So what happens to these people with “legal status” when they get old? They won’t be Medicare or SS eligible so how will they afford healthcare? Health insurance is not affordable for them now when they are young and it is relatively cheap. When you get into your 50′s it is over $600 a month. Few companies even offer policies for people over 60.
Also, it does not help to promote an “honest discussion” when your opening line is a misdirection. While there are over 10 million illegal immigrants, it is more honest to say over 18 million (and probably over 20 million). Part of the resentment over the Reagan amnesty is the lie about granting legal status to nearly 1 million when in fact it was over 3 times that. People resent being lied to by their leaders.
It is also not an honest discussion when you compare people who have been here 20 years to people who have been here 20 days. In the first place, according to the current administration none have been here 20 days because illegal immigration slowed to a trickle over 3 years ago. Again, the public will realize they have been lied to when over a half million people who have only been in the country less than 2 years are in the 9th Circuit Court demanding equal treatment. Again EXACTLY what happened in 1986, so why is it going to be any different today?
What are you doing about the people who have been here 10 years. Statistically they are likely to have 4 children enrolled in the public schools. Are they staying too in spite of their lack of roots in the community? Of course they are. Then there is the family who has only been here 5 years. They too will likely have at least 3 children with at least one in pre-K or kindergarten. Are they staying too? Of course they are.
Now you have a full 20 million or so on visas allowed to compete for ANY job, but an employer will not have to pay payroll taxes because they are not eligible for SS. Who are they going to hire, the citizen who costs them an extra 6.2% or the immigrant? You think unemployment is bad for unskilled workers now at nearly 15%, just wait. The only wage group that actually LOST real income in the past 30 years is the bottom 20% income earner and that is a direct result of illegal immigration. Are we adding this competition so that they can become competitive with Chinese workers even faster?
