From the unknown comic... From a California school teacher - - -

"As you listen to the news about the student protests over illegal immigration, there are some things that you should be aware of:

I am in charge of the English-as-a-second-language department at a large southern California high school which is designated a Title 1 school, meaning that its students average lower socioeconomic and income levels.

Most of the schools you are hearing about, South Gate High, Bell Gardens, Huntington Park, etc., where these students are protesting, are also Title 1 schools.

Title 1 schools are on the free breakfast and free lunch program. When I say free breakfast, I'm not talking a glass of milk and roll -- but a full breakfast and cereal bar with fruits and juices that would make a Marriott proud.  The waste of this food is monumental, with trays and trays of it being dumped in the trash uneaten. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I estimate that well over 50% of these students are obese or at least moderately overweight. About 75% or more DO have cell phones. The school also provides day care centers for the unwed teenage pregnant girls (some as young as 13) so they can attend class without the inconvenience of having to arrange for babysitters or having family watch their kids. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I was ordered to spend $700,000 on my department or risk losing funding for the upcoming year even though there was little need for anything; my budget was already substantial.  I ended up buying new computers for the computer learning center, half of which, one month later, have been carved with graffiti by the appreciative students who obviously feel humbled and grateful to have a free education in America. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I have had to intervene several times for young and substitute teachers whose classes consist of many illegal immigrant students here in the country less than 3 months who raised so much hell with the female teachers, calling them "Putas" whores and throwing things that the teachers were in tears.

Free medical, free education, free food, day care etc., etc., etc. Is it any wonder they feel entitled to not only be in this country but to demand rights, privileges and entitlements?

To those who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants contribute to our society because they LIKE their gardener and housekeeper and they like to pay less for tomatoes: spend some time in the real world of illegal immigration and see the TRUE costs.

Higher insurance, medical facilities closing, higher medical costs, more crime, lower standards of education in our schools, overcrowding, new diseases etc., etc, etc. For me, I'll pay more for tomatoes.

We need to wake up. The guest worker program will be a disaster because we won't have the guts to enforce it. Does anyone in their right mind really think they will voluntarily leave and return?

There are many hardworking Hispanic/American citizens that contribute to our country and many that I consider my true friends. We should encourage and accept those Hispanics who have done it the right and legal way.

It does, however, have everything to do with culture: A third-world culture that does not value education, that accepts children getting pregnant and dropping out of school by 15 and that refuses to assimilate, and an American culture that has become so weak and worried about "politically correct" that we don't have the will to do anything about it.

If this makes your blood boil, as it did mine, forward this to everyone you know.

CHEAP LABOR? Isn't that what the whole immigration issue is about?

Business doesn't want to pay a decent wage

Consumers don't want expensive produce

Government will tell you Americans don't want the jobs

But the bottom line is cheap labor. The phrase "cheap labor" is a myth, a farce, and a lie. there is no such thing as "cheap labor."

Take, for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children. He takes a job for $5.00 or $6.00/hour.  At that wage, with six dependents, he pays no income tax,  yet at the end of the year, if he files an Income Tax  Return,  he gets an "earned income credit" of up to $3,200 free.

He qualifies for Section 8 housing and subsidized rent

He qualifies for food stamps

He qualifies for free (no deductible, no co-pay) health care

His children get free breakfasts and lunches at school

He requires bilingual teachers and books

He qualifies for relief from high energy bills

If they are or become, aged, blind or disabled, they qualify for SSI. Once qualified for SSI they can qualify for Medicare.  All of this is at taxpayer's expense

He doesn't worry about car insurance, life insurance, or homeowners insurance.

Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material.

He and his family receive the equivalent of $20.00 to $30.00/hour in benefits.

Working Americans are lucky to have $5.00 or $6.00/hour left after paying their bills and his.

The American taxpayer's also pay for increased crime, graffiti and trash clean-up.

Cheap labor?      YEAH RIGHT!       Wake up people!

1. greatnewhome07/02/2007 04:52:25 PM

Alright, I would like to respond to the email that was just forwarded to me. I would like to first say that I am not an advocate of any laws, policies, and parties, whatsoever. I just want to be socially responsible to what I read, write and send from/to my inbox, and I have a few thoughts to share.

First, I want to say that the prevalence of many of our social problems is not just due to illegal immigrants. My personal opinion when it comes to illegal immigrants is that we should not be hating them like it’s our personal vendetta; but that we should take on a civic responsibility to intelligently and earnestly respond and feedback to our government for better resources to contain, control and address illegal immigration issues.

This email seems to fall under the former case of personal vendetta, and not the latter. I also want to say that not all Hispanics are illegal, and not all illegal immigrants are Hispanics.

I am wary about the intention, vast exaggeration and integrity of the author of the original email hence I take the comments of the author of the original email with a pinch of salt. First of all, with his opening sentences, it is obvious that he is unfamiliar with Marriot's standard, and his sole intention is to emotionally affect readers with his questionable benchmarking.

Scenario #1

In this scenario of food wastage, if it is even true about the amount of wastage, then what it reflects is the absence of checks and balances from the school and fund administrator. If there's no accountability on the funding of programs, no monitoring on how programs are utilized to meet its purpose, then there will always be abuse. This is not just true here, but everywhere. It does not just happen amongst schools of illegal immigrants but with lower income American families as well, it also happens in the lives of average income families and day-to-day running of the corporate America.

My question to the author of the email is why does he, as a head of department in his school, not try to effect some changes to the food wastage? Is it because the canteen is not his domain of control so he just wants to gripe about it and not do anything to it? Why would the school turn a blind eye to it?

It seems that the author has led us to believe that the number of illegal immigrant children is very large in his school and that it forms the majority of the student population. If this is so, then I have a few questions.

1. These children, are they legal or not, meaning are they now considered Americans? Is it possible for a school that enrolls so many illegal children and offers so many benefits, not to be monitored? It is unlikely that there is a total lack of accountability in a large high school that is funded for low-income family programs.

2. Aren’t these said benefits available to American (or non-hispanics) students in the school as well? So, are the rest of the American kids also responsible for the wastage? Then again, should it not really be the responsibility of the school and its decision-makers to see that the fund is utilized efficiently and for its purpose?? If food is wasted, then cut down the proportion!

3. Does he not know that obesity amongst children is a national problem, not just amongst illegal children? His comment, coming from an educator, is totally irresponsible and discriminatory against the immigrant kids.

4. THIS ONE INFURIATES ME. Why is he forced to spend $700,000?

a. If his yearly budget is already sufficient, he can always revise the need for the grant. If he doesn't need $700,000 extra, THEN HE SHOULD DO HIS JOB AS A RESPONSIBLE TAX PAYER AND DECLINE or use less of that amount! Don't just blame the system when you are unprepared to do something about it!

b. If his hands are tied (like risk losing his job), then he should DO HIS DUTY AS A RESPONSIBLE TEACHER and HEAD OF DEPARTMENT BY RUNNING MORE SUSTAINABLE PROGRAMS that better suit the needs of the kids. He would then have my respect.

c. AND here's the number person in me talking: $700,000 worth of computers?? Assuming that he already has enough money in his original budget to pay for peripherals such as printers, scanners, tables, chairs, etc; then at today's pricing and bulk discount programs for schools, did he just splurge on at least 700-800 units of PCs/Macs and some wireless networking set up?? It will need quite a sizable computer learning school to contain all that, don't you think? Erm, how many students does he have in his school? He did not just buy one computer for each student, did he? Maybe he should have spent $1000 of that insane amount of money on a camera security system in the lab to catch the vandals of graffiti? This just doesn’t make sense to me! It is such an exaggeration! AND if it's TRUE, then it only shows me that THE AUTHOR OF THE EMAIL IS NOT A GOOD STEWARD of the grant... our taxpayer money!!! Who is the one to be blamed for wasting our taxpayers' money now??

Anyway, my point is how can he just conveniently spend all the money on computers and not spend some time really thinking about socially responsible programs for the school?

Scenario #2

I have to agree that if immigrants come into USA illegally, they should not be able to access the full spectrum of benefits for Americans.

However, with regards to this particular email, I did a mental calculation on the said benefits available to low-income Americans. The author of the original email had highly overstated the claims. I will address the error of the monetary benefits:

1. The stated $3200 free tax credit will not enter the pockets of the low-income family, it is only utilized for the calculations on taxable income, and as highlighted by the author, the family is not making enough in the first place to use the credit!

2. Housing – if the author does his homework, he would know that the housing is NOT FREE and that the types of housing are not the best there is. AND this is not a benefit that’s only given to low-salaried immigrants but to ALL LOW-SALARIED Americans as well. And there is substantially more Americans who are helped in this program than illegal immigrants. It is the intention of the government to provide affordable housing to all Americans if they meet the criteria, and many do. Each low-income family will still need to pay mortgages each month out of his $5/hr job.

3. Food stamps, health care – all are adjusted and prorated based on the low-income family monthly household income. If he has any money left after paying his mortgages, then the amount of food stamps, health care will be reduced.

4. Other claims like subsidized utility bills, education, are all available to any low-income families living or working in America. We are not talking about poverty line cases which is around $20,000 household income per annum for a family of 4 (2006 guidelines) but we are talking those above poverty, but still needing financial assistance. If these immigrant families come in lawfully, and they come in to fill certain low-wage positions, then they should be entitled to the benefits.

5. Anyone who wants to own a car or insurance policy, will still need to pay the policy premiums.

6. I think in many ways, Spanish signs, bulletins, printed material do facilitate more efficient communication that will benefit the rest of the Americans.

I want to end by saying that it is obvious that the author was trying to evoke certain patriotism, feeling of unfairness and anger in his readers. I wish the email was written more objectively and that the author was more responsible for some of his actions that were under his purview. If it had been so, then we can all read his email, and think about the real issues, real solutions to the problems surrounding illegal immigration.

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2. Sherry07/02/2007 05:10:09 PM

I would like to know any teacher that had no need for $700,000 in their budget???

What a crock this whole letter is. Any research would prove half the information incorrect.

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3. the green bastard04/13/2009 09:55:46 AM

Sherry, it sounds like the guy's school is being flooded with money in the name of political correctness - so it doesn't look like the government are neglecting the poor. This is his point - all that money could and should be better spent on more deserving people. I'm not from America (I'm in Glasgow, Scotland) but we have similar issues, just like many other countries. There seems to be this taboo about making underpriveleged people work for a living - the welfare state at its best - which dictates that poor people are ENTITLED to receive a proportionate amount of the country's wealth, based only on numbers, not contributions. Anyone can see this is a complete farce simply by examining the contributions made by the very rich to help the middle classes.

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4. Monica Ashley07/20/2009 02:47:59 AM
Homepage: http://www.monicaashley.com

This is a well written article. I found this article while searching for how to grow my own tomatoes or how to find them cheap. I read the whole article and the one comment though because immigration and its effect on the quality of living in this country is very interesting and important to me. Thanks!

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