Arizona's New Immigration Law

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

I really don't think it's that cut and dry. One of the main issues we haven't adequately dealt with is the INS; The path to citizenship for immigrants is broken and outdated. And so many of these people have to wait years in line, for a variety of reasons, to become legal citizens. We need to reform the system as much as we need to deal with the border issue, undocumented workers, and people that have overstayed their visas. That's why this Arizona law is a band aid at best. It's all about "catching people", but does nothing to curb the the influx of people coming across the border or encourage legal citizenship.

There has to be action at the federal level to cut at the root of the issue. But then we, too, need to know how to deal with those who have been here for years, raised families in earnest, and want to become legal citizens.


The longer we become a nation of immigrants, legal and illegal, the more difficult it will be to solve the problem. I think we can and should put millions of people on a fast track to citizenship by overhauling the INS.

Back in 2002 they did a study and the cost to fast path all illegals would cost us billions each year to the tune of about 7,500 per person (maybe thats per family). Last time I check we did not have any money left so I guess we can just throw that on our children along with everything else. The AZ law is going to help fix the problem there but your right this is more of a federal issue.

This is a good read for what the cost for illegals back in 2002 so I'm guessing these numbers are low.
Center for Immigration Studies