Speech #970223881

These are not small numbers. but there are also tremendous costs in inadequate or no enforcement. For example. each unemployed person in the United States receives an average of about $7.000 per year in unemployment and welfare benefits. If the number of illegal aliens in the United States today Is estimated to be 6 million. and if even 2 percent of those hold jobs which unemployed Americans would take. then the savings would be $840 million per year. Actual displacement is probably substantially higher. Thus. a new system to verify work eligibility may well not exceed in cost the amount directly saved as a result of reduced public assistance alone. not even considering the value of the other benefits of reducing illegal immigration. The question of how the revising of the form of the social security card. which is one of the most attractive available alternatives. could pose risks to liberty was asked of many witnesses at the hearings of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Refugee Policy. I do not believe that a satisfactory answer was ever presented. Many persons who are well known for their sincere interest in civil liberties agree that the threat is not serious. including Father Ted Hesburgh. former Chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and also Chairman of the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy. the editorial writers of the New York Times. Washington Post. Los Angeles Times.