Cheap labor proving to be very costly

Each state was also given the power and as a Tennessean Gill, explain why the laws aren't enforced here.Other cities/states are enforcing the laws and even changing laws to provide more security but TN hasn't.Our law makers/enforcers do not understand the meaning of illegal.

It must be noted here that the "let them in" lobby is headed by George W. Bush. Conservatives continually try to paint liberals as the problem when it comes to policies regarding illegal immigration, yet the problem dates back to a Texan working overtime to keep Hispanics happy.

Here's what's missing in the Heritage Foundation study: How much cheap labor lowers the costs of the goods and services it produces. Heritage only counts the costs of having these workers in this country, it does not calculate their impact on the cost of production.I'd like to see those figures, myself.

How did Democrats "let him get away with it and helped"? The Texas Legislature has been in Republican control since the mid-1990s and, until last year, Republicans controlled both the U.S. Senate and House during Bush's reign.

I would gladly pay more for goods and services if we could get the illegals out of the country and quit importing so much from China. Between the two, our country is being bled dry. We built a new house some time ago and I told the contractor I wanted an American brick crew. He responded, "If you want brick on your house, you will have to have a Mexican crew. They've run all the American crews out of business by low-balling. Now they are starting to raise the prices because they know they can." So, I had a Mexican brick crew. The brick job looks great but they wasted at least 2,000 brick (estimate from the brick dealer) and left a mess that cost me hundreds of dollars to clean up. They got mortar on the shingles and windows. They broke one window and scratched others. The first thing they built out of my brick was a fire pit to cook their food! I might have saved some bucks up front but, just like the costs that Steve Gill is writing about, the bottom line was no bargain!I don't like being forced to make a decision between no brick on my house and using illegal labor. I don't appreciate the fact that most American flags are made in China!Will"Calling an illegal alien an undocumented worker is like calling a drug dealer an unlicensed pharmacist."

HenryB, factually speaking, the so-called "let them in" lobby is and has been headed Senator Edward Kennedy and Liberals for decades. Though we may commingle, Conservatives should not be confused as Republicans. We are not one in the same. Moreover, there actually are a handful of Conservatives that remain commingled with the Democrats; but damned few.

What is the deal with the City Paper's online format? Some days you can comment on letters to the editor, other days no such luck. Are they billed by the number of reader opinion boards they put online? What gives?Since this is the case, I'm responding to C.W. Clouse's letter, which misuses the word "censorship". Clouse, you seem like an involved citizen and for that I thank you even though we don't see eye to eye on some things. But please stop misusing the word "censorship". When a newspaper decides to carry one columnist and not another, that's not censorship. I don't have a column in the City Paper. Am I being censored? No. However, I agree with your sentiment. It's foolish to call for Reagan's column to be dropped just because some reader doesn't like what he has to say. If all of us simply read those opinions we agree with, we'd all be as dull and unthinking as, well, some of the regular posters here.

HenryB, the ONLY thing that will stop the invasion of these illegals is to secure our borders, take away social services and employment. There is no valid reason whatsoever for any employer to hire an illegal.

Yes, plant, I like to take my valuable time and lie to unsuspecting dumba$Ses on the internet...FYI, this person had renovated our house when bought it from him and did a fine job. Not everyone is the idiot you make them out to be, Mr. Know-it-all.

HokeyPokey, Having illegals working here does NOT lower the price of anything. Using illegals only increases the profit margins of those who employ them. Have you noticed the price of landscaping services, new homes or even hamburgers dropping because many of the employers are now paying less per job or per hour for employees? Thought not.

You got that right, Active. Until our gov't. seriously punishes those who hire illegal aliens nothing will improve.

It is not totally the fault of the illegal alien that there is additional cost to them being here. If this were the wild wild west of the nineteenth century, it would not matter. No one paid much attention to Karl Marx back then. We are modifying our total social system in ways that most people can not afford to pay for it. The fraction of those who consume more than they pay in is increasing. If you figure $96,000 as the going price for an education of 12 years at $8k per year, and the only way to pay for it is the Tennessee sales tax, then everyone would be be required to buy $1.6 million dollars of goods at the retail level during their life time. I am using 6% as the sales tax because that is approximately its true efficiency after exemptions and exceptions are figured in. If you made $1.6 million dollars over 40 years you would need to get and spend a minimum of $40,000 a year of after tax money to pay off your educational debt. This assumes no inflation, so you need to plan on that going up about 3.5% every year. Some places, school spending is going up 6% per year, so even this hypothetical is not going to hold together for long. The system of borrowing/stealing from the rich to pay for the poor will eventually turn into a system where the rich will have all of the power. And why shouldn't they since they are paying for it? Importing those who can not pay their fair share only hastens the collapse of our economic system as it is currently crafted.

Global consult dictionary.com for censorship.

Meat packing plants is an illegal haven. Have you noticed chuck is now the price of what sirloin was not long ago. Anyone who honestly thinks that things are cheaper because of illegal labor is self-deluded. Hamburgers are not getting cheaper neither is hamburger meat. Service prices continue to go up despite cheap labor. Nobody is going to price a service based on labor which all could get deported next week.

Employers who hire illegal immigrants, pay minimum wage and nothing more. We the taxpayer foot the bill for these illegal activities.14 GOOD REASONS TO DEPORT ILLEGAL ALIENS (websites provided forverification)Hope these 14 reasons are read by the majority of Americans. Then they will have something to yell attheir U.S. Congress members.http://www.dfwstangs.net/forums/showthread.php?t=338051$11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year._http://tinyurl.com/zob77_ (http://tinyurl.com/zob77)$2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such asfood stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens._http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html _(http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html)$2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens._http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html _(http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html)$12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary schooleduc ation for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word ofEnglish! _http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html _(http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRI...4/01/ldt.0.html)$17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-bornchildren of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies._http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html _(http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRI.../01/ldt.01.html)$3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens._http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html _(http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRI.../01/ldt.01.html)30% of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens._http://transcripts.cnncom/TRANSCRIPTS/06 _(http://transcripts.cnncom/TRANSCRIPTS/06) 04/01/ldt.01.html$90 Bill ion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & socialservices by the American taxpayers._http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html _(http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html)$200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by theillegal aliens. _http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html _(http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRI.../01/ldt.01.html)The illegal aliens in the United States ha ve a crime rate that's two and ahalf times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children,are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the United States_http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html_(http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRI.../12/ldt.01.html)During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens thatcrossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens fromTerrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroineand marijuana, crossed into the U. S. from the Southern border. HomelandSecurity Report: _http://tinyurl.com/t9sht_ (http://tinyurl.com/t9sht)The National Policy Institute "estimated that the total cost of massdeportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost ofbetween $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period."_http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf _(http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute....deportation.pdf)In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to theircountries of origin. _http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm_(http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm)So if deporting them costs between $206 and $230 BILLION DOLLARS, Startremoving foreign nationals now, no matter their country of origin.' We'll be ahead after the 1st year!!!Please pass this on. Americans need to wake up!Bye Now

How can I help (ICE) Immigration & Customs Enforcement to protect my home, business and community? Notify ICE of inappropriate or suspicious behavior, including communications received by phone, fax, e-mail, third party, verbal communication or in writing. Always report crimes. To report suspicious activity, call our toll-free tip line at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. "Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Oklahoma, Missouri and soon Kansas have enacted harsh Immigration laws, to stop the hemorrhaging of the states economy. America can no longer support employers who hire foreign nationals for massive profits, while the citizens foot the bill. The media reports that their are large numbers of people fleeing these states, who are either self-deporting or are searching for a Sanctuary state or community. California is liable tip over and fall into the Pacific Ocean, but earthquakes will not be the cause?About time that businesses and illegal immigrants looked over their shoulder?www.numbersusa.comhttp://www.alipac.us/http://www.usillegalaliens.com/the_dark_side_of_illegal_immigration.htmlhttp://www.immigrationcounters.com/http://www.idexer.com/http://www.libertypost.org/www.judicialwatch.org