Arizona Law Upheld

The Supreme Court has upheld the major clause of the Arizona law which allowed law enforcement officials to determine the immigration status on those who they stop. This is a victory for those of us who believe that ILLEGAL immigration is wrong but that we need LEGAL immigration.


We are sure that the White House and other "feel good" organizations will condemn the Court for doing the wrong thing, however, thinking people will applaud the decision as one based on the rule of law rather than emotion.  We need more Court rulings like this one.


Conservative Tom

One Small $4.2B Error

The issue of illegal immigrants is not limited to their law breaking entrance into the country, it also effects the economy in other ways. The refund of dollars  last year in the form of tax credit to non-citizens  amounted to $4.2 billion according to the IRS.  This does not count the payment of education, social security, medicare and medicaid benefits.  At a time when the economy is in a mess, to have dollars given to those who are not citizens or eligible to receive them is only complicating the situation.

Those who disagree with this point of view point, argue that illegal immigrants "do work that Americans won't" and that these people also pay taxes. These arguments may have a nugget of truth, but are essentially inaccurate.  Yes, they do work at some jobs (maids, farm workers) but because these jobs are taken Americans cannot take them, so not really a great argument. Yes, some of the jobs do require the illegal immigrant to pay taxes, however, the majority do not.

The effect on the economy of illegal immigrants is made worse by the transfer of dollars flowing out of the economy and going to other countries like Mexico.  The financial crisis in the US has reduced this but last year $24 billion went out of the country which made dollars coming into our southern neighbor's economy the second largest contributor to their GDP.  When money leaves this country there is no multiplier effect of the dollars earned. Usually when money is earned it rolls over something like 7 times. It does to pay rent, buy groceries, buy cars, pay for medical care, buying "stuff" and some it is saved. However, in the case of illegal immigrants, it just disappears.

We must stop the illegal immigrants and deport all of them that are here. They only do damage and any positives are minimal as measured against the  negatives.

By MICHELLE HIRSCH, The Fiscal Times

September 2, 2011

No Social Security number? No problem.

The IRS paid out billions in refundable tax credits to undocumented immigrant workers last year, according to a new Treasury audit.

Federal law bars illegal immigrants from collecting tax benefits, like the Earned Income Tax Credit, that can be claimed by residents with Social Security numbers. But the Treasury report found that the tax code’s lack of clarity is allowing the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), which reduces taxes owed by certain individuals with children, to be heavily claimed by undocumented workers;if their tax bills dip below zero, they can collect government checks. 

Even wages earned illegally in the U.S. are taxed. Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) are available to people without Social Security numbers who cannot legally work in the U.S. so they can file tax returns. These ITINs have become increasingly linked to fraudulent tax claims, which helped inflate IRS payouts on the Additional Child Tax Credit from $924 million in 2005 to $4.2 billion, the report said. 

“The payment of federal funds through this tax benefit appears to provide an additional incentive for aliens to enter, reside, and work in the United States without authorization, which contradicts federal law and policy to remove such incentives,” the report said. 

The report attributed the massive outpouring of child tax credit refunds to recent expansions of the credit as part of the 2001 Bush tax cuts and the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the legislation that created the stimulus program.

In response to the report, IRS officials said they would follow one of its recommendations to meet with Treasury officials to determine whether people unauthorized to work in the U.S. can collect refundable tax credits. But the IRS rebuffed the audit’s second recommendation that it collect additional documentation from people claiming the ACTC, arguing that the agency lacks the legal authority to challenge such tax returns. 

“Any suggestion that the IRS shouldn’t be paying out these credits under current law to ITIN holders is simply incorrect,” IRS spokesperson Michelle Eldridge told The Fiscal Times in a statement.  “The IRS administers the law impartially and applies it as written. If the law were changed, the IRS would change its programs accordingly.”

The audit underscores a broader debate about the contribution of illegal immigrants to the U.S. economy, as well as who is ultimately charged with enforcing immigration law.

“The IRS doesn’t seem to think its job is to make sure people who are claiming these credits are entitled to them. The children may or may not be living abroad--or even exist. It’s absurd, almost a joke,” said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group which advocates securing U.S. borders.  “The IRS scares the heck out of most Americans, so there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be just as vigilant against people in the country illegally….especially when the deficit is topping $1.5 trillion.”

However, some groups argue that as members of U.S. Society who contribute to the economy, undocumented workers have every right to claim tax benefits.

An April study by the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy found that undocumented immigrants paid $11.2 billion in taxes in 2010. It estimated that nearly half of all illegal immigrants pay income taxes.

“Undocumented immigrants are undoubtedly positive for the fiscal health of this country,” says Leticia Miranda, associate director of the Economic Policy Project at National Council of La Raza, a group that advocates for Hispanics in the U.S.  She says that harping on the number of undocumented immigrants claiming this credit glosses over the bottom line that these workers are paying hefty sums into the Social Security trust fund, despite having no claim on the benefits. The Social Security Administration’s chief actuary estimated last year that undocumented immigrants had paid $120 billion to $240 billion into the Social Security trust fund as of 2007. “If you make it impossible for people to make those tax payments, that would be a self-inflicted wound to the budget of this country,” says Miranda.

Who Is Uncle Omar?

When you hear the name, Uncle Omar, of whom do you think?  A friendly, gray haired brother of your mother? Well,  America's favorite Uncle Omar is President Obama's uncle who also is an illegal immigrant. However, it even gets better, this is the second relative that came to this country and overstayed their visit. The President's aunt  is here without permission.  Now we know why there is no attention to the immigration problem by this administration, it would mean deporting two relatives!

We are not responsible for our relatives (thankfully) but somehow this strikes me as immoral.  If we had an administration which was driven by a moral code, we would not have these type of issues. The lawbreakers would be deported, regardless of their family name.

I call on the Administration to deport President Obama's Aunt and Uncle as a prelude to deporting all other illegal immigrants.  They came here and violated our laws, they should be deported immediately. Illegal is illegal and no one should get a break.

Here is Michelle Malkin's information on America's favorite uncle:

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Malkin: America's Uncle Omar Problem

By Michelle Malkin September 2, 2011 6:30 am

          

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"Always remember. Never forget." The phrase is now emblazoned in red across the U.S. Department of Homeland Security website. But as the Obama administration disseminates its talking points to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 jihadist attacks, the White House remains stone-silent about the president's Uncle Omar problem.

The refusal to deal with Uncle Omar tells you everything you need to know about the emptiness and impotence of Washington's 9/11 platitudes.

"Omar" is Onyango Obama, the illegal alien deportation fugitive who is the long-lost Kenyan half-brother of President Obama's father. The president mentioned him in his best-selling book, "Dreams from My Father." But these days, he'd undoubtedly prefer to whitewash him out of the public eye. Last week, Uncle Omar was arrested for drunk driving in Framingham, Mass., and held on an immigration detainer.

The liquor store employee -- yes, he was apparently drinking the inventory that legal Americans weren't drinking -- nearly crashed into a police car and belligerently demanded to ring up the White House. Few in the neighborhood are laughing it off. Just two weeks ago, an illegal alien drunk driver with a mile-long rap sheet mowed down and killed a 23-year-old Milford, Mass., man.

Open-borders advocates will call Uncle Omar "harmless." But it turns out he's not only a repeat deportation absconder who has ignored two court orders to leave the country, but he is also a deadbeat who owes thousands in back taxes and a fraudulent Social Security card-holder who has managed to evade authorities for half a century.

The policy that allowed Omar to disappear is "voluntary departure" -- a security-undermining mechanism that allows illegal alien border-jumpers and visa-overstayers to simply deport themselves after going through the federal immigration court system. Omar lost his first case to stay in the country in 1989; he lost a second bid with the Board of Immigration Appeals in 1992.

Then, as 400,000 to 700,000 illegal alien deportation absconders have done over the past two decades, Omar simply thumbed his nose at the law again and treated his entry into America as an entitlement instead of a privilege.

Omar will now appeal any deportation proceedings a third time with the help of the same Ohio law firm that represented his illegal alien deportation fugitive sister, Zeituni Onyango. Aunt Zeituni arrived in the U.S. in 2000 on a temporary visa. Her asylum request was rejected in 2004. She defied the immigration court order to go back to Kenya, moved into Boston public housing, and hid with relatives for years before winning a second bid to stay in the country she's since trashed publicly numerous times.

As I reported exclusively in November 2008, when Aunt Zeituni's case exploded before Election Day, sympathetic Bush administration officials ordered immigration authorities across the country to halt all deportation enforcement actions until after the campaign season was over. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) source familiar with Western field offices told me at the time: "The ICE fugitive operations group throughout the U.S. was told to stand down until after the election from arresting or transporting anyone out of the U.S. This was done to avoid any mistakes of deporting or arresting anyone who could have a connection to the election, i.e., anyone from Kenya who could be a relative. The decision was election-driven."

Now, we know there was at least one other Obama deportation fugitive hiding in plain view who benefited from the freeze.

More damningly, we know that both Republican and Democratic administrations continue to play politics with homeland security while paying lip service to the 9/11 dead.

After the attacks, DHS officials discovered the full danger that the vast ocean of deportation fugitives posed. Consider the case of Gazi Ibrahim Abu Mezer, a Palestinian bomb-builder who entered the U.S. illegally through Canada in 1996 and 1997. He claimed political asylum based on alleged persecution by Israelis, was released on a reduced $5,000 bond posted by a man who was himself an illegal alien, and then skipped his asylum hearing after calling his attorney and lying about his whereabouts. In June 1997, after his lawyer withdrew Mezer's asylum claim, a federal immigration judge ordered Mezer to leave the country on a "voluntary departure order." Mezer ignored the useless piece of paper. He joined a New York City bombing plot before being arrested in July 1997 after a roommate tipped off local police.

Countless jihadistsRamzi Yousef and Mir Aimal Kansi also exploited our catch-and-release system by invoking asylum and evading swamped authorities before plotting and executing jihadist attacks.

The post-9/11 absconder apprehension initiative has been decimated. The total number of apprehensions of illegal aliens by immigration enforcement agencies is less than half of what it was five years ago, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. And the White House is dispensing deportation waivers like Pez candy en masse.

"Always remember. Never forget." Words, just words.

---

Michelle Malkin is the author of "Culture of Corruption: Obama and his Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks & Cronies" (Regnery 2010).

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Supreme Court Strikes Again For Immigration Enforcement

In GOPUSA today, Michael Rubinkam discusses the  immigration law enforcement by the City of Hazleton, Pennsylvania which the Supreme Court sent back to the Appeals Court   The law had never been enforced due to the fact that as soon as the law had been passed, it was challenged. By sending the case back to the Appeals Court, I believe the Supreme Court said loudly that laws regulating immigrants can be passed by cities and states. This should be a good sign that the Arizona law when it finally gets to the high court will get a fair hearing.

 I agree completely that we need to enforce immigration rules and all efforts by the states or cities must be supported.  Unless we decide that our laws have meaning and  we are no longer going to support the law breakers, we will lose our country. 

As I have posted  before, illegal immigration is just that, illegal.  There might be very good reasons for those who came to the US, but a good story does invalidate the fact that they are here by violating our laws.  Anyone who cannot understand that concept has other reasons for their support of the issue.

There are those who believe that the more illegal immigrants that come here will be a future voting block that will always vote for them.  And there are others who believe that these law breakers are important for our economy as they fill jobs that "Americans will not do" and that we need low wage people to make our businesses profitable.  Both arguments are not looking at what is in the best long term interests of the country.

Our country was founded on legal immigrants and should we not return to that process, the country will be eventually overrun by those who come here without proper authorization. When the borders are "virtual" and not enforced, the flow of people from around the world will increase until the time when the US will no longer be able handle the multitudes.

Additionally, there are a couple big differences between the immigrants of the past and these new ones. Prior to the 1980's, people who came here wanted to become part of the American experience.  They wanted to learn English and to become American citizens.These new arrivals want to maintain their language and have us accommodate them by having dual language forms.  They don't want to become citizens and would rather fly the flag of their native land.

Since its founding, the US has always been an attraction for those aspiring to better themselves and in the recent past, the social programs made coming here and surviving easier. Food stamps, welfare and most recently, Social Security make this country a virtual nirvana compared to the regions from where they came.

It is imperative that the flow of illegal immigrants be stopped and that a return of controlled immigration system be re-instituted. The City of Hazleton should be supported. We also need to support Arizona's efforts to control its borders.  On the other side we must bring suit against those cities who are "immigrant friendly" or "sanctuary cities". The leaders who pass these ill conceived laws are only hurting the United States. The short-term political gains will soon be overshadowed by the social ills that accompany these immigrants.

All right thinking Americans need to continually write their Representatives and Senators to keep the immigration issue front and center in the politicians minds.

What do you think?

The story follows:

Supreme Court orders new look at Pa. city immigration law

By Michael Rubinkam June 6, 2011 1:53 pm

         

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) – The Supreme Court ordered a federal appeals court on Monday to take a new look at a Pennsylvania city's crackdown on illegal immigrants in light of the high court's recent decision upholding an Arizona employer-sanctions law.

The high court threw out a ruling by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that prevented the city of Hazleton from enforcing regulations that would deny permits to business that hire illegal immigrants and fine landlords who rent to them.

The measures inspired similar laws around the country, including the one in Arizona that deals only with penalties for employers.

The justices typically order lower courts to re-examine cases in light of a high court decision on a similar topic.

The Philadelphia-based 3rd Circuit ruled in September that Hazleton's Illegal Immigration Relief Act usurped the federal government's exclusive power to regulate immigration.

"It is ... not our job to sit in judgment of whether state and local frustration about federal immigration policy is warranted," wrote Chief Judge Theodore McKee. "We are, however, required to intervene when states and localities directly undermine the federal objectives embodied in statutes enacted by Congress."

Hazleton, a northeastern Pennsylvania city of about 25,000, wants to fine landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and deny business permits to companies that give them jobs. A companion measure requires prospective tenants to register with City Hall and pay for a rental permit.

Former Republican Mayor Lou Barletta pushed the measures in 2006 after two illegal immigrants were charged in a fatal shooting. Barletta, now a freshman congressman, argued that illegal immigrants brought drugs, crime and gangs to the city and overwhelmed police, schools and hospitals.

The laws have never been enforced. Hispanic groups and illegal immigrants sued to overturn the measures, and a federal judge struck them down following a trial in 2007.

Hazleton's act was copied by dozens of municipalities around the nation that believe the federal government hasn't done enough to stop illegal immigration.