unkind word against anybody – in fact talks less than anybody – he pays $2500 [in a lawsuit] for talking too much.” DT #1777, April 4, 1932