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April 17, 2006

Tell Me Again

...how they pay taxes and therefore aren't a burden?

Only two of Laurau Cuevas' three children can visit the doctor anytime they get sick. Like her mother, the oldest is an illegal immigrant born in Mexico.

Every sickness brings a dilemma.

"She doesn't have Medicaid like the others," Cuevas said in Spanish about her 9-year-old daughter. "When she really needs to go, we have to figure out how to pay the bill."


From this paragraph, I understand that these illegal immigrant parents have two U.S. born children who are ON MEDICAID. Last I heard, we taxpayers foot those bills. And as her oldest is also an illegal, what happens when push comes to shove and she winds up in an emergency room? Not to mention that I'm sure all three are in our local schools and on the breakfast/lunch program, which is...yeahyeahyeah...taxpayers footing the bill. Don't make her sad story the lead in the article if you're trying to get my sympathies roused. The meter's pegged.

Posted by tree hugging sister at April 17, 2006 11:48 PM

Comments

Yeah, but THS, those other two kids did not ask to be born here, and like it or not, they are US citizens. I'm of the opinion that we should ammend the constitution so that no one born of parents whoare here illegally are automatically US citizens. Then they get educated here, as is their right, and if the parents are found and deported, what then? That's the tragedy of our lax enforncement, and why I am in favor of a qualified amnesty. I have several close relatives (by marriage) who were beneficiaries of the amnesty last time. One is working at an investment bank, one got an engineering degree from Cornell, and one got a Ph.D. in Chemistry. Since none of them were US citizens when their mom dragged them here from the Far East, they had to look forward to a life of working in the underbelly of the Chinese restaurant business until the amnesty came along. Yes they broke the law, but at 2, 6, and 11 years old respectively, what do you expect them to do? By the tinme they reached majority, two of the three had only known a US environment and education, and the other one (the Ph.D.) was caught between worlds, but was mostly American. The only government support they got was whatever went into their high school educations - no SS #, no Medicare. I'd say we are getting our money's worth from them on whatever their amnesty cost us. The oldest once broke her wrist and waited a week for treatment until the mother decided to spend the money on the doctor. Of course that was back in the days before the fake SS# business took off, but it's still tough for a total illegal to get in on the system for very much in the way of benefits.

But I know of another Chinese illegal with a daughter who was born here (the mother is here on an over-stayed tourist visa). The daughter does cost us in sevices, but she would not fit in to her old society if we shipped her mother back - plus the girl is a citizen, although not one capable of taking care of herself. The majority of the burden comes from these hybrid legal / illegal families. What do we do in those cases?

People rent seek because no one checks the legal status of the mother in the delivery room, and until we change the constitution, it's a moot point anyway.

Posted by: John at April 18, 2006 11:46 AM