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 Post subject: IFIRE's Minority Report to Immigration Study Committee
PostPosted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:29 pm 
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To: Senator Delph

Re: Minority Report for Immigration Study Committee

Date: November 18, 2008

From: Cheree Calabro, State Director

Indiana Federation for Immigration Reform and Enforcement



The Immigration Study Committee had the difficult, frustrating task of discovering the number of illegal immigrants living in Indiana and how much they cost taxpayers. They heard testimony that illegals are costing Hoosiers millions of dollars but, when it came to concrete figures, most state agencies were unable to provide them. The committee heard expert testimony that over 80% of Indiana’s illegal immigrant population is comprised of Hispanics. Unfortunately, testimony about other nationalities was lacking. We are concerned about all illegal immigration, but for the purposes of estimating costs, we must focus on Hispanics since we have that data. The Indiana Department of Education website on Language Minority Students (LMS) http://www.doe.state.in.us/lmmp/pdf/enr ... ummary.pdf
provides the best place to see the cost of illegal immigration and to see why our legislators must take action now.



Lauren Harvey, Assistant Director of the Office of English Language Learning and Migrant Education, testified that the annual cost of public education for each student is $11,400. That figure includes all funds. Based on that information, it cost $747,441,000 to educate the 65,565 Language Minority Students listed on the Department of Education website for the 2007-08 school year.



No one knows for sure how many of these students are children of illegal aliens. However, both committee co-chairs agreed that the Pew Hispanic Center was the most impartial source for data. Mr. Kochar, Assistant Director of Research for Pew, testified that more than 80% of the immigrant flow from Mexico to Indiana is undocumented. The Department of Education website shows that 47,971 of the Language Minority Students speak Spanish. Therefore, it is reasonable to estimate that Indiana currently spends $437,486,000 to educate the children of illegal aliens. (80% of 47,971=38,376 x $11,400 = $437,486,000)



The Sagamore Institute for Policy Research’s report, Connecting Mexico and the Hoosier Heartland: The Economic Impacts of Mexico-Indiana Relations buttresses Pew’s data.
(Read the 3-part report here: http://www.xycl.hostjr.sipr.org/default ... ils&id=366
The SIPR report may be biased in favor of Mexico since it bears the seal of the Mexican government and was prepared with the assistance of the Mexican Consulate.) SIPR estimated 214,553 people of Mexican origin lived in Indiana in 2004 and that 80% of foreign-born Mexicans were non-citizens of the USA.



The number of LMS students has been increasing by about 5,000 per year, according to the above INDOE website. If this trend continues, Indiana will spend an additional $57 million to educate all LMS students next year. This, alone, is sufficient reason for Indiana to take immediate legislative action to reduce illegal immigration through enforcement.



Despite popular belief to the contrary, SIPR shows that only 1-2% of Mexicans living in Indiana work in agriculture, harvesting melons and such. Both SIPR and Pew find that most are working in manufacturing, construction and services. Indiana has lost thousands of good manufacturing jobs. In recent years, many manufacturing plants closed and moved to Mexico or China. SIPR says nearly 40% of Mexicans in Indiana work in the manufacturing jobs that still remain, thus displacing legal workers. There are no jobs Americans won’t do. In fact, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the vast majority of jobs in construction, manufacturing and service are held by Americans.
(See: http://www.numbersusa.com/content/learn ... stics.html)



SIPR also estimates that the 200,000 plus Mexicans living in Indiana only paid a little more than $200 million in real estate, sales, state and county taxes combined. Furthermore, SIPR estimates that almost $182 million was sent out of Indiana to Mexico by immigrants while the banks that processed these transactions profited to the tune of $21.5 million. One might say this benefits the Hoosier economy since the banks are profiting but it’s difficult to see how this benefits the majority of Hoosier taxpayers. This demonstrates the Wall Street vs. Main Street divide that seems to be preventing our General Assembly from taking action.



A possible explanation for the low tax receipts in Indiana can be seen in this article from Greeley, Colorado where 1,300 cases of identity theft are being investigated from one tax preparer alone. http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2008/11/14/3789446.htm
She obtained Individual Tax Identification Numbers (ITIN) from the IRS for the false Social Security Numbers provided by her illegal alien clients. She used the ITIN to file tax reports. Officials expect to prove that her clients received some $2.6 million in tax refunds but only paid about $1 million in taxes. In one case, the alien reported $33,341 in income with 6 dependents. He paid only $756 in federal income tax but received a $4,062 refund mostly due to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC.)



It seems unlikely that Congress will pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform (a.k.a. Amnesty) in this depressed economic climate. Amnesty could potentially make 10-20 million more people eligible for jobs, unemployment and other benefits. All immigrants need jobs. Hoosiers need jobs. Whose interests come first?



It would be unreasonable for the federal government to deny itself any help the states might offer in order to achieve our mutual goal of immigration law enforcement. Indeed, Congress has expressly granted states the right to use tools such as E-verify, 287(g), SAVE and Social Security Number Verification. These tools are not only federally-approved, they are also non-discriminatory since they apply to all citizens and immigrants alike. Indiana must pass legislation that uses these tools to enforce the rule of law and to make it harder for illegal aliens to work here.



Immigration law already provides for penalties against illegal aliens that include up to 20 years in prison; up to $10,000 in fines; seizure & sale of assets; and deportation. If deported, the alien is barred from reentry for 10 years. In some cases, they can be permanently banned from ever becoming U.S. citizens.



All things considered, the fairest, gentlest, most humane thing the General Assembly could do is to pass legislation that will encourage illegal aliens to liquidate their assets, keep their families together and go home voluntarily.



As you consider what legislation to pass, please keep in mind that illegal immigrants made a conscious choice to violate our laws. Others made the choice to immigrate legally and receive the full protection of the law. When enforced, the law protects immigrant and citizen alike.


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