Mexicans step across our borders and get free healthcare..Tax payers pay.

[marie Lewis]

Uninsured Illegal Aliens Overwhelm U.S. Hospitals

While Americans without health insurance struggle with the problem of how to pay for medical care, Mexicans don't have that problem. They just ride in a Mexican ambulance across the border to a hospital in Arizona, New Mexico, California or Texas, and get free medical treatment.

The costs are currently paid by a combination of socking the taxpayers in those four border states-plus inflating prices for patients who pay their own bills, insurance companies and Medicaid.

This ridiculous situation is caused by a combination of U.S. officials allowing the Mexican cars to cross our border and the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, which mandates that U.S. hospitals with emergency-room services treat anyone who shows up for care, including illegal aliens. This unfunded mandate was legislated by a Congress that closed its eyes to the costs.

We are not just talking about Mexicans who may have had an accident close to the border. We are talking about Mexicans with serious health problems who are deliberately sent to the United States after Mexican hospitals discover they can't pay for services and have no insurance.

[marie Lewis]

Sens. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) and John Kyl (R.-Ariz.) have proposed a solution for this dilemma: lighten the tax burden on their own state while shifting it to U.S. taxpayers nationwide. How parochial! They introduced a bill to hit the U.S. taxpayers for $200 million for medical treatment of illegal aliens.
A study made by the U.S.-Mexico Border Counties Coalition, an American lobbying group, found that U.S. hospitals in border states provide at least $200 million a year in uncompensated emergency care to illegal aliens. In the four border states, 77 hospitals now face a medical emergency.
Uncompensated care to illegal aliens in Arizona cost the Cochise County Health Department 30% of its annual budget, the Copper Queen Hospital in Bisbee $200,000 out of a net operating income of $300,000, the University Medical Center in Tucson $10 million, and the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Tucson $1 million in only the first quarter of last year. The Southeast Arizona Medical Center in Douglas is on the verge of bankruptcy and some emergency rooms and pre-natal units have closed because they can't afford to stay open.

[VLamb]

Marie, I've read many of your posts here, and at first I agreed with you about illegal immmigration, but now I think you're spending a little too much time on this issue. You're coming across as obsessive and even racist with many of your comments. I would like to know how you feel about Mexican immigrants who came to this country legally, as my parents did 50 years ago. You know, there are other very important issues affecting our country now, such as the tax dollars being spent on the Iraq war, corporate welfare, and political corruption. I'm not saying you shouldn't be concerned about illegal immigration and its effect on our country, but are you as passionate about those other issues?

[Bill R]

VLamb wrote:

Marie, I've read many of your posts here, and at first I agreed with you about illegal immmigration, but now I think you're spending a little too much time on this issue. You're coming across as obsessive and even racist with many of your comments. I would like to know how you feel about Mexican immigrants who came to this country legally, as my parents did 50 years ago. You know, there are other very important issues affecting our country now, such as the tax dollars being spent on the Iraq war, corporate welfare, and political corruption. I'm not saying you shouldn't be concerned about illegal immigration and its effect on our country, but are you as passionate about those other issues?

Thanks, V Lamb. I've grown weary of it as well. There is a
difference between discussing the issue of immigration and
engaging in racist rhetoric. Time for a margarita.

[marie Lewis]

Sorry ! Yes I guess I do sound Racist ..But I sware I'm not
I just know that Illegals can commit a crime and step back across the border and come back the next day using a diffrent name ..My daughter was murdered in Oct 2006 by two Illegals..Do I hate them NO I DO NOT! Do I want justice and see them brought back for trial YES I DO..But most of all I want the mass migration of Illegals STOPPED because being able to just cross right back across a border breeds crime.
And something has to stop it..

here is a example..Call me anything you want.

"This place is loaded," Baker said, surveying the Ohio trailer park. "We could probably arrest a couple of thousand people in an hour if we wanted to. But we don't do that, we do targeted arrests." The targets are an estimated 590,000 illegal immigrants who have been designated as "fugitive aliens"—foreign nationals who either failed to appear for a scheduled Immigration hearing or ignored an Immigration judge's orders to leave the country. ICE estimates that 50,000 to 75,000 fugitive aliens are also "criminal aliens" convicted of local, state or federal offenses. Those are the team's priority targets. "The people we are going after have already had their day in court," said John Torres, acting director of ICE's Detention and Removal Operations.

He may be right. The immigration debate in Washington and the rest of the country has largely focused on securing the borders to keep illegals out. Much less known are the efforts of Pilat and other full-time agents like him, who crisscross the country searching for and deporting those who are already here. The ICE Fugitive Ops teams are a growing force. At the start of 2006, there were 18 of them. That number has now more than doubled, to 38. By the end of this year there will be 52 teams, totaling more than 300 federal agents. The official purpose of the program is to provide "interior enforcement" of U.S. immigration laws. But Robin Baker, head of the program's Detroit field office, voiced another, unofficial goal: to put undocumented immigrants on notice, and on edge. "We are going to send a message," Baker told agents at an early-morning briefing last week at the Columbus Police Academy. "We're going to start restoring integrity to the nation's immigration system."

[marie Lewis]

Sorry It was Oct.10.05 not 06..But we have to get them back across the border first..And fox doesn't send them back ..They have to sneak in and one day I feel they will be back.

[Bill R]

Marie: Please accept my genuine sympathies for your loss.
Having a daughter I know I cannot even begin to comprehend
the depth of suffering and anguish you must feel. Our
prayers are with you and all those suffering because of
what has happened. I truly mean this.

No one has the right to tell you how to feel or how to
respond to your loss, but I would caution or beg you not
to allow your righteous anger toward those who murdered
your daughter to become an anger or hatred toward a people.
I do not know if you are a religious person or not, but it
would be tragic to allow what has happened to fill you
with hatred, as it consumes everything. Don't let them
take that from you as well.

And please remember that there are those who are Mexican
who have, like you, suffered the loss of a child because
of the act of a Mexican. I say this not to minimize your
loss, but to hopefully assure you that the Mexican women
I know would embrace you and look to comfort you in your
bereavement.

Thank you for listening, and God bless you.

[diamondp]

I have to agree with Marie. I don't think that she has become obsessed with the illegal immigration issue. I believe she is trying to get a point across about the rape of our medical systems by illegal immigrants. People from all over the USA should be taking a long hard look at this situation. When someone in your family needs emergency medical care and there is no hospital available to give that care, then how are you going to feel about it. I stand behind this issue because I am sick and tired of my tax dollars paying for these illegal immigrants. There is nothing racist or no hate involved. Get the proper immigration papers in place and enter the USA legally. Nothing in our Constitution says we have to accept and pay for illegal immigrants. We do it because we are forced to.
And Marie, you are stronger than I. I also have a daughter. If what happened to your daughter would ever happen to her, I would not be so easy on them. I would be screaming to have them found and put to death! I agree that they will return to the USA and I pray you and your daughter get the justice you deserve. It angers me that they can flip-flop back and forth across the border and the American citizen just keeps paying for it in one way or another.
Bless you Marie

[diamondp]

Just to keep the record straight, I am not from Windsor Canada. I am on vacation here and using a computer from here, and this post automatically included Windsor, Canada. I actually live in Michigan. So I am a USA citizen, born and raised. Just thought some of you would be wondering why I am adding my 2 cents when I don't live in the USA!!!

[marie Lewis]

Bill I honestly try to keep my personal feelings out of this ..But of course at times they are almost too much..But honestly I think even had I not lost my own daughter I would still be very much agaist Illegals..And please understand that I have some Hispanic friends at work that I think the world of,And it made them sick at what happend to my daughter also..But some of them also have Illegal Family and friends here and of course they want them to stay..But Bill where does it stop?
Here in Texas as well as California,Arz,Ala,Miss,South Carolina are losing everything we have worked and earned trying to feed house and give medical to people who disrespect the states so badly and themselves that if it is not nailed down they steal it..You would not believe the yard men who plant expensive trees and shrubs only to go back in the night and steal them..The Construction men that steal ALL of the bath tubs sinks, stoves, and Air conditioners out the same night they are installed..Who pays? Not the builders they just add it to the next house for someone else to pay for..
Where do you think most of the 590,000 fugitives come from that Ice is looking for now? they were caught stealing or killed someone driving drunk..Not to mention Rape and murder of which they did that and more to my daughter..I work with a lady that lost her arm in a Accident with a DRUNK MEXICAN TRUCKER..She is armless plus her heart is damaged and he ran back to the border and the mexican trucking buisness fled too.
So no Bill I do not hate I just want this madness stopped because they are spreading that kind of crime that they claim to want to be free of right to our back yards.And if you will ever wake up you can look it up that our goverment will not allow whites to be seperated from Mexicans on crime sheets ..So to look at the records you would think Mexicans never commited a crime just whites. Sorry Bill I stand by what I feel here..But I'm not a racist and I'm not a hater..
I just see what is comming and I'm frightend for our country.

[marie Lewis]

Bill this was in Washington ..So you see everyone knows of the dangers..I will not post here again because I feel I at least tried..Here is the speaker at the meeting ..GOOD LUCK YOU GUYS AND THANKS AND GOD BLESS YOU ALL ALSO..
[Congressional Record: July 12, 2006 (House)]
[Page H5051]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr12jy06-66]


THE HOUSE OF AMERICA

(Mr. POE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, Joe Carcamo, an illegal El Salvadoran, had 17
driving violations when he drunkenly was drag racing down a Michigan
street and hit two teenagers. He was driving 75 miles an hour. He
cracked the skull of one of them and the other girl lost both her legs.
We could have stopped this reckless illegal after his first
violation, which was breaking and entering into our country, but
politics stops local law enforcement from making these arrests. Not so
with Sheriff Joe Arpaio from Maricopa County. He is using an Arizona
law that locks up smugglers and their customers, too, for conspiring to
break the law.
The Mexican Government wants to help illegals break out of his jail
by suing Sheriff Joe for just enforcing American law. The word is out:
Coyote smugglers avoid Maricopa County and the High Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Mr. Speaker, our sheriffs and Border Patrol do as good a job as we
let them do, and our Nation must send out the word: Enter the House of
America legally, or you will enter the jailhouse.
And that's just the way it is.

[Neal]

All: good dialog, and I thank you all for sharing... Marie, what can I say...? I too have a daughter - damn..!

My postings, as well as others on this issue, help me formulate my opinion on the problem of illegal aliens in this country. We've all had the "Irish" immigration thrown in our faces as a comparison to this invasion - but the Irish made a one way trip; they arrived, if healthy, they stayed. They also assimilated, and eventually they stopped coming. What have we got today? Generally, it's the most able bodied men arriving, alone. Sure, they work real hard, and I bet they flaunt their 'wealth' when returning home (periodically). They work and live with other men, yet have the same desires as most men, but little opportunity to 'act' on those desires. I notice them ogling women, and as I worked in a shopping complex a few years ago, found they often stole beer by the case. And, they kill. But unlike the Irish, who'd face the charges - they skip back to from where they came, for a while...

I seem to agree with most, this situation is wrong, and something serious needs to be enacted, funded, and followed through - PERIOD

There are certainly monetary benefits for those who exploit their illegal labor - but for our society as a whole, it's a major loss. I'd be interested to see how many 'hits' these threads receive..? Anyone found such a counter around here? Are there only ten people willing to post their opinions on this mess...? I know there are other outlets, but what dose it take -- postings like Marie's to wake up the 'average person?' I know -- I've mentioned it several times now -- but as I do it myself --- let your elective representatives know how you feel! Let the local candidates know too; you don't have to be 'eloquent,' just call, write, or e-mail them, and put it in your own words. All 'they' need to know is that you're pissed (too) and vote!

I've had a bit of vacation, with guests (from Sweden), and have just read most of what's been posted. I appreciate the opportunity to post my thoughts and feelings here, and to read 'yours.' I'll keep my eyes open, but if anything, my convictions have solidified...

Stay healthy, safe, and cool. And Marie, yours was a wake-up call ... lets hope you've awaken some (thanks, stay strong).

[Bill R]

Neal: My opinions regarding the illegal immmigration remain
the same ....

1. Secure the borders now. If we can expect the U.N.
to quite possibly secure the Syria/Lebanon border,
we can surely secure our border with Mexico. Saying
"can't" should be interpreted as "won't."

2. Monitor the gates. It is impossible to inspect the
numbers of vehicles and people crossing at some
border points. Access to entry should be limited
to the number we are able to document, inspect,
and search reasonably.

3. National ID cards ... replaced every 2 years to
lessen the possibility of counterfeits. Legal
aliens provided a similar card, required for
employment. Validation by national database,
free to all employers. Felony convictions mean
deportation.

4. Processing centers for all illegal aliens in the
U.S. today. 3 months to report. Includes a
general physical, language ability test, and
personal data gathering. Must report whenever
there is a job change, but all must report every
3 months.

5. No citizenship for the children of illegals or
legals born in the U.S. No dual citizenship.


I could go on and on and on ... my only point is that such
steps need not be taken for cultural reasons, but for matters
of national security and economic well being.

The economic well being issue is not that critical now, but
if the unemployment rate went to 7%, the problem of illegals
and/or legal immigrants would be worse because they would be
taking jobs U.S. citizens truly need. That is not the case
now, but it can and will be at some time in the future. At
that point we need to decrease the number of "guest workers"
and need a way to handle it.

[Ron Lawrence]

VLamb wrote:

Marie, I've read many of your posts here, and at first I agreed with you about illegal immmigration, but now I think you're spending a little too much time on this issue. You're coming across as obsessive and even racist with many of your comments. I would like to know how you feel about Mexican immigrants who came to this country legally, as my parents did 50 years ago. You know, there are other very important issues affecting our country now, such as the tax dollars being spent on the Iraq war, corporate welfare, and political corruption. I'm not saying you shouldn't be concerned about illegal immigration and its effect on our country, but are you as passionate about those other issues?

Ass an independant I can see what party you are with but there must be two sides.When you say we are racist if we want imigrants to abide by our imigration laws, are not only naive but ginorant to the effects that illegals are having on this country. Hospitals are closing , schools are failing, jails are full, crime is rampent and illegals make a mess of our towns and with trash because rather than change, you want to live here like you do at home and that beeing said you need to go home, untill you can abide by all our laws and rules.

A damn mad tax payer.

[marie Lewis]

WANT THEM IN YOUR BACKYARDS??

Biggest Drug Bust in Dallas History
Dallas police say they made the biggest drug bust in the city's history. The department photos show stacks of drugs, money and an arsenal of weapons seized from a house in North Dallas. More than half a million dollars in cash and 34 kilos of cocaine worth an estimated $13M were confiscated. 34 kilos is more than 70 lbs. Investigators say Oscar Fuentes, Octavio Monreal, Alfonso Montemayor and Gerardo Soto were arrested. They are being held on Federal Drug Trafficking charges.

[Neal]

Bill; your suggestions are a start ... but why do they come? "Jobs!" I read nothing about employer sanctions... I say, less emphasis on that imagery wall, or at least equal emphasis on serious repercussions for those who hire / take advantage of them up here. I don't know if you get "Lars Larson's" radio talk show where you're located, but the first and only time I've agreed with that guy was in an Oregonian opinion piece he wrote describing our need to "Dry up the cow." Meaning - cut off the employment opportunities to illegal aliens, and they'll stop coming. As a former employer, you would perhaps be best able to come up with some of those solutions...? As I've mentioned (on another thread), they can nearly as easily be dumped off small ocean going boats along any of our shores - I guess a wet-back is still a wet-beck, fresh water or salt... I cringe at the National ID, as I suspect most conservatives do as well ... it's advertised for 'one thing,' but could / would eventually be used for another...

My concern with the Latino Culture is that if nothing's done to stop this continuous inflow, we're going to end up with a division of cultures - at best -- a disintegration of Our Culture - at worst. As their "Culture" merges with ours, how long until our standard of living is reduced to the level of theirs? Then what do we do, and where do we go? Is Canada open?

An extremely well policed "guest workers" policy, with VERY limited employment opportunities, such as the migrant harvesting of the past, would work for me. But allowing a "Backdoor" citizenship to those who've blatantly broken our law/s from the get-go is the same mistake Reagan signed off on 25 years ago ... and that was with 7 times fewer Illegals than we have now!

This is big, and serious; it can no longer be swept under the rug ... by either party, and the detrimental effect on our nation is obvious, and mounting --- as mentioned so graphically by others, as concerned as me...

[Bill R]

Neal: I'll respond as best I can, probably taking one part of
your post at a time. By the way, I am in Oregon, but for reasons
I do not understand topix.net put Monroe, LA in there. Another
poster from the same zipcode has the same problem.

The issue of hiring illegals is a touchy one and much more
complex than most people realize. I say this not to dodge the
issue or appear as if I am against going after companies that
hire them, but to caution against assuming the legal issues
can be resolved easily.

There is a huge difference, let us say, between a farmer who
hires a large number of seasonal employees during harvest,
and a company who hires fewer employees but for the long term.
They need to be treated differently.

Unless it is a large, industrial scale farm, the farmer usually
does not have the means to determine if those working for him
are truly legal immigrants, especially with the meager assist-
ance available to him. They show up en masse and the work
needs to be right away. Until the federal government comes up
with a system that would allow the farmer to take a number off
a card and submit it for instant verification, there should be
little or no penalty. I would point out that fewer and fewer
coming into the U.S. illegally actually work in these jobs, as
evidenced by the shortage of itinerant farm workers. We need
to watch that we do not invoke the "law of unintended con-
sequences" and create a crisis for farmers who need short term
employees.

The employer who hires for a season, say a fruit and vegetable
packing plant, typically has a personnel department with staff
that hires days or even weeks in advance of the time the help
is needed. Those in such departments by necessity have bi-
lingual people, computers on their desks, and the infrastructure
to address identification issues. Jobs in the plant are mostly
seasonal, but long enough to do background checks, including
criminal records (something a farmer can't do). The fines for
hiring illegals in these cases should be heavy, but there needs
to be allowance for unknowingly hiring and deliberately hiring
illegals.

If we want to solve the problem of illegal aliens in the work-
place and in the U.S., my suggestion is that rather than make
employers the enemy, we make them allies in solving the prob-
lem. We do this by offering tax incentives for alerting law
enforcement of those who are determined to be illegal aliens.
Once again, there must a way of identification, but once this
is established corporations should benefit for working with
law enforcement in solving the illegal problem. After all,
they have an address, telephone number, etc. to work from.
If we are going to solve the problem we need to punish those
who willfully break the law (ex. 50 weeks pay for the employee)
and reward those who assist law enforcement.

[marie Lewis]

Watch out folks when Bush blows smoke ..An American loses.

MEXICO CITY For Mexico, the recent groundbreaking for a new $650 million auto factory was worth celebrating. President Vicente Fox and other dignitaries attended the event. Local executives from General Motors, the investor, flew in to the central state of San Luis San Luis Potosí, where the assembly plant now under construction is expected to eventually employ up to 1,800 people and churn out as many as 160,000 compact cars a year.
During the past dozen years, many foreign manufacturers rushed to build factories in states like Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee, earning the trend a nickname: Detroit South. But now, Mexico is eyeing that title.
GM, struggling with its own problems, did little to publicize the new factory outside of Mexico. But while any talk of increasing production elsewhere and adding low-wage jobs in Mexico risks creating a backlash in the United States, there is no hiding the relentless advance of the auto industry here.
Automotive production in Mexico is expected to hit record levels this year, surpassing two million cars, as automakers pour billions of dollars of new investment into their Mexican factories.
The expansion, being fueled by Mexico's top five automakers - General Motors, Ford Motor, DaimlerChrysler, Nissan and Volkswagen - stands in contrast to the plans by GM and Ford to cut 60,000 jobs in the United States and close two dozen North American plants through 2012.

[Neal]

A Firestorm of controversy -- right here in Oregon's second-largest nest of "Progressives?" Sounds like the same consensus I've noticed around here..? Apparently this straight-talking City Council member's taking heat for being honest! Read on, there are several links at the end to 'help him out.'

"SPRINGFIELD COUNCILOR NAILS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION" Dave Ralston, a member of the Springfield (OR) City Council, sent an email to the Mayor and Council members warning of the dangers of illegal immigration. His email has ignited a controversy in the Eugene area and elsewhere in the State. Here is Mr. Ralston’s message, now posted on the Springfield News website, http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2006/...

From: City Councilor Dave Ralston To: Springfield City Council and Mayor I strongly agree with what Mr. Nave has proposed. I believe that we cannot continue to absorb the flow of illegal immigrants, many of whom benefit from government services that our citizens provide, and most of whom take jobs that Americans can and will do, and not just low pay jobs, I know this for a fact. I have volumes of documentation on "La Raza", "Mecha" and "The Nation of Atzlan", these people want to take over the "South West of America". They want to invade, and not assimilate. It would be very eye opening to see what these organizations have to say and I will provide information to anyone who is not familiar with these groups. Mark my words, this is a serious problem that we will have to deal with sooner or later and I am tired of being politically correct in order to not offend anyone. This is MY country and I have a right to stand up for it. Illegal immigrants are breaking OUR laws and getting away with it, just try to go to one of their countries and do what they are doing here and see what happens. This is "America" and we speak English, love it or leave it. I want this sent to all of our City Councilors, and Mayor, please forward.

You can support Councilor Ralston in several ways, for example: Write a letter to the editor of the Eugene Register-Guard. Your chances of publication are probably better in you live in Eugene, Springfield, or general vicinity. [e-mail] Write to the Mayor of Springfield, Sid Leiken, who is severely critical of Ralston [e-mail] Write to Councilor Dave Ralston, in care of the City Manager at: [e-mail] .

[Neal]

Bill, thanks for your detailed response(s), and I realize you're in Oregon; as much as I appreciate this site, it's rather crude...

Why must a Farmer hire alien workers to begin with" Is it really because he can't find anyone locally to do this temporary work, or is it strictly to maximize profits? The premise that farmers, or agriculture in general can't survive without cheep desperate workers seems wrong to me... If it reached a 'legal' point where Farmers had to pay commensurate wages to US Citizens, couldn't their collective prices reflect that -- like every-other service or commodity? Also, there are many products a "Farmer" can produce from the land; if it became too difficult to acquire the necessary human employees to tend and harvest any crop - grow something else. There are unfortunately very few U-pick strawberry farmers left in the valley because of the hassles of finding consistent pickers, commercial or not -- now they grow grass seed / straw -- and we grow our own strawberries...

You say: "Until the federal government comes up with a system that would allow the farmer to take a number off a card and submit it for instant verification, there should be little or no penalty." --- Is there not now a penalty? If so, is this law enforced, or feared? I'm all for such "instant verification," as long as it's funded, and enforced - laws hiding in books do little without the national consciences and fund and enforce them.

And: "If we want to solve the problem of illegal aliens in the workplace and in the U.S., my suggestion is that rather than make employers the enemy, we make them allies in solving the problem. We do this by offering tax incentives for alerting law enforcement of those who are determined to be illegal aliens." --- So, in essence we 'pay the employer' to follow the law?--- So, not only are ordinary citizens taxed to provide the infrastructure and fund the governmental agency needed to enforce such laws, they will also subsidize the employers for complying with them..? Or, I guess the employer could pass their costs of searching for the lowest paid workers on to the citizens..? Either way, we all pay a few cents more to control our sovereignty and maintain the 'potential' to hire US Citizens.

Have you researched the current employee sanctions that have gone unenforced and ignored by employers? Have you researched anything in the latest House Bill --[House of Representatives bill 4437 (The Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005)]-- regarding enforcement by taking advantage of the latest technology to filter our illegal aliens? Have you passed on any of your suggestions to your / our elected representatives...? I appreciate you sharing them, but feel they need to be forwarded to our elected officials for consideration / inclusion / implementation / funding / enforcing... Thanks