Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Illegal immigration

2009-04-09T22:06:17Z

Cesarchavez: /* Moral issues */

[[Image:Coleman - Arellano.jpg|thumb|The Rev. [[Oscar Carrasco]] and [[Elvira Arellano]]]]

'''Illegal immigration''' is when people without legal permission from a country cross the border and proceed to dwell there. Therefore, illegal immigration is the act of immigrating to a country without having the right to do so. A person who migrates without the legal right to do so is known as an [[illegal alien]].

__TOC__
==U.S.==
Illegal immigration has become a major issue in the [[United States]] in the 1980s, and continues to be a highly visible issue.

===Economic aspects===

Illegal immigrants pay sales taxes and gasoline taxes; most are too poor to pay income taxes. Many use fake Social Security numbers and pay Social Security taxes but are not eligible for any benefits. Many use tax-payer funded services such as health care and schools.

===Numbers of people===

Pew estimates about 12 million illegal immigrants lived in the U.S. in 2004.<ref>Higher estimates run to 20 million; [http://immigrationcounters.com/ see high estimate]</ref> However, many are afraid to use available services, such as domestic violence shelters, out of fear of deportation. Many illegals cannot speak English.

===Arguments favoring it===

====No one else wants those jobs anyway====
Illegal immigrations is defended, saying that migrants are simply coming to take [[unskilled job]]s that better educated Americans avoid, such as picking fruit and lettuce, making hotel beds and working in [[slaughterhouse]]s.

====They need political asylum====
A small percentage come illegally to escape political oppression, as legal channels are not open to them.<ref>http://www.immigration-usa.com/george_weissinger.html immigration Usa</ref><ref>www.uscis.gov Immigration and Naturalization Services</ref><ref>www.dhs.gov Department of Homeland Security</ref> Marriage to a U.S. citizen does not automatically gain one citizenship. When Army Spc. Alex Jimenez was captured by terrorists in [[Iraq]], his wife was almost deported by the government. Strong public opinion allowed her to stay.<ref>[http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/20/national/main2956093.shtml Missing Soldier's Wife Faces Deportation]</ref>

===Where they come from===
[[Mexico]] is the source of the about half of the recent illegal immigrants to the United States. Most arrive legally and over-stay their visas. Others cross the border mostly through the desert southwest or less often by swimming across the [[Rio Grande]].

====Dispute with Mexico====
The United States receives constant criticism from the Mexican government for its efforts to curb illegal immigration. And United States officials criticize Mexican officials for passing out handbooks on how to cross the border, saying Mexico is trying to avoid political and governmental reforms at home by encouraging its citizens to leave.

===Legal aspects===
Illegal entry is a [[misdemeanor]] in U.S. law, at the level of [[speeding]]. Those who are caught are promptly expelled from the country without penalty. However, multiple illegal entries can lead to [[felony]] convictions.

====Mexico and Mexicans====
Ironically, one of Mexico's harshest criticisms was a plan by the United States to make illegal immigration a felony offense, which would impose harsher penalties on illegal Mexican immigrants. Mexico's own laws make illegal immigration a felony offense in that country.[http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1602610/posts][http://www.vdare.com/awall/060518_memo.htm]

Many Mexicans have to come to the United States to work because for many years the Mexican government was [[socialist]], being under the control of the [[Institutional Revolutionary Party]], which limited [[economic opportunity]] and [[economic growth|growth]]. Before 2001 there was frequent movement across the border. It was common to work in summer jobs in the U.S. and spend the winter in Mexico. Border security since then has become much stricter, and it is far more difficult to cross repeatedly. Therefore the tendency was to remain in the U.S.

An unintended consequence of the tighter [[border security]] is that millions stayed in the U.S. and did not return.

Most Mexicans who come are religious and culturally conservative. They communities do not encourage [[homosexuality]], [[abortion]] or [[teenage promiscuity]].

Like other immigrant groups, many illegals send money to their families remaining in the old country. In Mexico this funding is the second largest source of [[foreign income]], after [[crude oil]] sales. It represents as much as 2.5 percent of the nation's Gross Domestic Product <ref>[http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:20724214~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html] World Bank Report on Migration and Welfare</ref>

==Amnesty==
The [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan Administration]] gave amnesty to all the illegals present in the country in 1986. The "Illigration Control and Reform Act" of 1986 legalized the status of about 3 million immigrants. Other laws legalized the status of immigrants from Cuba and Haiti. In 2006 President [[George W. Bush]] and Senator [[John McCain]] proposed legislation to legalize the status of most of the illegals. The business and religious communities supported the idea, but grass roots opposition blocked passage in Congress and denounced the notion of "amnesty."

==Moral issues==
As the [[Bible]] exhorts people to be compassionate towards illegal immigrants (Exodus 23:9 and Leviticus 19:34), and as more Americans are [[Christian]] than any other religion<ref>http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html</ref>, many Americans feel compelled by their religion to show compassion and caring for illegal immigrants, many of whom are trying to escape tyranny or poverty in their homelands.

Some conservatives oppose illegal immigration because it allows for immigrants to fall between the cracks of society thus making them more likely to commit crime or experience poverty. Other conservatives view illegal immigration as an exercise in a basic [[individualism|individual]] [[human rights|human right]] to pursue happiness. Illegal immigration is also economically damaging to countries because illegal immigrants will often work illegally for below minimum wage, resulting in job loss for legal citizens.

==Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants in the U.S.==

Among many others:

*2002 - Ingmar Guandique, a Salvadoran in the United States, is currently serving a ten year prison term for assaulting two joggers in Washington D.C. is now suspected of killing [[Chandra Levy]]. The Levy case is famous because during the initial investigation her relationship with California congressman [[Gary Condit]] was revealed, ending his career. <ref>http://michellemalkin.com/2009/02/23/return-of-the-chandra-levy-case-and-illegal-alien-sex-offender-ingmar-guandique/</ref>

*2005 - Raul Garcia-Gomez, shot two Denver police officers in the back, killing one. He fled to Mexico and was captured. However, the Mexcian government sheltered Gomez until the American prosecutor agreed to not seek the death penalty against him. <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,337719,00.html Illegal Immigrant Worker Sentenced in Slaying of Actress Adrienne Shelly], ''[[Associated Press]]'', March 13, 2008</ref>

*2008 - Diego Pillco, a 20-year-old from Ecuador, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter of actress Adrienne Shelly. Pillco was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Pillco admitted strangling Shelly and then hanging her body to make it look like a suicide. The judge said Pillco would be subject to immediate deportation upon release from prison. <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,337719,00.html Illegal Immigrant Worker Sentenced in Slaying of Actress Adrienne Shelly], ''[[Associated Press]]'', March 13, 2008</ref>

*2008 - Edwin Ramos, killed three people on their way home from a family picnic. Ramos had been arrested multiple times before the killings (once for mugging a pregnant woman), but the city of San Francisco shielded him from deportation. <ref>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/20/MNK011MAFR.DTL</ref>

==Statistics==

The amount of people immigrating to the United States illegally has declined since 2001. People who formerly moved back and forth across the border (working the agricultural fields in the US in the summer and wintering in a village in the winter) has declined, and instead they tremain in the U.S. The estimated number of illegal immigrants in the United States in 2005 was about 12 million. <ref>http://www.cnn.com/interactive/us/0603/charts.immigration/frameset.exclude.html?eref=yahoo</ref> <ref>[http://www.house.gov/mccaul/pdf/Investigaions-Border-Report.pdf A Line In The Sand] House Committee on Homeland Security</ref>

$397 billion dollars have been paid to families containing illegal immigrants through social services since 1996. Most of the money goes to schooling for U.S. citizens and for children.<ref>http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecentersf134</ref>

The number of illegal aliens who are in prison is over 300,000, about 3% of the total.<ref> The number of convicted criminal aliens in federal prison at the end of 2003 was 46,063; in state prisons and local jails here were 262,105.[http://www.gao.gov/htext/d05646r.html online]</ref>

Sex offenders comprised 2% of illegals who have been arrested. Nearly one million sex crimes were committed by illegal immigrants in the United States, in the seven years 1999-2006. Each sex offender averaged 4 victims. <ref>[http://www.drdsk.com/articles.html#Illegals The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration] Violent Crimes Institute, 2006</ref>

Households headed by illegal aliens imposed more than $26.3 billion in costs on the federal government in 2002 and paid only $16 billion in taxes, creating a net fiscal deficit of almost $10.4 billion, or $2,700 per illegal household. Most of the costs were incurred by U.S. citizens, however, not by the illegals. On average, the costs that illegal households impose are less than half that of other households. In terms of welfare use, receipt of cash assistance programs by illegals tends to be very low, while Medicaid use, though significant, is still less than for other households. <ref>[http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html The High Cost of Cheap Labor] Center For Immigration Studies</ref>

California spent more than 11 billion dollars per year on illegal immigrants. California is seeking the federal government to bail them out of their financial deficit.

== See also ==
*[[Latino]]
*[[Xenophobia]]
*[[Lozano v. Hazleton]]
*[[Elvira Arellano]]
*[[Reno v. Flores]]

==Bibliography==
* David W. Haines, Karen E. Rosenblum. ''Illegal Immigration in America: A Reference Handbook'' (Greenwood Press, 1999) [http://www.questia.com/read/111894645?title=Illegal%20Immigration%20in%20America%3a%20%20A%20Reference%20Handbook online edition]
* Pierre Hauser, ''Illegal Aliens'' (1990)
* Jeffrey S. Passel, "Unauthorized Migrants: Numbers and Characteristics," Pew Hispanic Center Reports and fact Sheets. (June 14, 2005), [http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=46 online]
* Claudia Sadowski-Smith. "Unskilled Labor Migration and the Illegality Spiral: Chinese, European, and Mexican Indocumentados in the United States, 1882–2007," ''American Quarterly,'' Volume 60, Number 3, September 2008, pp. 779-804 [http://muse.uq.edu.au/login?uri=/journals/american_quarterly/v060/60.3.sadowski-smith.html in Project Muse]
* Aristide R. Zolberg, ''A Nation by Design: Immigration Policy in the Fashioning of America'' (2006)

==External Links==
*[http://www.rightwingnews.com/category.php?ent=5455 Answering 13 Frequently Asked Questions About Illegal Immigration], [[Right Wing News]]

== References ==
<references />

[[Category:Immigration]]
[[Category:Political Terms]]
[[Category:Social Problems]]

Dick Cheney

2009-04-09T22:01:09Z

Cesarchavez: /* Political Career */

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| style="text-align: center; padding: 10px 40px 10px 40px;" | [[Previous_Breaking_News/Dick_Cheney| Previous Breaking News: Dick Cheney]]
|}

{{President
|image=408px-Richard Cheney 2005 official portrait.jpg
|seq=46
|office=vice
|term_start=January 20, 2001
|term_end=January 20, 2009
|party=Republican
|pres=George W. Bush
|previous=Al Gore
|next=Joe Biden
|birth_date=January 30, 1941
|birth_place=Lincoln, Nebraska
|death_date=
|death_place=
|spouse=Lynne Cheney
|spouse2=
|religion=Methodist
}}
'''Richard B. Cheney''' served as the 46th Vice President of the United States, 2001-2009. He was first elected in 2000 along with President [[George W. Bush]]. Cheney was re-elected along with President Bush in 2004.

== Life and Family ==
Richard 'Dick' Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska.<ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/vicepresident/1</ref> He has both a BA and an MA in Political Science from the University of Wyoming <ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/vicepresident/2</ref>. He married [[Lynne Cheney]] in 1964. They have two daughters; Elizabeth and Mary.

== Political Career ==
Richard Cheney assumed his first political post as an assistant to Wisconsin Governor Warren P. Knowles in the early 1960s, at the age of 28 when he became an intern near the beginning of the [[ Nixon]] Administration. He quickly came to the attention of [[Donald Rumsfeld]], then directing the Office of Economic Opportunity, and was promoted to a paid position in 1971. When [[Watergate]] forced Nixon's resignation in 1973, Cheney became vice president of an investment firm for a year, but Rumsfeld convinced [[Gerald Ford]] upon the latter's accession to the presidency that Cheney was indispensable, and he was recalled to public service. Eventually Cheney replaced Rumsfeld as [[Chief of Staff]] to Ford as Rumsfeld was promoted to [[Secretary of Defense]].

[[Image:Cheney3.jpg‎|left|thumb|200px|Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Mrs. Lynne Cheney welcomed their fifth grandchild, 2006]]Upon hearing that Cheney had been chosen by Bush as his running mate, [[Paula Jones]] who was notable in some of the early [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] scandals sued to disqualify them from receiving the electoral votes of [[Texas]]. Her theory was that under the [[12th Amendment]] to the [[U. S. Constitution]], no state may give its electoral vote to a Presidential ticket both of whose members are from that state. [[Republican]] lawyers argued that Cheney's ties to [[Wyoming]] were more significant than those to Texas, which had effectively been dissolved as soon as Lynne carried out Richard's instructions to sell their house there. This argument prevailed in Federal district court, and Jones did not appeal.

On February 11, 2006, Mr. Cheney accidentally<ref>Bash, Dana. [http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/12/cheney/ Cheney accidentally shoots fellow hunter]. February 12, 2006 (accessed July 16, 2007), ''CNN''</ref> shot a hunting partner, Mr. Harry Whittington, in the face with [[birdshot]] while the pair were hunting Quail in [[Corpus Christi]], [[Texas]]. Mr. Whittington suffered a minor heart attack due to the incident,<ref>Lavandera, Ed. [http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/17/cheney/ Man shot by Cheney: 'Accidents do and will happen'] February 20, 2006 (accessed July 16, 2007), ''CNN''</ref> and Cheney accepted full responsibility for the incident.<ref>Dana Bash, Suzanne Malveaux, Tim McCaughan. [http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/15/cheney/ Cheney: 'One of the worst days of my life']. February 16, 2006 (accessed July 16, 2007), ''CNN''</ref> The incident was, according to all involved, an accident.<ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11409731/ Harry Whittington's hospital statement]. February 2006 (accessed July 16, 2007), ''MSNBC''</ref>

== Health Issues ==
In March 2007 Mr. Cheney had surgery to remove a blood clot in his leg, the result of extended periods of sitting while airborne.

==See Also==
[[Previous Breaking News/Dick Cheney|Articles about '''Dick Cheney''' from previous "Breaking News"]]

==References==

<references/>

==External links==

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheney, Dick}}
[[Category:Republican Party]]

{{USVicePresidents}}
[[Category:Reagan Era]]

Dick Cheney

2009-04-09T22:00:17Z

Cesarchavez: /* Political Career */

{| align=right border=3 cellspacing=0 style="border-width: 5px; border-color: #c0c0c0; background: #e0e0e0; margin: 2em;"
| style="text-align: center; padding: 10px 40px 10px 40px;" | [[Previous_Breaking_News/Dick_Cheney| Previous Breaking News: Dick Cheney]]
|}

{{President
|image=408px-Richard Cheney 2005 official portrait.jpg
|seq=46
|office=vice
|term_start=January 20, 2001
|term_end=January 20, 2009
|party=Republican
|pres=George W. Bush
|previous=Al Gore
|next=Joe Biden
|birth_date=January 30, 1941
|birth_place=Lincoln, Nebraska
|death_date=
|death_place=
|spouse=Lynne Cheney
|spouse2=
|religion=Methodist
}}
'''Richard B. Cheney''' served as the 46th Vice President of the United States, 2001-2009. He was first elected in 2000 along with President [[George W. Bush]]. Cheney was re-elected along with President Bush in 2004.

== Life and Family ==
Richard 'Dick' Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska.<ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/vicepresident/1</ref> He has both a BA and an MA in Political Science from the University of Wyoming <ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/vicepresident/2</ref>. He married [[Lynne Cheney]] in 1964. They have two daughters; Elizabeth and Mary.

== Political Career ==
Richard Cheney assumed his first political post as an assistant to Wisconsin Governor Warren P. Knowles in the early 1960s. At the age of 28 when he became an intern near the beginning of the [[ Nixon]] Administration. He quickly came to the attention of [[Donald Rumsfeld]], then directing the Office of Economic Opportunity, and was promoted to a paid position in 1971. When [[Watergate]] forced Nixon's resignation in 1973, Cheney became vice president of an investment firm for a year, but Rumsfeld convinced [[Gerald Ford]] upon the latter's accession to the presidency that Cheney was indispensable, and he was recalled to public service. Eventually Cheney replaced Rumsfeld as [[Chief of Staff]] to Ford as Rumsfeld was promoted to [[Secretary of Defense]].

[[Image:Cheney3.jpg‎|left|thumb|200px|Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Mrs. Lynne Cheney welcomed their fifth grandchild, 2006]]Upon hearing that Cheney had been chosen by Bush as his running mate, [[Paula Jones]] who was notable in some of the early [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] scandals sued to disqualify them from receiving the electoral votes of [[Texas]]. Her theory was that under the [[12th Amendment]] to the [[U. S. Constitution]], no state may give its electoral vote to a Presidential ticket both of whose members are from that state. [[Republican]] lawyers argued that Cheney's ties to [[Wyoming]] were more significant than those to Texas, which had effectively been dissolved as soon as Lynne carried out Richard's instructions to sell their house there. This argument prevailed in Federal district court, and Jones did not appeal.

On February 11, 2006, Mr. Cheney accidentally<ref>Bash, Dana. [http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/12/cheney/ Cheney accidentally shoots fellow hunter]. February 12, 2006 (accessed July 16, 2007), ''CNN''</ref> shot a hunting partner, Mr. Harry Whittington, in the face with [[birdshot]] while the pair were hunting Quail in [[Corpus Christi]], [[Texas]]. Mr. Whittington suffered a minor heart attack due to the incident,<ref>Lavandera, Ed. [http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/17/cheney/ Man shot by Cheney: 'Accidents do and will happen'] February 20, 2006 (accessed July 16, 2007), ''CNN''</ref> and Cheney accepted full responsibility for the incident.<ref>Dana Bash, Suzanne Malveaux, Tim McCaughan. [http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/15/cheney/ Cheney: 'One of the worst days of my life']. February 16, 2006 (accessed July 16, 2007), ''CNN''</ref> The incident was, according to all involved, an accident.<ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11409731/ Harry Whittington's hospital statement]. February 2006 (accessed July 16, 2007), ''MSNBC''</ref>

== Health Issues ==
In March 2007 Mr. Cheney had surgery to remove a blood clot in his leg, the result of extended periods of sitting while airborne.

==See Also==
[[Previous Breaking News/Dick Cheney|Articles about '''Dick Cheney''' from previous "Breaking News"]]

==References==

<references/>

==External links==

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheney, Dick}}
[[Category:Republican Party]]

{{USVicePresidents}}
[[Category:Reagan Era]]