By Dennis Melton
Who benefits the most from the open border; the Cartel, the migrant, or you?
Let's first look at the Cartel. The Cartel earns over $500 billion a year in human trafficking and drug smuggling. The fees for migrant transport can range from $8,000 to $15,000. The money does not guarantee passage as people that are hurt or can no longer keep up are abandoned to die in the desert. Transporting people (usually women and children) for sex is just another sinister source of profits for these violent smugglers. These criminals make no distinction between abusing a woman’s body by forcing her to swallow bags of drugs or by forcing her to have sex with hundreds of men as her "payment" for passage.
Now take a look at the migrants. Congress passed in 1996 new Welfare Reforms which with a few exceptions, most non-citizens are not eligible for most welfare benefits until they had been in the U.S. for at least 5 years. Migrants would be "public charges" as receiving benefits may become an incentive for immigration. Biden has weakened the law by interpreting public charges as those that have receipt of cash benefits or have long-term institutional care. This ruling is a slap in the faces of taxpayers as it ignores the other public benefits such as: medical, housing, food, and education which these migrants are now considered eligible. Each state now shares the burden of public housing, schools, and other services. Texas alone where most migrants enter is costing the state over $850 million dollars. Florida also spent a combined $52 million on immigrant births through Medicaid programs.. In the USA, the largest cost has been $1.6 billion to educate children of migrants. 2017 data puts costs at $8,075 per migrant annually. 2022 costs are difficult to obtain.
Now let's look at you. We should welcome legal immigrants with open arms and treat all immigrants humanely. Prosecuting illegals has not been a deterrent. It is considered a misdemeanor with 6 months maximum punishment. From 2017, the migrant costs outweigh the collected taxes by a ratio of roughly 7 to 1 ($135 billion vs $219 billion).
So who benefits the most? The answers are the Cartels with the migrants only as pawns in this sinister scenario. A more secure border and less strict immigration laws making the path to citizenship much cheaper and quicker is our best solution.