I am compelled to debunk the myths contained in "Comprehensive Immigration Reform is Good for Business" column in the March 28 Kent Reporter.

A common tactic of "open border" advocates such as Mr. Florian Purganan is to falsely legitimize the presence of illegal aliens in America by calling them "immigrants." This erroneously justifies the selfish motives of those who profit from the invasion of illegals. What you should be saying, Mr. Purganan, is "Getting Illegal Aliens Off the Hook is Good for My Business." That's the truth because as an immigration lawyer, you must be salivating over the nearly 30 million illegal aliens certainly in need of your services.

Numerous selfish businesses and individuals hire illegals for cheap labor while shifting social, education, medical and law-enforcement costs to the taxpayer. This may be good for their businesses but bad for the nation. There are many politicians and special-interest groups turning a blind eye to illegal aliens. They're selfishly looking for votes, campaign contributions or political clout at the expense of our sovereignty.

The Joint Forces Command has concluded that Mexico is in danger of collapse due to pressure, intimidation and corruption of the government, police and military by powerful drug cartels. The unintended consequences for the U.S. could be catastrophic. But those whose income is dependent upon illegal aliens are only interested in profits, not our laws, sovereignty or national security.

No objective party with any experience or credibility believes that the amnesty programs advocated by some will help our economy. In his August 2004 study entitled "The High Cost of Cheap Labor - Illegal Immigration and the Federal Budget," Steven A. Camarota of The Center for Immigration Studies found that amnesty may increase tax revenue but will increase social costs much more, as access to services increases when citizenship is granted to low-income immigrants. Their children born here automatically have access to services as citizens.

Camarota concludes that America doesn't necessarily benefit just because more employers want cheap labor and more foreign workers want jobs. America benefits when we enforce our laws, control borders, punish those who hire illegals and eject those who are here illegally.

John W. Kohler, Jr.

Kent

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