On Oct. 10, the Indiana GOP proposed stiffer enforcement of illegal immigration laws by denying \npublic social services and broadening police authority to investigate and detain offenders. While Democrats in the state legislature also oppose illegal immigration, they propose penalizing employers who hire illegal immigrants as opposed to the immigrants themselves. Republican state Rep. John E. Smith says illegal immigration harms Indiana taxpayers in the entire state. Our columnists debate the GOP proposal.
They're human beings too.\nJonathan P. Rossing\nis a graduate student studying rhetoric and public culture.
The GOP effort to produce a "chilling effect" on the flow of illegal immigrants to Indiana fails to recognize that we are talking about human beings.\nRep. John E. Smith, R-Kokomo, argues that illegal immigrants receiving state benefits paid for by Hoosier tax dollars is "a problem that negatively affects every citizen in Indiana." He stresses that Indiana must not be "the welcoming state for illegal immigrants across the Midwest. We must have tough rules that prevent them from coming here."\nBut the proposal seeks to deny illegal immigrants state benefits such as assisted housing, health care through Medicaid and food stamps. In other words, it scares future immigrants away by destroying the standard of living for those who are already here.\nHow do real people receiving assistance for basic human needs become a "problem"? Sustaining human life -- regardless of citizenship status -- should never be considered a problem. Disregarding humanity is a graver concern because it is indicative of a climate of insensitivity among some politicians. Apparently only certain lives are worthy of assistance for survival.\nDemocrats suggest we penalize more severely the employers who offer low-paying jobs to immigrants rather than attacking the quality of life of workers who are already here. But the GOP rejects that strategy and has stripped all employer penalties from the bill. In fact, some Republicans voted against a measure earlier this year that would have prevented immigrants from receiving tax-funded services and fined employers because the bill penalized businesses too much.\nOn one hand we have wealthy business owners cutting costs and maximizing personal profit with under-the-table, cheap labor. On the other we have human beings receiving assistance for food, housing and health. Somehow, the GOP believes the latter is the most critical and vexing problem.\nThe solution is not to make the lives of illegal immigrants, which are presumably already difficult, even more miserable. It is unethical to deny anyone access or assistance to shelter, food and health care -- citizen or not.
Against illegal immigration\nEdward Delp\nis a graduate student studying public affairs.
Illegal immigration is a scourge on our state and our nation.\nWhile it is true that immigration proposals by Republicans in the Indiana House of Representatives have political motivations behind them, they do have validity and should be enacted.\nThere are two reasons why these proposals should implemented:\nFirst, the sheer cost of providing services to illegal immigrants is staggering.\nIndiana spends roughly $700 million each year providing medical services, education, security and more to illegal immigrants, Rep. Steve Heim, an Indiana House Republican involved in the proposal, said.\nWhen illegal immigrants break the law, they cost the state money, too. Housing illegal immigrants in state and local jails costs the state roughly $2.7 million in 1999. \nCall me crazy, but I believe the state could find much better ways to spend all that money than providing services to people who have no right to be here in the first place.\nSecond, illegal immigrants are creating a serious security risk.\nWhile it is true that many illegal immigrants come here to work and do not wish to create problems, some are committing crimes and causing security issues.\nThe Secure Borders Initiative was implemented in late 2005 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In less than a year, more than 4,000 non-Mexican criminal immigrants were turned over to ICE for expedited detention and deportation hearings. \nAdditionally, a police officer in Houston, Texas, was murdered less than a month ago by an illegal immigrant during a traffic stop. \nGiven information like this and the disturbing possibility that we have only scratched the surface, it is simply incorrect to say illegal immigration does not pose a security risk. Some might say the above information largely refers to events outside Indiana, but if no action is taken, it will only be a matter of time before these dangers cross the Ohio and Wabash rivers right into our backyards.\nHow much more blood has to be shed and money wasted before we recognize the very real threat and costs of illegal immigration to our state and nation?
