Tom Liotti, Westbury Village Justice
Congress has failed to give new immigrants a path to citizenship. They continue to sneak into the United States while escaping from violence and poverty in their native countries in Central America and Mexico. Their plight is now ours but the inability of Congress to deal with this immense problem is bankrupting local governments and school districts.
In 1848 Abraham Lincoln suggested in the Congressional Debates of that era that we might solve the slavery problem by sending them all back to Africa at an estimated cost of $300,000. The problem was then resolved by the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment which freed the slaves throughout the nation.
With approximately 15 million undocumented new immigrants in this country and more arriving each day, the problems are more complex than they were even during the Civil War. In deferring action on immigration reform, the Congress has passed this problem to local governments which are unable to cope with the ripple affects of this vast and growing influx.
While our streets are not “paved with gold” tax dollars are being used to accommodate and educate new immigrants while they are untaxed. The inequity for the American taxpayer is obvious but the Congress still fails to act.
Meanwhile school districts are mandated to provide educational services to all children including those with special and bilingual needs. In some cases they have established annexes or charter schools to meet these demands. This commendable response cannot keep up with the tide, especially since the new immigrants usually take up residence in poorer neighborhoods where the tax base is already minimal.
In our Village Court we see the collateral consequences of failed immigration policies where there is a shortage of affordable housing. New immigrants take up residence illegally in single family homes. They are exploited by absentee landlords and forced to rent rooms and even beds in these homes. Property values decline. The untaxed costs of these illegal occupancies such as sanitation, garbage removal and water are enormous.
The new immigrants must stay under the radar for fear of being deported. They work for cash as day laborers. They cannot secure Social Security cards or driver’s licenses. They do not have medical, unemployment or workers compensation insurance. They cannot vote. They do not pay taxes. They live in crowded, dangerous, uninhabitable conditions.
Local governments are doing the very best that we can but a problem of this enormity requires immediate solutions by Congress.
