Immigration is one of the few topics in which I disagree with many of my fellow Libertarians and others. It's not because I value liberty any more or less than they do; rather, it's a different perspective on whose liberty we are trying to preserve.

The LPNC welcomes immigrants to our state. There should be no laws that set different standards for immigrants and non-immigrants. People who are not citizens should enjoy equal treatment under the law.

- Position Statement of the NC Libertarian Party

I do not object to immigrants being able to move freely to make better lives for themselves. However, I do object to *illegal* immigrants coming to our nation for the purpose of qualifying for in-state college tuition (when law-abiding tax-paying citizens from neighboring states cannot qualify for this same benefit), free primary and secondary education, government-funded non-emergency healthcare, and the list goes on. 

Our costs to provide these "free" or subsidized services have been going up year-by-year. As examples, this includes costs for printing government documents in multiple languages, providing translators for schools and government services, building new schools to provide seats to the children of illegal immigrants, and expanding our infrastructure to support more cars on the highways.

In 2006, the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina estimated that cost to educate illegals in the Tarheel state was $210 million; a decade earlier, the cost was only $10 million. It went on to report that illegal immigrants accounted for 57% of the state's enrollment growth between 2000 and 2005. If not for this influx of illegals, the need to fund and build new classrooms across the state would be dramatically reduced. More recent estimates place the cost at $300 million to $500 million annually.

How significant is this cost to taxpayers overall? Simply look at the number of illegals potentially draining the public coffers. Today, estimates place 12 - 30 million people in the United States without authorization; with a population of 300 million, that means up to 10% of those in our country are here illegally. That's a staggering number.

According to the NC FIRE Coalition, the DHS estimated this number to be at 385,000 in North Carolina. By the year 2010, the annual cost incurred by North Carolinians just to educate, provide emergency health care for, and incarcerate illegal aliens is estimated at $1.7 Billion annually. This 'invasion of illegals' is contributing to water shortages, school overcrowding, traffic problems, air pollution, crowded housing, increased wastes, and an increase in the number of residents below the poverty rate.

These estimates do not address the indirect costs of illegals who work in an underground economy; by working off the books and avoiding taxes, illegals are able to work more cheaply than law-abiding, hard-working Americans. This contributes to displacing US workers from jobs they could and would otherwise fill.

Further, the statistics compiled by NC FIRE show the annual cost of illegal immigration nation-wide is over $345 Billion. Since 9/11/2001, more than 50,000 American deaths have been attributed to illegal aliens through murder, manslaughter and drunk driving. Family Security Matters estimates that 267,000 illegal aliens are currently crowding our penal facilities and are responsible for 1,300,000 crimes.

I'm not trying to diminish the contributions made by legal immigrants; these are the people that waited in line and followed the lawful process of entry into the United States. They do not need to resort to identity theft to get a job nor avoid fully participating in all of the responsibilities of citizenship for fear of being discovered. These are the ones we should embrace and reward with citizenship. As Ron Paul put it, "Americans have long welcomed immigrants who seek opportunity, work hard, and play by the rules. But taxpayers should not pay for illegal immigrants who use hospitals, clinics, schools, roads, and social services."

However, I am opposed to providing government funds to provide these services to those that ignore our national sovereignty and laws. To fund these programs, the government takes money from law-abiding tax-payers under threat of force in order to redistribute it to criminals. This is nothing less than government-sponsored theft. By reducing the incentives for illegal immigration, we can cut down on the waves of illegals that citizens are forced to subsidize.

Opponents may characterize my positions as anti-immigration in nature; this is completely false.  I am strongly pro-immigration. Where we differ isn't in supporting immigration, it's in legal immigration versus illegal immigration.  I support the Constitution and the law of the land, whereas they support criminal actions and a complete disregard for our status as a sovereign nation.

Is it possible to actually get the problem under control? The answer is "Yes."  To quote NC Listen, "If the US Government would control our borders, enforce laws to prevent the hiring of illegal immigrants, deny non-emergency privileges/social services and driver's licenses to illegals, and implement the 287g program, most illegal immigrants would 'self-deport' over a few years. Most illegals cannot sustain themselves in the USA if they do not have a job and do not have a driver's license." However, to do so we must take a principled stand on the issues.

On the Issues:

• I affirm authority of the United States as a sovereign nation and the Constitutional authority and duty of the federal government to guard and protect the borders, including the regulation of the numbers and qualifications of immigrants into our country.
• I support the completion of fence construction along the southern U.S. border. Further, I support monitoring equipment and a sufficiently staffed and equipped border patrol to protect our borders. No immigration reform is going to be effective if we cannot stop the flood of illegals crossing our borders.
• A fence alone will not provide adequate deterrance, therefore I also support assignment of military personnel to our borders as needed to protect and preserve our country from invasion. This should be done in conjunction with freeing up our troops from world peacekeeping missions under the leadership of the United Nations.
• I support the enforcement of existing immigration laws.
• I support tough financial penalties against companies who knowingly employ illegal aliens. Subsequent offenses should incur tougher penalties.
• While I support the cessation of most entitlement programs altogether, I support restricting those that remain to lawful citizens.
• As another component in addressing the issue, I support a free-market approach that requires informing the public of those companies penalized for hiring illegal aliens; the market will have the option of supporting this company as a result of its business practices or penalize them by doing business with competitors.
• I support allowing a sustainable number of legal immigrants to enter the country annually while supporting the enforcement of existing laws and the deportation of illegal aliens. The net change in population should not intially result in more than 250,000 new immigrants entering the nation than leaving; this number should pace immigration so new immigrants may fully assimilate into society rather than overwhelming it.
• I support easing the requirements to gain entry into the United States and establishing procedures to expedite the process legally.
• I support efforts to expand the H-2B visa program which supports a stable and reliable seasonal workforce program.
• I support adopting a merit-based policy for granting citizenship rather than existing race, class, ideology, and familial-based policies alone; preference should be granted for those with needed skills and an emphasis should be placed on reuniting spouses and dependent children rather than extended family members.
• I support the establishment of a non-intrusive verification system that will not unfairly over-burden small businesses; further, any business that in good faith follows the prescribed process will not be penalized should the system fail to identify an illegal alien.
• I support denying automatic U.S. citizenship to those born in the U.S. to illegal aliens; in order to be awarded citizenship, at least one parent must be a lawful resident or citizen.
• I support establishing English as the official language of the United States and eliminating the costs associated with multi-lingual ballots and government forms, interpreters, and multi-lingual phone systems.
• I support enforcing existing laws that call for deporting any immigrant that becomes a public charge relying on welfare within the first five years of residency.
• I oppose amnesty that would confer the opportunities of U.S. citizenship to illegal aliens in exchange for a contribution to the federal coffers. This is essentially government-endorsed bribery. These illegals have disregarded our status as a sovereign state, contributed to the economic detriment of US workers, been responsible for serious crimes that would not have happened otherwise, often committed identity theft, and taken advantage of subsidized health & educational services. Immigrants should follow the lawful process and current illegals in the U.S. should not be given preference over those waiting in line to enter the country lawfully.
• I support granting lawful resident status to those following the proper processes over those that are in the US illegally. Illegal immigrants should be required to return to their countries of origin before being considered for citizenship.
• Immigrants to the United States must live under, and obey, our laws just as do our citizens. Immigrants shall not be entitled to raise a so-called "cultural defense" when prosecuted for violation of our criminal statues. Immigrants are expected to integrate their culture with our own rather than expecting an existing culture to change to meet their needs.
• I oppose allowing organizations that receive federal funding to provide no-cost services to illegal immigrants.
• I oppose issuing government IDs for illegal aliens. Further, I support the revocation of federal highway funds from states that issue driver's licenses to illegal aliens.
• I support the enforcement of strong penalties against those convicted of trafficking illegal aliens and selling fraudulent documents.
• I support mandates that all public employees, in whatever capacity, be required to cooperate and assist in the enforcement of immigration laws.
• I strongly support the restoration of immigration policies based on the practice that potential immigrants will be disqualified for admission to the United States if, on the grounds of health, criminality, morals, or financial dependence, they would impose an improper burden on the United States, any state, or any citizen of the United States.
• I support requiring hospitals to report illegal aliens who are knowingly rendered services.
• I oppose any efforts to implement the North America Union/Security and Prosperity Partnership [SPP] which would in effect erase borders between the USA, Mexico, and Canada and cause a loss of our national sovereignty.
• I oppose federal funding to states and local governments who refuse to enforce immigration laws where applicable, or who operate as "sanctuary cities".
• I support the 287g Program to give local & state law enforcement the authority to detain illegal aliens within the course of their regular duties.
• I support decriminalizing victimless crimes and freeing citizens currently incarcerated for these crimes; this will result in a greater capacity to incarcerate illegal aliens pending deportation and free up law enforcement officers to enforce existing laws.  
• I support decreasing the time it now takes for removal of deportable aliens.
• I oppose using federal funding to fund entitlement programs for illegal aliens.

 References:

 http://www.wsoctv.com/news/7536976/detail.html

 http://ncchapteroffire.googlepages.com/nationalcostsofillegals