Illinois too friendly to illegal immigrants

I see that Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is among the 11 state attorneys general who joined the U.S. Justice Department in opposing Arizona’s SB 1070 law cracking down on illegal immigration. The reason? Ms. Madigan and her counterparts are not too keen on having Arizona’s illegals packing up and heading for their backyards.

For years, the Land of Lincoln (and the others) have been saying that illegal immigrants contribute to their economies, enhance “diversity,” etc. So what has changed? Does this mean that Illinois and the other states are “immigrant-friendly” in name only? In Illinois, where I was born and raised and spent most of my adult life, the illegal immigrant population was 550,000 in 2010, up 25 percent from 2000, according to a recent report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The Pew Hispanic Center adds that 375,000 of these illegal residents represent almost 6 percent of the Illinois workforce. With an unemployment rate of 9.4 percent, why is Illinois allowing these illegal workers to remain in their jobs? More to the point, why are legal Illinois residents permitting this?

The continued growth of Illinois’ illegal immigrant population is courtesy of a state legislature that never tires of welcoming “immigrants,” even to the extent of trying a few years ago to outlaw the use of any electronic workplace verification system like the highly efficient federal E-Verify program.

Some of you may be asking why I don’t mind my own business and worry about Wisconsin’s illegal immigration problems. Well, the truth is that the problem is not nearly as severe here as it is down there and, besides, who has time to deal with illegal aliens and their impact on jobs when all of our waking hours are being spent recalling politicians?

Dave Gorak

Executive Director

Midwest Coalition to Reduce Immigration

LaValle, Wis.