“Immigrant” – by a federal definition, an immigrant is a person who enters the United States lawfully with the intention of permanent residence, or an alien who has been granted legal permanent residence…commonly known as a “Green Card.”

“Alien” – is legally defined as any non-citizen present in the U.S.

There is no such thing as a “legal citizen.” There is no such thing as an illegal citizen. One is either a citizen… or isn’t. An immigrant becomes a citizen through a process called “naturalization.” Naturalized citizens are every bit as much citizens, with the same rights and duties, as native born citizens. Most Americans welcome immigrants and want sustainable immigration.

It is a federal crime to enter the U.S. illegally. (8USC 1325)

There does exist an accurate, official and legal term, “illegal alien” – which describes an alien present in the U.S. in violation of American immigration laws. Most people will recognize the clear insult to real immigrants – and the tradition of immigration into the U.S. – when anyone attempts to blur the line between real immigrants and illegal aliens who escape capture at our borders.

AMNESTY: In 1986, after years of debate in Congress, the U.S. granted a “one-time” legalization process for what Americans were told would apply to about one million illegals. The promise from the federal government was that upon legalization (“Comprehensive Immigration Reform”), American borders would be secured and employers would be sanctioned for hiring illegals. It was to be the sure and certain solution to the illegal immigration crisis. Sound familiar? We ended up legalizing about three million illegals. Look around. Amnesty does not stop illegal immigration.

It is a federal crime to induce, bring in, harbor, shelter, conceal, knowingly employ or encourage an illegal alien to remain in the United States. (8USC1324 ).

At more than one million each year, the U.S.A. takes in more real, legal immigrants than any nation on the planet. In addition, we bring in more than one million guest workers each year. We also suffer the highest number of illegal aliens in the world. Estimates range from 11-20 million and are mostly based on U.S. Census figures. Most illegals do not respond to census takers.

Traditional levels of immigration were set to accept less than 300,000 immigrants each year, to insure assimilation. Immigration into the U.S. is intended to benefit our nation, not any other.

Nearly half of the illegals present in the U.S. did not enter illegally. They came on visas and refused to leave as promised. “Visa overstayers” are illegal aliens. All illegals are deportable.

Most present day legal immigration comes from the nation of Mexico. Immigration from Mexico in 2009 numbered 164,920. The number-two nation from which Legal Permanent Residents originated was China, at 64,238. Nations 3 and 4, respectively were the Philippines, sending 60,029 & India (57,304). Canada (16,140) and the U.K. (15,748) came in at 17 & 18.

Congress passed the Alien Registration Act in 1940 requiring non-citizens in the United States longer than 30 days to be fingerprinted and carry documents demonstrating lawful presence.

There is nothing in the 2010 Arizona law, the “Support our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act” (SB 1070) that is not already contained in long-standing federal law.

Most Americans support the Arizona law and enforcement of federal immigration laws.

Georgia officially ranks number six in the nation for the number of illegals present at an official, census based estimate of 480,000. We were ahead of Arizona, which is ranked number seven, with 460,000. Georgia had the highest percentage of increase of illegal residents 2000-2009 of any state in the USA…at 115%.

“E-VERIFY” is an accurate, ever-improving, no-cost, internet-based federal database designed to verify the eligibility to legally work in the United States. E-VERIFY is used to verify only newly hired employees. E-VERIFY IS NOT A SCREENING SYSTEM AND USER EMPLOYERS MUST VERIFY ALL NEW HIRES. More than 16,000 Georgia businesses already use E-VERIFY.

“SAVE” (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements Program) is another federal database that provides near-instant immigration status information to public agencies that administer Public Benefits. SAVE verifies the eligibility of applicants for Public Benefits such as “any retirement, welfare, health, disability, public or assisted housing, postsecondary education, food assistance, unemployment benefit and any grant, contract, loan, professional license, or commercial license provided by an agency of a State or local government or by appropriated funds of a State or local government…” Most illegal aliens are not eligible for most Public Benefits.

Since the 2006 Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act (SB529) , Georgia has had in place laws aimed at illegal immigration, illegal employment and illegal administration of Public Benefits. The 2006 law requires public employers and their contractors to use the E-VERIFY system. Further, state law requires all official agencies that administer Public Benefits to collect a sworn affidavit of eligibility from applicants and to verify using the SAVE program. There are no penalties for violation. There is no official oversight for compliance. While it is treated as secret by most in the media, there is rampant violation by many local governments and official agencies.

About 5% of the U.S. workforce is illegal. The current estimate is that over 6% of the Georgia workforce is illegal. Also that about half of Georgia’s agricultural workers are illegal aliens.

Most illegal immigration is a result of illegal employment. Four states have in place laws requiring all employers to use E-VERIFY. Georgia is not one of them. Most experts agree that illegal immigration can be reduced by more than half with state-wide use of the no-cost E-VERIFY.

The H2A visa is a nonimmigrant visa which allows an unlimited number of foreign workers to enter into the U.S. to perform agricultural labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature. Employers must provide free housing that meets safety and health standards established by law. Employers must provide workers’ compensation insurance to workers at no cost to the worker. Employers must provide free housing that meets safety and health standards established by law.

It is much cheaper for agricultural employers to hire illegal labor. The ridiculous concept put forth by the radical anti-enforcement mob that we must allow illegal immigration or repeat the amnesty of 1986 to grow and harvest onions or peaches is advanced by race-baiting hucksters who depend on the media to never mention the H2A visa. So far, with great success.

There is no such thing as “cheap labor”. Illegal labor saves employers money, while taxpayers pick up the tab for the benefits and services illegals cannot afford because of their artificially low wage level. “TAXPAYER SUBSIDIZED, BLACK-MARKET, REPLACMENT LABOR” is a much more accurate term.

$$$ Cost: Estimates of the cost of illegal immigration vary. Georgia currently has no system or policy to study or track the loss to taxpayers in dollars. According to Congressman Lynn Westmoreland (GA-03), while cost estimates vary, most people agree that the cost is staggering. “According to a recent study performed by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), illegal immigrants cost the state of Georgia alone approximate $2.4 billion in 2010. That number includes $8500 per child for the approximate 153,000 illegal immigrants in Georgia’s K-12 schools and over $111 million for Medicaid for undocumented workers*.

“We must do something to reform our immigration policies that does not reward illegal immigrants who scoffed our immigration laws” says Westmoreland.

(*According to a 2005 study performed by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute)

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