Lamar Smith: “A New York Times/CBS News poll of supporters of the Tea Party movement revealed that 97 percent of Tea Partiers view…”

“A New York Times/CBS News poll of supporters of the Tea Party movement revealed that 97 percent of Tea Partiers view illegal immigration as a serious problem. The result is not surprising considering that jobs and the economy are top priorities of Tea Party backers. More than 15 million Americans are unemployed, and more than 8 million illegal immigrants are in the U.S. labor force. It makes no sense whatsoever to force citizens and legal immigrants to compete with illegal immigrants for scarce jobs. Furthermore, the National Research Council found that an illegal immigrant without a high school diploma--about two-thirds of all illegal immigrants--imposes a net cost on taxpayers of $89,000 during their lifetime. Multiply that by millions of illegal immigrants, and that is a multibillion-dollar burden on American taxpayers.”