Among the "rights" being claimed by the hundreds of illegal aliens thronging the streets of some of the largest cities in the U.S. is that of receiving Social Security.
It is logical that the last “right” should be Social Security. From cradle to grave the American citizen taxpayer is subsidizing the illegal immigration influx.
When an illegal pregnant woman comes into a hospital, she must be given care as she delivers her baby. That baby then automatically becomes a citizen. These babies are called “anchor babies” because they enable other members of the family to access welfare benefits.
Headstart is used and the taxpayer funds the program.
Entering into the school system, the illegals need not fear being turned away, as a federal law ensures that every child in America, citizen or not, receives an education. Because of a lack of assimilation, many illegals do not speak English, thereby necessitating the hiring of English as a Second Language teachers. When the resultant frustration begins to show, they are given psychologists, counselors, and, if they feel their “rights” have been infringed, their own attorneys. Nobody should wonder why our kids are not being educated well, considering the huge burden being put in the way. Nobody should wonder why we keep passing school bonds and asking for more money when we keep trying to educate more and more students.
The generous safety nets, built methodically and patiently by taxpayers, are being accessed by illegals. Some state welfare agencies go out into the illegal community to inform them of what’s available, with the details in their own language.
While more and more American citizens are losing health care insurance, illegals don’t have to worry about that. If a citizen goes to a clinic or hospital, for instance, every effort is made by these institutions to recover the cost of care from the citizen. If the citizen has any assets, very often they are in jeopardy of being taken through a collection agency. It is very difficult to collect from someone who may have given a false name, or who has no assets to recover.
However, illegal aliens may go into a hospital and use its emergency room as a primary car facility, since hospitals are required by law to treat anyone who comes in. Since many are transient, with no assets to attach, hospitals often do not recover any of the costs of treating the illegals. Hospitals are not allowed to ask the status of people coming in, so they cannot protect themselves from expending their precious resources in such treatment. Many hospitals in the southwest and California have closed because they cannot afford to keep treating people who take but don’t give back. This leaves the American citizen without the vital emergency care nearby, where it is so badly needed. Someone with a heart attack, for instance, needs to get to a hospital quickly. Having to go farther away puts a life in jeopardy.
Perhaps the most important safety net of all is Social Security. Many have to rely on Social Security for the bulk of their subsistence. Having been promised that Social Security would be there for them, some have not been able to earn a lot of money by which to live in their older years. Also, Social Security is available to those who are disabled, truly the most needy among us. We have been warned for years that Social Security is going broke. If amnesty is given to the estimated twelve to twenty four+ millions of illegal aliens who have sneaked across our border, the red ink will be of massive proportions. With the pie spread thin, nobody is going to get very much.
The president and Senate are willing to let this happen. They are pushing hard to make legal the millions of illegals residing here. Because of the avowed policy of these lawmakers, the possibility of citizenship, with all its attractions, is acting as a magnet to many more who want to take advantage of it. Border patrol agents report that when the public push for amnesty is made known, the number of those coming across our border increases sharply. Where it might be 3,000 to 4,000 a day, agents estimate that numbers swell to as high as 10,000 each day. While the senators talk and posture, the invasion continues.
SSA is an Executive branch agency whose director is appointed by the president. Director Joann Barnhardt is so eager to give U.S. Social Security benefits to Mexicans that she signed the U.S.-Mexico Totalization Treaty in July 2004 and built an SSA building in Mexico. Barnhardt is among our many civil servants who can’t keep accurate records. She told the Senate that her agency isn’t able to prevent the fraudulent wage transfers for years prior to 2004. Her solution: give away benefits paid for by citizens of this country to people who didn’t earn them and don’t deserve them.
Senators Ted Kennedy, Orrin Hatch and John McCain, who led the push for the 1986 “one-time” amnesty, promised that amnesty would be given to only 300,000 illegals. The reality is that the number turned out to be nearly three million. That amnesty showed that INS and SSA knowingly accepted massive numbers of fraudulent rent receipts, earning records and birth records.
When an illegal gains legal status, (by a “guest worker” program?), that person is issued a genuine SSN. It is used to earn future wages and Social Security credits, obtain public funded benefits, financial aid for education, and the list goes on. It is the ”open Sesame” for allowing the illegal alien to retroactively grab wage credit for money in the Earnings Suspense File, even though they were using a bogus SSN or “borrowing” a valid SSN assigned to someone else! It’s the little bomb inside each and every “guest worker” program. Would you know enough to take advantage of the Earnings Suspense File?
Right now, if an employer accepts a SSN without checking it, and the law does not require it, there is no way to determine if that SSN is real or fake. In determining who is eligible a great deal of time will be spent. Think you are not being served in a timely and efficient manner now? Wait until the twelve to twenty-four million, and their possible dependents, hit those offices. Where will you be in that line of literally millions of people?
The Senate is developing its immigration bill right now. The commonsense bill passed by the House in the last session is being challenged by those who want to give legal status to the millions of illegals who have come and are coming every day. The House wanted a border fence. The Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Senator Specter, wanted no fence and wanted amnesty. All the Democrats voted for the amnesty, joined by Republican Senators Specter, McCain, Brownback and Lindsey Graham.
These senators know the devastating effect such a massive influx into our welfare systems will be. They have their own agendas. Republicans want to satisfy their business contributors by giving them cheap labor. Democrats envision the votes that will be added into their numbers. Yes, amnesty and citizenship means they get to vote, also.
There have been closed door meetings to formulate the “comprehensive” immigration plan. The Democrats have the ball now and say they want amnesty. They are being assisted by certain RINOs. It has been announced by Harry Reid that this amnesty plan will be unveiled on Monday, May 21. Even though polls show consistently that American citizens want no amnesty and want the borders secured, by over 80%, these elites are steamrolling their giveaway plan.
Most have considered Social Security to be almost sacrosanct. Our president and some senators have disproved that. It seems that nothing is too precious to be given away to the special interests. Are your senators among those pushing for this giveaway?
If you care about having Social Security for yourself or your family, now is the time to find out whose side your senator is on.
This article first appeared April 1, 2006 and has been updated May 16, 2007
Barbara regularly writes for CapitolHillCoffeeHouse. She also appears in California Chronicle, Border Patrol, and Citizens Caucus. Her primary interest is illegal immigration, but she writes about other subjects as well.
Barbara lives in a large city on the West Coast. Her loyalties are with God, family, country, heritage and borders.
She enjoys music, painting, poetry and song writing.