Are we paying to bring all these people from south of the border ?

[Carlybee]

Back to the original topic.

WASHINGTON -

A posting on a federal website is prompting new questions from lawmakers about why swifter action was not taken to help secure our southwestern border. The posting was dated January 29 and was found on the FedBizOpps.gov website, which alerts businesses and vendors to potential government work.

The posting was categorized as a Request For Information regarding escort services for "Unaccompanied Alien Children." The listing explains to potential contractors, "There will be approximately 65,000 (Unaccompanied Alien Children) in total."

The listing further reads, "In emergency situations, the Contractor shall be called on to provide temporary shelter locations (such as trailers) with shower facilities for juveniles who are pending placement."

This posting also specifically mentions Texas as a potentially main area for this work.

Since this posting came out nearly six months ago, lawmakers want to know why more wasn't done sooner to help secure the border. An estimated 52,000 unaccompanied children from Central America have been caught coming across the border illegally. Detention centers have been filled to capacity, forcing Border Patrol officials to release many adults and families on their own recognizance prior to deportation hearings.

Despite numerous requests from Local 2 Investigates, federal officials maintain they do not yet have information on the number of illegal immigrants released due to a lack of detention space, or how many of these individuals have shown up at required immigration hearings.

When Local 2 contacted officials with the Department of Homeland Security regarding the posting, we were sent a written statement.

"ICE posted the RFI in January as part of the agency's long-term contingency planning efforts," the statement reads. "ICE has been in contact with the appropriate federal agencies to ensure we provide adequate levels of transportation, as required by the level of unaccompanied alien children coming into the government's custody."

When Local 2 asked for more specific answers about the January posting, we did not receive a response.

In a another statement to Local 2, Texas Sen. John Cornyn writes, "It's a crisis the Administration has known about and saw coming."

Vice President of the National Border Patrol Council Shawn Moran also wrote, "DHS was obviously aware of this situation as it had been reported by Border Patrol agents for well over a year. Choosing to release juveniles and family groups rather than deporting them helped fuel this crisis."

Next week Houston area Congressman Michael McCaul will hold hearings in McAllen to further probe these issues and what is needed to stop the flow of Central American immigrants into the U.S.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Do you honestly think we can act on free market principles with a government that thinks it's okay to bring people with no stake in this country into the welfare system and charge it to the taxpayers? If you do then you must share their mindset which is contradictory to any sort of free market solution. So you can reference Bastiat all you want but the ideal doesn't match up to the reality. That's the whole damn reason we all wanted Ron Paul to win to begin with and I guess you've forgotten what they did to keep that from happening. So yes...until the PTB embraces the free market it's only either socialism or a form of fascism depending on who is in office. Meanwhile the border is being breached by parasites and criminals. And yes...forced integration is an antithesis to liberty.

Perhaps a reminder. You earlier did say (and I agreed with) that most immigrants are coming for work- not welfare. And once again, illegal immigrants are not eligible for Federal welfare benefits- no food stamps, no Medicaid/ Medicare, no Social Security, no Obamacare and should the program pass, the recent immigrants are also not eligible for the proposed amnesty program.

My concern is keeping them out until there is some sort of reform, ie, getting rid of entitlements. And I am referring to the current influx of thousands of them coming over. I am not against immigration itself. Most people who immigrate legally are not here because of the freebies. They come here because they are interested in having a stake in the country. Call it what you want. I am not calling for rounding up the ones already here. I do think this current exodus...mostly out of Central America needs to be stopped before it gets any worse. I do feel badly for people down there who are afraid for their lives, but instead of putting pressure on those countries to take care of their own citizens, we send them money.

 

[Zippyjuan]

A posting on a federal website is prompting new questions from lawmakers about why swifter action was not taken to help secure our southwestern border. The posting was dated January 29 and was found on the FedBizOpps.gov website, which alerts businesses and vendors to potential government work.

The posting was categorized as a Request For Information regarding escort services for "Unaccompanied Alien Children." The listing explains to potential contractors, "There will be approximately 65,000 (Unaccompanied Alien Children) in total."

The listing further reads, "In emergency situations, the Contractor shall be called on to provide temporary shelter locations (such as trailers) with shower facilities for juveniles who are pending placement."

This posting also specifically mentions Texas as a potentially main area for this work.

Implying incorrectly that they had something to do with the kids "suddenly" coming. The story hit national news actually two years ago and had been going on for at least two years before that. It did not start in June of this year (I earlier posted a NY Times article from 2012 on the issue). The ad was not because they were planning in bring in tons of kids but to try to deal with the ones already here.

Since this posting came out nearly six months ago, lawmakers want to know why more wasn't done sooner to help secure the border. An estimated 52,000 unaccompanied children from Central America have been caught coming across the border illegally. Detention centers have been filled to capacity, forcing Border Patrol officials to release many adults and families on their own recognizance prior to deportation hearings.

If they weren't trying to secure the border, the would not have caught any of them. That they are being caught shows that the border is adequately secured. But we also have laws. The people coming need to be investigated to see if they are here legally or not and if not where did they come from and where they should be sent to. That take time and is why they are starting to pile up. It isn't the border security which needs more tax dollars but more spent on sorting through all of the kids. Some have families in the US, some don't.

 

[Carlybee]

Perhaps a reminder. You earlier did say (and I agreed with) that most immigrants are coming for work- not welfare. And once again, illegal immigrants are not eligible for Federal welfare benefits- no food stamps, no Medicaid/ Medicare, no Social Security, no Obamacare and should the program pass, the recent immigrants are also not eligible for the proposed amnesty program.

Juan you aren't getting it and I know you are not that naive. They are not legally eligible for it just like they are not legally allowed over the border. When they turn up at social services with fake documents and the documents are not verified, they get approved. I know people who do it so I am not just pulling that out of my hat. You keep inferring that government observes the law.

 

[Carlybee]

Implying incorrectly that they had something to do with the kids "suddenly" coming. The story hit national news actually two years ago and had been going on for at least two years before that. It did not start in June of this year (I earlier posted a NY Times article from 2012 on the issue). The ad was not because they were planning in bring in tons of kids but to try to deal with the ones already here.



If they weren't trying to secure the border, the would not have caught any of them. That they are being caught shows that the border is adequately secured. But we also have laws. The people coming need to be investigated to see if they are here legally or not and if not where did they come from and where they should be sent to. That take time and is why they are starting to pile up. It isn't the border security which needs more tax dollars but more spent on sorting through all of the kids. Some have families in the US, some don't.

I can see where they could investigate them at the border but once they are here there is no way to do that. Houston, for example, is a sanctuary city. They are not allowed to ask legal status. They are supposed to have adequate ID and work documents but they fake them and most places except for maybe large companies simply do not check.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Juan you aren't getting it and I know you are not that naive. They are not legally eligible for it just like they are not legally allowed over the border. When they turn up at social services with fake documents and the documents are not verified, they get approved. I know people who do it so I am not just pulling that out of my hat. You keep inferring that government observes the law.

Yes, fraud occurs but that is a minority. Most come for work and a better life. Fraud is much more rampant among legal US citizens.

 

[Carlybee]

Yes, fraud occurs but that is a minority. Most come for work and a better life. Fraud is much more rampant among legal US citizens.

Of course they come for work and a better life...their life is better because they left a shit hole and now they get free medical, free food, free meals for their kids....paid for by us.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Consider you are a lazy person and only want whatever you can get for free. You aren't going to leave family, friends, and even culture behind to go hundreds or thousands of miles on a risky trip just to be lazy once you get there. To make that choice requires ambition. And again (for the umpteenth time), the are ineligible for federal benefits.

 

[Zippyjuan]

One quote from Ron Paul on border security: http://nation.foxnews.com/ron-paul/2011/09/07/ron-paul-border-fence-will-be-used-keep-us

“The people that want big fences and guns, sure, we could secure the border,” the congressman noted. “A barbed wire fence with machine guns, that would do the trick. I don’t believe that is what America is all about.”

“Every time you think about this toughness on the border and ID cards and REAL IDs, think it’s a penalty against the American people too. I think this fence business is designed and may well be used against us and keep us in. In economic turmoil, the people want to leave with their capital and there’s capital controls and there’s people controls. Every time you think about the fence, think about the fences being used against us, keeping us in.”

 

[euphemia]

I am all for secured borders just to protect other people from themselves. Stay home. Take care of your families.

It makes me furious to think about the cowardly parents who sent their kids here and the barbarians who helped them. There is no way to guarantee the safety of any of them. As a mother and a grandmother, it offends me right down to the ground to think parents would turn their kids over to utter strangers.

 

[Feeding the Abscess]

I am all for secured borders just to protect other people from themselves. Stay home. Take care of your families.

It makes me furious to think about the cowardly parents who sent their kids here and the barbarians who helped them. There is no way to guarantee the safety of any of them. As a mother and a grandmother, it offends me right down to the ground to think parents would turn their kids over to utter strangers.

Change some of your language around, and this could be boilerplate outrage from people who oppose homeschooling or those who oppose anti-vaxxers.

The answer isn't legislating more restrictions. The answer is less legislation and less restrictions.

 

[Carlybee]

Consider you are a lazy person and only want whatever you can get for free. You aren't going to leave family, friends, and even culture behind to go hundreds or thousands of miles on a risky trip just to be lazy once you get there. To make that choice requires ambition. And again (for the umpteenth time), the are ineligible for federal benefits.

And again for the umpteenth time they still get benefits

 

[Carlybee]

One quote from Ron Paul on border security: http://nation.foxnews.com/ron-paul/2011/09/07/ron-paul-border-fence-will-be-used-keep-us

Again for the umpteenth time I never called for a fence and Ron Paul believes in border security.

 

[Zippyjuan]

And again for the umpteenth time they still get benefits

A tiny percent commit fraud. You make it sound like a majority if not all do. That is why I repeat it. Benefit fraud is far more common among citizens (and all who do should be punished for it).

 

[Carlybee]

A tiny percent commit fraud. You make it sound like a majority if not all do. That is why I repeat it. Benefit fraud is far more common among citizens (and all who do should be punished for it).

I think you are wrong about that and please don't post anymore charts or statistics because I don't think it applies in my state which has taken on a much larger burden than many other states. How many times do I have to tell you they cost us 12 billion dollars a year? Oh and they committed fraud the minute they came over the border with fake and stolen documents which in many cases is identity theft. And of course our government should be punished for looking the other way. Regardless even if it's a small amount why should my taxes have to pay for people from other countries who aren't even citizens to get entitlements?

 

[GunnyFreedom]

Regardless of anybodies position on (illegal/'shouldn't be no such thing as illegal') immigration, I would have thought that we could all agree at least on the fact that it should not be taxpayer funded and bureaucratically managed.

 

[Carlybee]

I am seriously beginning to think the "United States" need to dissolve and it needs to be every man for himself. Tired of people who don't live in my state and who are barely affected by the criminal element coming over the border telling me how I "should" feel about it. Or that if it doesn't fit into a tidy little set of ideals, then it must not be happening.


Done with this thread.

 

[puppetmaster]

Consider you are a lazy person and only want whatever you can get for free. You aren't going to leave family, friends, and even culture behind to go hundreds or thousands of miles on a risky trip just to be lazy once you get there. To make that choice requires ambition. And again (for the umpteenth time), the are ineligible for federal benefits.

BS...they can and do get benefits. You seem to live in a vacuum. You have no first hand knowledge in regards to benefits just what you read on the internet. Do yourself a favor and go on down to the welfare office and ask.

Furthermore I count the following as benefits:

Free transportation across the country
Free food
Free shelter
Free clothing

Meanwhile I continue to work my ass off and get taxed up the ass to support this and many other attacks on my freedom and pursuit of happiness. This shit has to end.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Figures for 2005 but compiled by the Comptroller of Texas:

http://www.window.state.tx.us/specialrpt/undocumented/7conclusion.html

The Comptroller’s office estimates the absence of the estimated 1.4 million undocumented immigrants in Texas in fiscal 2005 would have been a loss to our Gross State Product of $17.7 billion. Also, the Comptroller’s office estimates that state revenues collected from undocumented immigrants exceed what the state spent on services, with the difference being $424.7 million (Exhibit 18).

EXHIBIT 18
State Costs, Revenues and Economic Impact to Texas of Undocumented Immigrants
Fiscal Year 2005
(in millions)
Costs
Education -$967.8
Healthcare -$58.0
Incarceration -$130.6*
Total -$1,156.4

Revenues
State Revenue $999.0
School Property Tax $582.1
Total $1,581.1
Net Impact to State $424.7

 

[RonPaulMall]

Figures for 2005 but compiled by the Comptroller of Texas:

http://www.window.state.tx.us/specialrpt/undocumented/7conclusion.html

Even if that were completely accurate, you are simply looking at the cost to the state, not the cost to citizens within the state. As areas become overrun with immigrants, they leave in their wake crappy and overcrowded schools. Middle class folks that want to start a family then have to move to an area with better schools. The flight of people in to these enclaves of livability drives up property values and with them, the property taxes. Maybe the state makes the same amount of revenue off it, but if a middle class person has to pay tens of thousands of dollars more just to get the minimum quality of life necessary to start a family, that is a massive burden.