Internet Immigration E-Mails Spread Lies and Flame Hate

The circulating petition e-mail posted at the end of this note is a prime example of Internet propaganda. The actual purpose of the e-mail is not to petition the President, but rather, to inflame ordinary folks against Congress and undocumented immigrants with lies and distortions.

For example, the letter begins: "We, the undersigned, protest the bill that the Senate voted on recently which would allow illegal aliens to access our Social Security."

Note that the word "passed" is missing from that sentence. There's no need to petition the President unless such a bill actually passed- and one didn't. In fact, such a bill was not even considered. Given the fact that a comprehensive immigration reform bill cannot even pass Congress, who would be willing to commit political suicide by proposing what the letter below suggests? The answer is nobody - Conressional perks are too valuable.

In the explanatory paragraph before the petition, the writer states: "If the government gives benefits to 'illegal' aliens who have never contributed, where does that leave those of us who have paid into Social Security all our working lives?"

Good point, if it were true, but it's not. That statement is another "dead giveaway" to the letter's inaccuracy. Nodbody, not even U.S. citizens, gets SSD benefits or regular social security retirement benefits without contributing FICA taxes - NOBODY!

Nor can so-called "illegals" get SSDI benefits, though even if they could, SSDI benefits do not get paid from revenues collected by FICA taxes or from the funds maintained for regular social security. SSDI is paid for out of the government's general budget in the form of block grants that are subsequently controlled by states who determine there own benefits (because the state has to match the funds)...so nobody's social security checks would be jeopardized by granting "illegals" those benefits...which I must restate, they're not getting.

Now, it's true that states have various rules regarding welfare benefits and other services (i.e. health care access, food stamps, education) that do not distinguish between documented residents and those who are not. And yes, it's true that many desire the federal government to impose restrictions on states prohibiting them from granting services to undocumented individuals as a condition to receiving federal funding. But none of those efforts threaten or bolster the social security system. There is simply no statutory or regulatory connection between those programs.

Finally, I'd like to add that I do not share the writer of the petition's sentiment regarding being "fed-up...with paying for services for illegals". With me, it's a Biblical "thing"...I'd rather be counted among those who were more interested in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the poor and administering to the sick than those who are worried about who's "illegal" and who is not. I don't think that Christ would find the distinction noteworthy.

Of course, that could have something to do with the fact that, as a child, he was in illegal immigrant in Egypt too.

(Below is the e-mail)

Social Security Changes

It does not matter if you personally like or dislike Bush. You need to sign this petition and flood his e-mail box with e-mails that tell him that, even if the House passes this bill, he needs to veto it. It is already impossible to live on Social Security alone. If the government gives benefits to "illegal" aliens who have never contributed, where does that leave those of us who have paid into Social Security all our working lives? As stated below, the Senate voted this week to allow "illegal" aliens access to Social Security benefits. Attached is an opportunity to sign a petition that requires citizenship for eligibility to that social service.


Dear Mr. President:

We, the undersigned, protest the bill that the Senate voted on recently which would allow illegal aliens to access our Social Security. We demand that you and all Congressional representatives require citizenship as a prerequisite for social services in the United States. We further demand that there not be any amnesty given to illegals, NO free services, no funding, no payments to and for illegal immigrants. We are fed up with the lack of action about this matter and are tired of paying for services to illegals.