ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: A NATIONAL ISSUE THAT COSTS STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS"

No matter how one feels about the complex issue of illegal immigration, it would have been hard not to sympathize a bit with Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello last week. At least the Mayor Cresitello who appeared on New Jersey Network's  "On the Record" show that was taped last Friday. He estimates that his town is home to some 1,500 illegal immigrants and previously noted how his many of Morristown's legal residents complain about the decline in the quality of life in their community and the strain on local services posed by the newcomers.

To the Mayor, desperate times require desperate measures. He wants to deputize members of his police department to implement federal immigration law through the 287 G program in the Department of Homeland Security. Cresitello is cautiously optimistic that his request with be approved by federal authorities. When asked by "On the Record" host Michael Aron about the rationale behind wanting local police do the work of federal authorities, the Morristown mayor calmly explained how local officials know where the illegal immigrants live, and they deal with the contractors who hire undocumented day laborers . 

Cresitello also assured the viewing audience that the Morristown police officers know not to harass or profile members of any ethnic group.  He added that documenting immigrant workers would likely increase  the collection of payroll and income taxes and force employers to pay them at least minimum wage. Under these circumstances the playing field would be leveled for citizens seeking work and unwilling to be paid low wages under the table. This all make sense.  But on Saturday the Mayor suffered a lapse in judgement. At a much publicized anti-illegal immigration rally in Morristown, Cresitello directed an impolitic statement at a group of counter-protesters. He said, "To the communists across the street, and the Marxists, we know your motives, and we will not continue to let you go forward with your intent to take over the country."

The counter-protesters were being rowdy and tried to drown out anyone speaking at the rally. And, they did egg the Mayor on with a highly inflammatory, ridiculous sign that identified him as "Mayor KKK."  Some may think that a politician is an extremist if he believes that failing to enforce immigration law leaves the United States open to an influx of millions of workers who will drive down wages and drive up taxes with their demands for social services.  But such a view is surely more tame than the call made by some self-stated leaders in the Latino community for the "re-conquest" of California and American Southwest by ethnic Mexicans and central Americans for their "race." 

Exchanges like the ones between Cresitello and his critics are not especially productive. Rather, they keep people from having candid conversations about the consequences of illegal immigration and the humanitarian, economic, political and practical matters that need to be considered along with the legal and ideological ones. After a spirited but unsatisfying debate on these topics earlier this year, lawmakers in Washington, D.C. failed to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill. Some lawmakers in both parties recognized that they had not convinced constituents that Uncle Sam could or would stem the flow of illegal immigration into this country. Other lawmakers seemed worried about the political consequences of offending current and future Latino-American voters if strict measures to deal with illegal immigration were adopted. 

Then there are those clerics from various religious denominations, including my own, who have been sermonizing about the need for America to offer amnesty to illegal immigrants and in a few instances have provided sanctuary for folks about to be apprehended.  Yes, the Good Book teaches mercy and charity, but it also recommends obedience to just laws. What is so unjust about having a legal path to citizenship? Some observers have noted that given the decline in membership in some religious denominations, perhaps a few clergy here are using this issue to try to gain favor with new immigrants, many of whom regard religion as a central part of their lives.

While there are people who want to argue about what illegal immigration means for the health of the Republic and our souls, most folks seem to think about the issue in more practical terms. A recent Monmouth University-Gannett Poll shows that 69 percent of New Jerseyans surveyed do believe that illegal immigration is a serious problems for the country. However, 65 percent think that illegal immigrants who have worked in the United States for at least the last two years should be permitted to apply for legal status.  30 percent of New Jerseyans want illegal immigrants to be deported.

These are interesting numbers in a state that has between 400,000 and 800,000 illegal immigrants among its  8.6 million inhabitants. One is tempted to conclude that New Jersey's diversity and large legal immigrant population makes most residents sympathize with immigrants, legal or not. However, that Monmouth-Gannett poll showed that only 40 percent of residents believe that the impact of immigration has been positive for the state, while 44 percent think it has been bad.  Can these contradictory views be reconciled? Well, they seem to suggest that most New Jerseyans believe it is impractical and too expensive to send illegal immigrants back to their native lands even if they are law-breakers. Many Republicans and Democratic lawmakers in the national government make this same point.

But if it is too expensive to send the illegal immigrants back home, can New Jersey afford to allow hundreds of thousands of them to remain here? The issue of what the state can and cannot afford to do is not one that has been raised simply by nativists, ideologies, or a beleaguered, hot-under-the-collar mayor. Rather, state lawmakers in both parties have been crying poverty for years now. Since he took office in January 2006, Governor Corzine has told New Jerseyans that we have a budget crisis, a school funding crisis, an affordable housing crisis, a health care crisis, a property tax crisis, a state debt crisis, a public worker pension fund and health benefits crisis, and an open space preservation crisis, all of which will require the state to come up with more revenue or cut existing programs to free up funds.

Will the state's revenue problems be alleviated or exacerbated having more low-income workers - and their families - reside here even if they do start paying taxes. Well, even those folks who argue that increases in population ultimately lead to economic growth would have to admit that for the foreseeable future, the costs to government will be high.  There is health care for the uninsured, a $12,000 a year tab for each new school age child, and pressures to provide even more affordable housing units. And let's not forget the need to help the structurally unemployed in New Jersey - those people who can't work, can't find work, or don't want to work in the jobs that some illegal immigrants currently hold.

In the meantime, two legislators - Democratic state Senator Ellen Karcher and Republican Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck - recently said that state and local officials should not try to try to enforce federal immigration law. Both believe that the national government needs to enact comprehensive legislation on the issue and that state and local governments should not assume the costs and potential legal problems of doing the job of INS or Homeland Security. But, New Jersey and other states and, yes, communities like Morristown, are already stuck with the cost of providing services for the illegal immigrants who are already here. Maybe a way to get the federal government to act on comprehensive immigration reform is for all fifty states to send Uncle Sam the bill. At the least, perhaps the negative publicity would cause Congress and the Bush Administration to secure the borders so that the problem doesn't get any worse.   
David P. Rebovich, Ph.D., is Managing Director of the Rider University Institute for New Jersey Politics (www.rider.edu/institute).  He also writes a regular column, "On Politics," for NEW JERSEY LAWYER and monthly reports on New Jersey for CAMPAIGNS AND ELECTIONS Magazine.