Legal, illegal immigrants not the same

I am writing in response to a letter published on Sept. 7 submitted by Juli Cicarelli titled "Immigrants Are Contributors." She states:

"I've been reading letters to the editor about how immigrants rely on government benefits and drain our economy. Nothing could be further from the truth."

While I laud Ms. Cicarelli's compassion, her opinion has no basis in facts and typifies the uninformed regurgitation of Democratic politician talking points that are designed to create a divisive wedge among American citizens by correlating legal immigration to illegal entry.

There is no arguing that legal immigrants are needed to sustain the economy of the Republic. But, there are actual studies that provide evidence that illegal migrants are a net drain of taxpayer monies to the tune of about $119 billion. This takes into account the tax contributions made by illegal migrants.

Taxpayer monies should not be given to those who break our law and cross our borders illegally.

Ms. Cicarelli also makes the claim that "many of our highly educated immigrants (legal or illegal?) are educators, scholars, doctors, and researchers."

Really? We should be so lucky to have such highly skilled people migrating to this country. If this were true, there would not be a need for such highly skilled individuals to rely on taxpayer monies.

Please stop taking the bait. Politicians and all others who use the term "immigrants" to describe illegal entry want you to believe that it is somehow bigotry or prejudice to want a protected border. If we don't know who is crossing our borders, we leave ourselves wide open to terrorism and criminal activity.

Legal immigrants have and continue to make this country great and yes, they should be honored.

Robert K. Clark

McHenry