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POSING QUESTIONS ABOUT 7 MILLION ILLEGAL ALIENS IN THE U.S.

They say that there are at least 7 million illegal aliens in the United States today, but as we all know, this is merely an estimate. In California we may assume that most of them are Mexican, but in other states it is all guess-work. However, with the current census count running to 280 million, that puts the illegal population roughly 2.5% of the total.

I'd assume that most of them are employed. That's what they come here for, the opportunity to work and earn a living for their families, and they'll keep coming as long as they hear reports that this is a land of opportunity. In many countires their welfare system are the men and women who go abroad to work and send a good portion of their earnings back home.

In some towns in Mexico, for example, a good part of the local economy is supported by those money orders and money transfers coming from the U.S., because the families who receive them spend that money locally. In essence, those towns are dependencies of the U.S., and what happens to adversely affect our economy here has an effect on them as well.

While most of them seem to be contributing to our encomony though, not all of them do. Some drain other resources through social services, and one of them is the health care system, to the tune of $340 million in Los Angeles County alone.

Meanwhile, there are senior citizens who don't receive any support, or so little that they must live on the streets. Most have worked all their lives and contributed to the system, paid for these social services that benefit illegal aliens, yet cannot get the same benefits for themselves when they desperately need them.

Who should be taken care of first, our own people, or people who are here illengally? The County and the State are running huge deficits, and the residents are fighting against tax increases, yet many deserving people are suffering because of what is going on.

What should be done about it?

Remember, this is our cost in Los Angeles County alone. What does it add up to nationally? How do we curtail such a drain upon our economy, or better yet, take better care of our own people who are in desperate need and curtail the losses to illegal aliens?