Canie - though I agree with your concerns about government tax structures subsidizing higher birthrates, those tax benefits go almost exclusively to legal citizens of the U.S. - those who file income tax returns. I agree with Chris that your emphasis on illegal immigrants has a taint of racism - especially inasmuch as 1) as a group, illegal immigrants work harder than any other class of people in this country, and 2) they inarguably produce a net economic gain for the U.S. (See link, and extract below). OTOH, I still support tighter controls, as do you - not because they (illegal immigrants) try "to see how many babies they can have" in order to get more government money (they don't), nor because "they don't take care of . . . or raise them" (from everything I know about Latino culture, they compare very favorably to the U.S. citizenry as a whole in that regard). I just want way fewer people straining our natural resources, parks, beaches, highways and other infrastructure.

"Americans believe that undocumented immigrants are exploiting the United States' economy. The widespread belief is that illegal aliens cost more in government services than they contribute to the economy. This belief is undeniably false. [E]very empirical study of illegals' economic impact demonstrates the opposite . . .: undocumenteds actually contribute more to public coffers in taxes than they cost in social services. Moreover, undocumented immigrants contribute to the U.S. economy through their investments and consumption of goods and services; filling of millions of essential worker positions resulting in subsidiary job creation, increased productivity and lower costs of goods and services; and unrequited contributions to Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance programs. Eighty-five percent of eminent economists surveyed have concluded that undocumented immigrants have had a positive (seventy-four percent) or neutral (eleven percent) impact on the U.S. economy."

Link below.

Mike Williams

• Social Science Research Network