Migrants can bolster our Social Security
Federal agents detain a person after he attended an immigration court hearing at Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in Manhattan on June 11. Credit: EPA-EFE/Shutterstock/Sarah Yenesel
Reading the many letters on this topic, I am struck by expressions of compassion and heartlessness [“Different feelings on deportation,” Opinion, June 20].
Perhaps a more sensible solution could be proposed that would appeal to the heartless among us: take the billions of dollars being spent on Immigration and Customs Enforcement arresting immigrants who entered the country illegally and start documenting them where they are.
Removing millions of undocumented workers will devastate our economy. Once these people are documented, they can start to pay into Social Security and Medicare, both of which are struggling financially. A recent report detailed how the Social Security trust fund will start running out of money in nine years. Having these newly documented people contribute would bolster these funds.
Trying to appeal to the heartless that soon there will not be enough workers in restaurants, construction, landscaping, and hospitality sectors apparently is not getting through, so maybe this solution will.
Undocumented immigrants with criminal records should, of course, be deported. Yes, the southern border should be tightened. But we are not doing ourselves any favors by behaving in such an inhumane manner.
The world is watching us and likely is disappointed in what has always been the greatest country in the world.
— Susan Masone, Huntington
About 11 million people who live in the United States have committed the “original sin” of entering illegally or have stayed beyond the allotted time of their green card. The great majority are earning a taxable wage on farms, long hours in bodegas and restaurants, or are looking for day work outside a Home Depot or 7-Eleven.
The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Act of 2013, introduced by the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” in the Senate, passed the Senate but never made it to the House.
This legislation would have provided for strong border protection and would have provided a path to legalized residency and citizenship.
— James P. Kelly, Huntington
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