If It Requires Billions of Dollars and Making Gov't Bigger, It's the Republican Way

posted by Bill Arnett @ 2:12 PM Permalink

Something the GOP, the party of "fiscal responsibility" and "smaller, less intrusive government" shows again in the current immigration bill debate is that they want to exponentially expand government and waste billions or more dollars on a futile attempt to arrest, prosecute, and deport every illegal immigrant.

It is absurd. I am no economist, but I think certain things are obvious on their face. So, if you're inclined to do so, please consider this.

Problem: 12,000,000 or more illegal immigrants
Republican solution: Arrest and deport them all.

Drawbacks: If the government could arrest, prosecute, and deport 1,000 people a day, that's 365,000 people a year.
If these actions cost a minimum of $1,000 per person (although commonsense dictates that the cost per person would be much greater than $1,000 and growing higher year after year) that's $365,000 a year.
At that pace it would take 30.1 years to accomplish the task unless government grows exponentially larger to handle the load, adding hugh increases to the cost-per-person for deportation.
Total cost, here ridiculously understated: $10,986,500,000.
Total costs of social disruption from such a policy: You're guess is as good as mine, but it would savage families, breaking them apart, and I think the cost is too dear by far, although such calculations are ignored by the "compassionate conservatives."

Are they serious? The true costs of doing this would add tremendously to the national debt, already increased by the reckless spending of the Republican controlled 109th Congress, which took more days off and passed the fewest number of bills in history, but still managed to spend more money than any other administration and congress in history.

In fact the bush maladministration has spent more than all previous administrations combined.

If the Republicans ever regain the majority of both legislative bodies and a Republican president, an endeavor such as this, doing incalculable damage by the breaking up of families where the child, born in America, is by birthright a citizen, would again show the world that America is no longer a beacon of hope.

Labels: GOP, immigration