As an ill-informed centrist, I'd like to know this, please?

Question

I always hear from the right that there are millions and millions of illegal Mexican aliens in the US, and most of them are essentially stealing millions of dollars from our government in the form of exploiting programs meant for poor and/or disabled people.

Is this true, false, or somewhere in between?

My real question is, if this is really happening, then what's stopping the government from administering some sort of citizenship verification prior to dispensing so much money to these people?

Please back up your answer with facts and data, and remain as politically neutral as possible. If I see "neocon" or "moonbat," I will ignore your answer.

Answer 1

well this is actually a canard of the right. in reality, most illegal immigrants are terrified of getting deported and stay as far away from "official" locations as much as they possibly can - including not even going to the hospital for serious health issues because they are worried about police presence. in fact, illegal immigrants often work long hours for less than minimum wage in dangerous conditions in industries with some of the highest rates of worker injuries such as meatpacking. conservatives want to think that undocumented immigrants sit around collecting welfare, but that's simply not the case.

Answer 2

I think montecalm has a point.  Back home in Iowa, there was a huge raid on a meat packing plant and more than 300 illegal immigrants were arrested, separated from families, and eventually deported.  The small town of Postville where this happened was shocked and actually kind of outraged that the federal government came in and took away their neighbors and citizens, people they said just did a job well and contributed to the local economy. What was weird is that my mom said everybody in Waterloo (my hometown) knew it was coming because the I.C.E and homeland security guys set up a very obvious base of operations weeks before the raid.

I also see the other side of it.  Here in Florida I teach children who eat 2 free meals a day, receive free textbooks and resources, utilize our free public school system, and live in government assisted housing all because their parents broke the laws and snuck into our country. And our district is spending millions in training teachers to work with kids who don't speak english.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think we need to hold it against these kids, but this all comes back to someone's responsibility.  Many of their parents work in jobs where taxes are not taken out, are supported by local charity organizations, and are safe from prosecution (because current laws prohibit the 'discriminatory practice' of asking someone for legal verification).  Seriously, our cops have gotten in trouble with the feds for pulling on a job site (almost always construction) and asking for proof of residence.  

I don't know what's fair and what should happen, but I know something needs to be done about immigration reform.