Don't confuse immigrants with illegals
When I first read Monday's MDJ story on the convoluted efforts of retired Cobb schoolteacher Daniel Stamm to "dispel the myths that the immigrant population does not contribute to the local economy," I thought that I had found my grin for the day.
By the time I finished reading the report for the third time I was not only angry and disgusted, but also very curious how nonsense like this seems to make its way into newspapers all over the nation each week.
It is clear that the real topic of the article is illegal aliens.
As we were reminded during the Clinton presidency, words have meaning.
Let's get something straight. "Immigrants" as defined by the law, are "persons lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States."
My adopted sister is an immigrant from Korea. Many of my dear friends are real, legal immigrants from all over the world - including Mexico and Latin America.
Trust me when I say that none of them appreciates watching as people who unashamedly violate our immigration laws are labeled "immigrants."
Mr. Stamm, the high school teacher turned amateur statistician in the MDJ's story, shows us that in four days of Cobb County court there were 130 cases of people with "Hispanic" names convicted of driving without a license.
(Many people would describe Stamm's methods as "profiling" - or worse.)
Apparently, Stamm would have us believe that because so many people are being caught driving without a license or insurance - we should consider their fines a contribution to the local economy.
Of his system of research, Stamm says, "It is a little subjective." Uh, yeah.
Ground control to Daniel Stamm: Employers do not give their employees a tax ID number - that is a function of the IRS. Renters do not pay property taxes - owners do.
The only reason that illegal aliens pay sales taxes is that their profiteering lobby has not figured out a way around doing so.
Illegal aliens from Mexico do have identification. The Mexican government issues it to them; it is called a Matricula Consular ID.
According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, Georgia taxpayers spent $952 million last year alone educating illegal aliens and the children of illegal aliens.
We are going to need a lot more fines from unlicensed drivers to make up that cost, eh?
We will get to the billions spent on free medical to illegal aliens care another day.
All of the above is frustrating, and most people will read the MDJ piece, shake their head and wonder why the reporter failed to provide any readily available data to balance the ridiculous conclusions presented.
I know several families who will not dismiss this twisted attempt at justifying the presence of illegal aliens in our community so easily.
My friends Billy and Kathy Inman of Woodstock leap to mind. Five years ago, an illegal alien driver who possessed a valid North Carolina driver's license killed their only son, Dustin, in a tragic traffic incident. Gonzalo Harrell-Gonzalez, the illegal alien from Mexico charged in the crash, remains free today. Maybe Stamm would like to contact them and extol the "contributions" of the "immigrants" he defends.
The family of Lisa Ann Bourquardez will not find any amusement in this story either.
Lisa Ann was stabbed to death in her Acworth home in January. The suspect in the murder? An illegal alien from Mexico - still free.
How many traffic fines and sales tax dollars to settle with her two motherless daughters?
In July of 2000, along with two other young Georgians, 19-year-old Chris Shackleford lost his life because of a drunk, unlicensed, illegal alien driver. Too bad Mr. Stamm didn't get a few stats from Kenny and Cindy Shackleford of Woodstock, his grieving parents.
"Immigrants" are not responsible for the misery and grief described above. Illegal aliens are.
Stamm: "The whole point is that these people pay their bills."
No, Mr. Stamm, they don't - and no, it isn't.
D.A. King of Marietta is founder of The Dustin Inman Society, a corporation
dedicated to educating the Georgia public on the consequences of illegal immigration.