http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0322satlet4-221.html

Illegal arrivals draining Arizona
Mar. 22, 2003 12:00 AM

Illegal migrants dilute the necessary resources that are dedicated for those individuals who play by the rules.

The system of public welfare in Arizona is modeled to include a population of steady birth rate, migration from other states and legal immigration from other countries. The system is “healthy” when the model maintains its integrity. Much of Arizona’s budget woes are due to corruption in the system caused by lawbreakers who locate here illegally.

The system has become overwhelmed by massive illegal entry into Arizona. The uncontrolled addition of illegal immigrants has ruptured the model for which the system was designed.

Education, health services, welfare, public safety, the judicial and correctional systems were not designed for, nor are they able to keep pace with, the demands placed on them. Contrary to liberal thinking, it is not due to a lack of funding increases by the Legislature.

Logical thinking dictates that the more Arizona offers in benefits, the more people will find their way here. Simply put, we will never catch up. There is not enough money in all of Arizona to finance the social ills of every country south of our border.

There are some difficult decisions that have to be made for the survival of the systems put in place to protect and educate our legally residing population:

We must patrol the border with our own force of trained professionals. The federal government’s shunting of its responsibility in this area has necessitated this course of action. The cost to implement and manage this endeavor is vastly overshadowed by the cost-saving benefit of fewer individuals in the system.

Tax increases will destroy our already fragile economy. In order to balance the budgets of this and future years, we must not burden the legal population of this state with tax increases designed to benefit the “illegal” population.

My hope is that conservative lawmakers will not shirk from that promise, nor shy away from making decisions that will protect the “American Dream” for future generations of Arizonans.

Mean-spirited and cold-hearted? No, just patriotic and law-abiding!

– Rusty Childress
Phoenix