Illegal Immigration Effects -ËœPervasive, Malignant-In Arizona, Rep. Hayworth Tells Panel

Submits Testimony to House Immigration Subcommittee WASHINGTON- In testimony submitted to a key House subcommittee, U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth said today that statistics detailing the devastating impact of illegal immigration on Arizona speak volumes in support of an enforcement first approach that focuses on stronger borders and stronger interior enforcement of current laws. In testimony prepared for delivery to the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Rep. Hayworth pointed to Border Patrol records showing that more illegal immigrants enter the U.S. through Arizona than California and Texas combined. The negative consequences of illegal immigration on Arizona are pervasive and malignant, Hayworth said in his prepared testimony. He suggested that any legislation addressing the issue must meet two goals. First, it must close our borders to illegal immigration and the parasitic threats posed by the criminals and terrorists who can so easily exploit our porous borders. Second, we must turn off the jobs magnet that draws illegal aliens across our borders by enforcing laws against the hiring of illegal workers. This invasion brings with it the specters of crime and terrorism, Hayworth said. As a result, it is estimated that illegal immigration costs Arizona taxpayers about $1.6 billion per year, almost $700 per person. Jailing 4,743 criminal aliens cost $92.5 million in 2004. The cost of educating illegal aliens amounts to almost $750 million annually. Public health care for illegal aliens has sent the states annual unreimbursed costs to $400 million. Illegals also are using the Armys Fort Huachuca, one of the countrys premier military intelligence schools, as a crossing path. At the Barry Goldwater bombing range near Yuma, U.S. Marines lost more than 50 training days when the range had to be closed to remove illegal aliens who had wanted through the area after crossing the border. The greatest threat, of course, is the possibility that terrorists can and will bring weapons of mass destruction into America through Arizona, the Hayworth statement said. In 2004, border agents arrested over 650 persons from nations our intelligence experts regard as havens for Islamofascists.