The impact of White House immigration policy on Texans
Scott Firsing in an Airbus H125 helicopter, a type often used by local, state, and federal law enforcement.
In late April, Dr. Scott was interviewed by the Nikkei in Japan, where he was questioned about the impact of Biden and Harris' immigration policy on the lives of Texans.
Scott (Transcript): Thank you for this important question about immigration, a topic set to increase in importance over the coming years.
First, lets talk about the elephant in the room; we have a border crisis, and it is having a negative impact on Texans.
Illegal immigration costs Texans money. The 10, 12, 14+ million illegals that recently illegally crossed our border costs government funds. These funds come from Texans tax money. Our Attorney General Ken Paxton said back in 2021 illegal immigration costs Texan taxpayers around 850+ million dollars a year. I’m sure it’s now well over a billion dollars a year.
Secondly, it’s a fact that the increase in illegal immigration has contributed to a rise in criminal activity in Texas. I can say this with such conviction because our state maintains comprehensive records on this issue. While some contend that the crimes committed by undocumented individuals are fewer in number compared to those perpetrated by American citizens, this argument misses the essential point. The fact remains that these individuals are in the country illegally and are engaging in criminal behavior. Their presence is unwarranted, and if they were not here, the crime statistics would reflect a zero count. Nevertheless, the reality is that they are present, and according to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), from June 1, 2011, to March 31, 2024, there were 303,000 illegal immigrants charged with over 521,000 criminal offenses. This includes arrests for 970 homicide cases, 65,999 assaults, 9,455 burglaries, 61,155 drug-related offenses, 1,179 kidnappings, 26,277 thefts, 40,653 charges of obstructing police, 2,998 robberies, 6,594 sexual assaults, 7,611 sexual offenses, and 6,383 weapon-related charges. Again, these figures should be nonexistent, the number 0.
My third point is the millions of illegals and hundreds of billions of dollars being spent to combat this problem is hurting Texas law enforcement. I’m a strong supporter of the Texas DPS and we are having to pull DPS officers out of our communities, where they are needed, to send them to border towns.
Let me take this opportunity to thank them for their service. Earlier in April, they arrested a 200+ people group made up of adult males and females from Venezuela, Guatemala, Ecuador, Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador.
The negative impact that millions of illegal immigrants has on Texas’ vital services like housing, roads, schools, and hospitals is my fourth point. These public services in Texas are already stressed, especially due to Americans internally migrating to the Lone Star State for employment opportunities and to live around like minded, good people.
My last point is illegal immigration today has a lasting impact on Texas and American politics for future generations. A significant number of the millions of undocumented migrants currently entering the U.S. will embark on a lengthy journey through a flawed federal immigration system, which may ultimately result in substantial changes to our governance and policy landscape in the years to come.
Texans are kind, fair and generous people. However, Biden and Harris’ policies on illegal immigration have put a strong burden on Texans, and it needs to stop.
Migrating to America “legally”
Now on the opposite side of the spectrum, I am pro-legal immigration.
I said earlier this is an important topic for me. One main reason is because my two biological children are dual citizens (American and South African). Their mom also recently obtained U.S. citizenship. She works hard, pays her taxes and contributes to her community. I was even an international migrant at one point in my life, living in South Africa for 10 years, and I legally became a permanent resident there.
Other Austinites like Elon Musk is an immigrant from South Africa and Canada.
As a professor, I used to teach dozens of international students on student visas who’d arrive at their university in a new country. Once here, they further their education and skills. Many end up staying and go through the proper legal immigration process to do so. I often write on this topic of brain gain and drain for the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), one of my alma maters.
Again, to be clear, I support legal immigration, especially for hard-working individuals with a much-needed skill set.
Texas has a shortage of skilled workers. We desperately need more people in the middle to high skill range. This will increasingly be the case in the advancing 21st century economy and these highly skilled individuals will fill open vacancies that will ultimately help Texas and U.S. companies succeed and prosper.
Furthermore, tesearch indicates that these immigrants frequently exhibit a greater inclination towards entrepreneurship than their American counterparts. Having lived abroad and traveled extensively, I understand this phenomenon. These legal immigrants contribute unique cultural insights and professional experiences, along with a strong ambition to thrive and valuable connections from their countries of origin. Their expanding knowledge, networks, and skill sets in the U.S., combined with their diverse viewpoints, enable them to identify promising business prospects, which they go after.
Austin is an expanding technology hub that has drawn numerous migrants. Several of my neighbors and family friends, who are kind, intelligent, diligent, and sincere individuals, have relocated to Texas from countries such as India and elsewhere through employer-sponsored work visas. Many are employed by prominent technology firms like Apple, Dell, or Google. The majority navigate the "legal" immigration pathways in the U.S. and ultimately secure their American green cards then U.S. citizenship.
We should welcome these individuals with open arms.
