Our leaders are making poor choices on how our precious tax dollars are being spent. Should our taxes go toward schools, infrastructure, safety, and helping Americans in need, or should they be used to subsidize a never-ending stream of destitute foreigners?
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MCIR has passionate supporters and members because mass immigration (especially illegal) adversely affects just about every aspect of our society, and harms Americans in a variety of ways, as follows --
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1) Hurts American workers by causing wages to fall, especially for those who are low-income, and Blacks and legal immigrants
2) Hurts taxpayers and significantly reduces tax dollars for more important pro-
grams (e.g., schools, health care, social services, emergency shelter)
4) Hurts programs that would tangibly benefit Massachusetts and America (e.g.,
health care, elder care, environmental stewardship, public safety, seed money for
business start-ups)
5) Promotes unsustainable population growth, which induces urban sprawl and
puts pressure on sensitive lands (e.g., wildlife habitat, wetlands, floodplains, aquifers)
6) Puts pressure on our persistent housing shortage and homelessness problems
7) Leads to stolen identities and other types of fraud
8) Brings in unvetted criminals that go on to victimize Americans (or legal immigrants)
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Our current immigration system even hurts illegal migrants themselves, e.g., unaccompanied minors, those indebted to Mexican cartels, those trafficked into the sex industry and other illicit activity, deaths and rapes of those lured into taking the treacherous journey to America.
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The members of Massachusetts Coalition for Immigration Reform (MCIR) differ in their political viewpoints but are united by their belief that record levels of mass immigration into the U.S. in recent years, both legal and illegal, have negative impacts on taxpayers, working Americans, and on our environment and quality of life. Illegal immigraÆŸon costs U.S. taxpayers more than $100 billion a year at the federal, state and local levels. In addition, the constant pressure on wages created by a mass influx of low-skilled workers has significantly eroded the economic security of working Americans. Finally, the relentless annual increase in our population, largely driven by immigration, chews up open space, degrades our environment, magnifies the housing crisis, and creates ever-increasing crowding and that degrades our quality of life. For these reasons, the members of MCIR favor policies that will sharply reduce immigration.
In addition to being an affront to the rule of law, abetting illegal immigration is clearly harmful to the workers and taxpayers of Massachusetts. Massachusetts has had the sharpest rise in unauthorized workers over the past decade (2007-2017). Partly as a result, the incomes of low skilled workers in the state have fallen more than in any other state in the Union. The infrastructure that supports illegal immigration is dominated by criminal gangs and exploits some of the most vulnerable people in our society. Employers use unauthorized workers to lower wages and degrade working conditions and social protection for Americans and lawful immigrants. Accordingly, MCIR opposes any legislation or policy that would aid or abet illegal immigration or to encourage aliens who are in the country illegally to move to Massachusetts, including but not limited to in-state tuition, driver’s licensing and access to social benefits. MCIR will make every effort to prevent such laws and policies from being enacted and to repeal those already enacted.
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