The greatest question facing Americans today in the arena of legal and illegal immigration is: how many is too many? When is enough, enough? How many more of the world's poor can we handle? How are we going to handle a line of immigrants that never ends? As they stream into our country by the millions annually, what about our culture, language and quality of life? What about our sustainability?
The United States absorbs, or another term may be more appropriate--chokes on 1.2 to 1.5 million legal immigrants annually. America imports more immigrants than all other countries combined. For the past forty years, this country injected itself with an enormous immigrant load that added an additional 100 million people to America.
Whether we like to admit it or not, this colossal human overload created virtually every detrimental sociological, educational, environmental and resource dilemma we face today. One look at Detroit, Michigan with a 76 percent high school dropout rate and 50 percent illiteracy causes exasperation as to what has happened to the American Dream. Notice the most tragic aspect of every third world country: illiteracy! It means more Americans that educate themselves will be paying more for those that chose illiteracy. Ironically, their numbers increase much faster than educated Americans. Therefore, all of us will be paying more for "their' educational folly and fecundity. As their educational levels drop, our standard of living and quality of life drop with them.
Take a look at California! Anyone think it will survive its demographic situation by adding another 20 million immigrants within 30 years? California suffers $26 billion in debts, but grows by 1,700 people daily. (Source: www.capsweb.org) How about the latest figures in the Denver Post that show 43 American states cannot pay their bills and suffer billions in debts?
CULTURE OF ILLITERACY AND POVERTY GROWING IN THE USA
Within this growing and entrenched poverty and illiteracy paradigm, the numbers explode beyond recapture. In my last column, I urged a cap of 100,000 immigrants a year. Dozens of emails urged me to promote a 10 year moratorium. In my book, America on the Brink: The Next Added 100 Million Americans, I DID advocate a 10 year moratorium. If we don't stop the massive immigrant in-bleeding, we cannot hope to save our educational systems or repair our illiteracy rates--
That leads up to the distressing fact that 1 in 7 Americans remains functionally illiterate:
Illiteracy Statistics
- 42 million American adults can't read at all; 50 million are unable to read at a higher level that is expected of a fourth grader.
- The number of adults that are classified as functionally illiterate increases by about 2.25 million each year.
- 20 percent of high school seniors can be classified as being functionally illiterate at the time they graduate.
Source: National Right to Read Foundation
Where Illiteracy Leads (2.3 million Americans in prison)
- 70 percent of prisoners in state and federal systems can be classified as illiterate.
- 85 percent of all juvenile offenders rate as functionally or marginally illiterate.
- 43 percent of those whose literacy skills are lowest live in poverty.
Source: National Institute for Literacy
Yet, not one U.S. Senator, U.S. House rep, state governor, mayor, President Obama or environmental organization whispers a peep about the immigration factor! In fact, my two U.S. Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet propose to double legal immigration in the approaching amnesty bill.
As it is today, legal and illegal immigrants pour into America at an astounding rate of 200,000 every 30 days, month in and month out, year in and year out.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
