Freedom Folks: Just Some Of The Costs Of Illegal Immigration...

CNN

“The meat packers are confirming what we know,” says University of Maryland economics professor Peter Morici, “and that is that this large group of illegal aliens in the United States is lowering the wage rate of semiskilled workers, people who are high school dropouts or high school graduates with minimal training.”

In fact, a meat-packing job paid $19 an hour in 1980, but today that same job pays closer to $9 an hour, according to the Labor Department. That’s entirely consistent with what we’ve been reporting — that illegal aliens depress wages for U.S. workers by as much as $200 billion a year in addition to placing a tremendous burden on hospitals, schools and other social services.

AJC

Atlanta’s Grady hospital spends about $800,000 a year on services for people who speak limited English, according to Sandra Sanchez, director of the Department of Multicultural Affairs. *snip*

n 2002, the Office of Management and Budget attempted to put a price tag on such efforts nationwide. The OMB estimated the cost of interpretation for doctor and dentist appointments, hospital stays and emergency room visits at roughly $268 million a year.

The report, which did not attempt to tally the cost to all agencies, also estimated that foreign language services related to the Food Stamp program are roughly $25 million a year.

Cobb County schools spent close to $1.2 million last year on services for families who don’t speak English. That includes contracted services plus salary and benefits for 64 staff interpreters —- called “facilitators”. The bill has nearly tripled in just five years. In the 2001 budget year, the school system spent nearly $343,000 and had just eight in-house interpreters.

Gwinnett County spent nearly $539,000 in 2005 to provide interpreters in the courts. That’s more than double the amount the county spent in 2000, when it paid close to $215,400 for interpreters, who are hired as needed for specific cases. *snip*

The state Division of Family and Children Services estimates that it spent about $346,000 in 2006 for interpretation services in the area that includes metro Atlanta.

“I get calls every day for translators,” said Annette G. Cash, Director of the Translation and Interpretation Program at Georgia State University. “The Spanish program is just flourishing because of the need.”

Don't worry though, they pay at least that much in taxes for Chicharrones and Cervezas!