Last week eighteen beds in a West Marie Street house were discovered by Hicksville firefighters. We could pretend that Sleepys’ extensive facility off Hicksville Road was inadequate for storage. Or we could say what we all know to be the truth: The dwelling was a flophouse for illegal aliens. Either case, I juxtapose this with the latest pro-illegal immigration, hate Arizona, Americans-are-racists ranting of Maryann Sinclair Slutsky which appeared in the same July 23 issue of The Hicksville Illustrated. Her angle: illegal immigration is good for the economy.
I’m certainly not opposed to immigrants or immigration. My two favorite restaurants are owned by Italian and Chinese immigrants, I have a doctor and a banker from Pakistan and I have a number of friends born in Denmark, England, Greece, Italy, Pakistan, Germany and Russia. I shop at the Korean grocer. The barbershop I’ve patronized for years is owned by Italian immigrants. My brother-in-law is from Costa Rica. My niece’s husband is Chinese. I’ve volunteered my time working with students from India, Korea and Pakistan.
Illegal immigration – the influx of millions of poor, uneducated, unskilled and lawless people disdainful of America’s laws, culture and citizen’s needs – as opposed to the peaceful and lawful entry of a few persons with demonstrable skills and knowledge (surgeons, engineers, microbiologists) has an enormous economic impact. It brings more traffic, crime, overcrowded schools, pollution, hospitals filled beyond capacity, higher
taxes, overwhelmed social services and lower wages for working people. It turns quiet and safe neighborhoods into tribal war zones. (Just ask folks in Huntington Station). It turns America into a country its own citizens will no longer recognize. I loathe to contemplate that my 3-and-a-half year-old daughter, whose ancestor Francis Cook came to America on the Mayflower, will come to see America as an alien place in which she has no connection, loyalty, or affection.
Illegal immigration good for the economy? Maryann Sinclair Slutsky must be thinking of the salesman who sold eighteen beds on one day.
Paul Manton
