How do you cut taxes? Get rid of people (of course).
By Shaun Kenney | Friday, December 17th, 2010 | PolicyJust in case anyone had any illusions of what is occurring in Prince William County, here we have a Daily Caller article on how Prince William County has cut taxes by driving out Hispanics:
“It gave us the ability to cut costs because the cost driver for the county is the school and we had such an influx of limited-English speaking students between 2002-2007 and those limited-English students are extra costly to the school system. That was the prime cost driver, the influx of those students,” Stewart said, citing the importance of being able to reduce the number of expensive English as a Second Language classes, which had increased over 250% in the previous five years.
And where do we find the claim that this is a limited government, cost-cutting solution? Why — it’s right there in the UVA study that, while it pointed out that 8,000 Hispanics (legal or otherwise) were driven out of Prince William County, there was no correlation between that demographic change and the reduction in crime. To wit:
In 2007 the county adopted a very strict illegal immigration policy, which, according to a study by the University of Virginia and the Police Executive Research Forum has likely resulted in a 46.7% drop in aggravated assaults and a 32% drop in violent crime. (emphasis mine)
See that word? Likely. Not causal, but correlative. Logic 101, folks — correlation does not imply causality.
UVA knew that. But for political gain, others sidestep this convenient fact… especially as it relates to crime, because if it’s true in that instance, the total collapse of the housing market in Northern Virginia and the massive number of foreclosures could certainly be applied here as well.
Of course, what might have happened is that no person of color wanted to be harassed due to ‘probable cause’ and packed their bags — not back to Mexico their point of origin, but to neighboring localities.
Now where — oh where — have we heard this strategy against transports before? Who — I wonder — is the architect of such a grand scheme?
Now tell me truthfully. Just what is the difference between Borat and the arguments against Hispanics in Prince William County? Just change the minority and the epithets and you have yourself an argument.
…and frankly, that disgusts me as a Virginian and as an American.
But this doesn’t matter — because the cost of government went down. And because the cost of government went down (as it did in virtually every locality in Virginia — thank you Great Recession) we can some how add to the fact we drove out the people incurring the cost — regardless of their legal status — and claim this is a model for Virginia localities??
You want to know the best way to cut local government? Find waste, eliminate a department, or insist on metrics.
But driving out taxpayers? Come on… is this really the best we can do?
UPDATE: Citizen Tom did not enjoy being called out on “step B” with regards to targeting Hispanics:
Is it a secret where most illegal immigrants come from? How do we know? Would it have anything to do with statistical observations?
Uh-huh. What was that about this not being about race, again?
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Shaun Kenney is the Chairman of the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors, former Communications Director for the Republican Party of Virginia, and an active blogger since 2002. Shaun lives in Thomas Jefferson's backyard with his wife, six children, and a modest attempt at a farm in Kents Store, Virginia.
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28 Responses to "How do you cut taxes? Get rid of people (of course)."
I did not know what to expect when I clicked on this. Maybe I owe Mr. Kenney an apology for that initial skepticism.
Anyway, this is well observed, and I applaud it.
The personnel at BD might or might not agree with me, but I believe the general myth of the lawless, criminally-inclined illegal immigrant is pernicious and utterly afactual. There are sufficient meritorious arguments for immigration enforcement that do not rely, sub rosa, on ugly racial implications. Casual acceptance of the myth, like that by the Daily Caller in this story, should be challenged at every turn.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Vivian J. Paige and Shaun Kenney, Bearing Drift. Bearing Drift said: Web: How do you cut taxes? Get rid of people (of course). http://bit.ly/gd5S2Z [...]
Shaun,
Thank you for articulating the editorial position of Bearing Drift perfectly.
I would add that PWC also lost a significant amount of output from the Hispanics that have left. Irregardless if status, they are extremely productive (and in many cases more skilled than their white counterparts) workers. The outflow of immigrants has been a great loss for our community, these were good and decent people. Yes there are crimes (I don’t believe the “law” is broken by entry that is bit sanctioned by the State) committed by illegals – just as there are crimes committed by every race, but the positive has always outweighed the negative in my accounting of the situation.
TAXPAYERS? ILLEGAL ALIENS? say what?
“According to the study by the University of Virginia and the Police Executive Research Forum has likely resulted in a 46.7% drop in aggravated assaults and a 32% drop in violent crime.”
The drop in crime violent crime was very significant when compared to neighboring counties also included in the same study. While there are several other factors that result in what the statics were, it would be improper to dismiss the significants of the change in crime statics experienced in Prince William County.
Let there be no doubt in what I am saying. I am not saying Hispanics commit more crimes. I am saying those hear “illegally” work for less and have trouble meeting their needs, and the fear of being caught as an illegal, makes them selfs vulnerable to criminals violent criminals.
Exorcising the rule of law is not the problem. The rule of law is necessary to start fixing the problem. Sanctuary cities encouraging illegals to come hear illegally exasperating the problems illegals face.
Stopping illegal immigration is paramount to fixing the problems created from illegal immigration. After which congress needs to debate immigration and stream line the process when and where they can while keeping this nation safe from disease and those that have no reverence for the law.
It is shameful that you nearly imply Prince County is equal to Nazi Germans. Before you consider calling me a racist, know that my wife is a naturalized immigrant that came over legally.
With lower crime rates, Prince County becomes more attractive to those who appreciate the freedom steaming from a respect for the law.
@Keith –
And which benchmark was used to determine whether the immigration ordinance worked? Did the study not refer to a drop in the Hispanic population by as much as 8,000? Did the study not also infer that anywhere from 5,500 or fewer were actually illegal immigrants? Which means that — in a best case scenario — nearly half of that target population were AMERICANS pushed out of Prince William County due to, by your own admission, the success of this ordinance?
Here’s the curious thing: you’re perfectly willing to make a connection from A to C, while conveniently leaving out step B — that being which demographic precisely was driven out of Prince William?
And because no one wants to talk about “step B” that allows some to conveniently dodge their target, the reasoning for the ordinance, and the additional insistence that the Commonwealth of Virginia take on the responsibilities of the federal government — an extra-constitutional request.
After all, an unjust law is no law at all. But you know that. Which is why we have to hide behind this idea that our “laws” are something sacred, that “illegals” are the problem, and that other laws — including civil liberties — must be trampled upon in order to excise this problem, which is no longer a problem of fellow human beings, but a problem of second-class others invading your comfort zone. As before, I’ve never seen conservatives clamor so much for a police state until illegal immigration is mentioned.
But the real shame of this crusade to usurp federal prerogatives is this… that a certain few are willing to hide behind a manufactured law in order to justify an agenda they will not clarify, but clearly has an impact on a specific demographic.
So let the feds enforce the borders. Uphold the law. But again — how do you intend to ship back 8-20 million people? Let’s hear it…
Don’t worry SVK — 3,500 Americans is what the racists call collateral damage. So that’s OK.
As for Corey “Borat” Stewart, he’s a modest man with a great deal to be modest about. Think about it.
“Stopping illegal immigration is paramount to fixing the problems created from illegal immigration.”
What more do you think can honestly be said in disagreement with that.
Perhaps Shaun Kenney is under the delusion that unlawful growth is good because all growth is good? What is the pay-off to buy that delusion? Or worse to sell that delusion? Perhaps Shaun Kenney was short on sleep when he wrote this. He is ordinarily above such nonsense.
Perhaps my critique of Shaun Kenney’s post should have gone unsaid as I expect he will serve honorably in the future.
Forgive me if I feared that the alternative of just giving a Rah! Rah! Rah! for Corey Stewart would have been adequate. Corey Stewart has served his constituency very well regardless of how Kenney spins it. Given the dominance of flaws in Kenny’s sense of proportion I can only attribute his distortions to some personal jealousy or grievance. Corey Stewart deserves to have us cover his back from Kenney’s kind of attack.
Disagree with Obama and the left calls you a racist.
Never mind the same term does not apply to them now that they find themselves at odds with Mr. Obama.
Want illegal immigration fixed? You racist.
If you spend some time in the trenches and see how unfair things are, it truly makes you very angry.
American workers need a level playing field. We can’t compete with a Bangledesh worker who gets paid $35 a month. So when they come here and make $7 an hour and shack up 4-5 families in a three bedroom house they truly think they have won the lottery.
Meanwhile unscrupulous employers take advantage of them (and their competition who is playing by the rules) paying them sub par wages and cheating the tax man.
And then there is the argument that withholding is paid in, that will never be redeemed by the worker. That makes the Government an accomplice to the crime in my mind.
No Mr Kenny, to ignore the problem, to wait for someone else to fix it, is shameful.
As for your constant question about how to ship back 8-10 million people, the answer is to crack down on the employer. When the risk to employ a illegal worker is much much greater than the reward, the illegal gravy train will dry up. And then A LOT OF AMERICANS CAN GO BACK TO WORK.
As a resident of PWC, and yes a Corey Stewart supporter, i would put his record of managing the county up against any in the state any time. He has been a strict fiscal conservative from day one. As most jurisdictions in NOVA were blowing money out the door like water, he held the line and cut property taxes instead. Consequently, when the recession hit, PWC has been able to weather it much better than most. His stand on illegal immigration is strictly focused on illegals. Challenges to rule of law efforts in PWC have been consistently unsuccessful precisely because they have strictly followed the law and focused on illegal presence rather than ethnicity. It is also worth noting that Corey’s wife is a legal immigrant and naturalized citizen.
There is no question PWC has lost some parts of its population over the last few years. The vagrants, petty thieves, gang bangers etc have moved on. If Shaun and J.R. think these people make positive contributions to the community, they are welcome to send a bus up to collect them.
Up to 75% of those driven out of PWC by Rule of Law were LEGAL residents. How on earth is that a win in America?
And the typical argument falls back on “have you seen how they live?!?!!!” Hispanic crime rates, legal and illegal, are comparable to those of whites nationwide.
Damn, you guys are making the same arguments used against desegregation…
“Up to 75% of those driven out of PWC by Rule of Law were LEGAL residents.”
Citation????
And the typical argument falls back on “have you seen how they live?!?!!!”
Citation????
Is everyone who disagrees with you a racist or is that just the easiest stone to throw?
Peter, the UVA report itself said of the 7700 Hispanics who left since RoL, between 2000 and 6000 were illegal. So, up to 75% of those who left were LEGAL residents (as originally cited here: http://bearingdrift.com/2010/11/17/pwc-celebrates-rule-of-law-driving-out-nearly-8000-hispanics/)
Read the comments in the assorted posts on immigration on BD. See the vitriol spat out in defense of the law. You’ll see plenty of talk about how “those people” live.
@Peter –
Since you’ve been citing the UVA study as evidence the ordinance is a success, I would assume you would recognize the same statistics when cited back to you.
And no — not everyone who disagrees is a racist. Until they identify Hispanics as the problem… then we shift from mere nativist sentiment (and I don’t consider that to be a slur — nativism has it’s place when expressed reasonably) into something much more sinister.
Now it’s not my place to determine where you — or anyone else — are on that spectrum. But to continue to insist that this is merely upholding the law is specious at best… because it is not Prince William’s job to enforce federal laws.
Again, I’ve never seen so many conservatives clamor for a police state until illegal immigration is mentioned. Police stops based on “probable cause”? Increased impositions on small businesses? What other civil liberties are we seriously willing to consider because no one is willing to insist that the problem begins and ends with the federal gov’t enforcing the border??
Of course, that’s not the point… 8-20 million people are here. They aren’t going back on their own volition. And so far, the best methods the police state opposition have been able to put forward is to either (a) increase red tape on business, (b) surrender civil liberties, (c) trample over the Constitution in order to excise this threat, or (d) just boxcar them across the Mexican border.
Quite unimaginative, IMO. In fact, I might suggest that there’s a political party that embraces all of these opinions and has employed variants of these in the past. It’s not the Republican Party, I assure you.
@Wade –
You’ve correctly identified the problem of a free market economy and the consequences of trade deals such as NAFTA. All of what you have described is the reason why — as a percentage of our economy — manufacturing has dipped from 28% to a mere 11% (or worse).
Now the argument “to wait for someone else to fix the problem is shameful” is *precisely* the argument the federal government has used to trample over state and local governments for YEARS. That’s why you have the entitlement system you have today, and why Obamacare is running into trouble from constitutionalist judges and AGs.
We can all agree that half of this problem is fixed overnight by enforcing the borders. Period.
The additional problem — what do we do with the 8-20 million people already here — is a problem of mass movement of peoples that has rarely gone well in the history of the modern world. If someone can give me one example of how a population of that size was peaceably removed and relocated, I’ll concede the argument (Operation Wetback is NOT that example).
@Russell –
“Stopping illegal immigration is paramount to fixing the problems created from illegal immigration.”
I completely agree with the above statement. Doing it the other way around is merely treating the symptoms without addressing the cure — which is to enforce the borders.
Keep in mind — we did it backwards under Reagan.
@Shaun — If local jurisdiction have no place in enforcing federal laws, why are they consistently called in to assist the DEA, the FBI, the ATF, the Secret Service etc. Should every state and local jurisdiction repeal their narcotics laws? (Actually, I think they should but that is a different discussion.) What other federal laws can local jurisdictions turn a blind eye to?
BTW, border enforcement is a red herring. Anyone over the age of about 40 can remember when we had completely open borders (and were proud of it) and much less illegal immigration.
We need to remove the magnets attracting illegals (employment and social services) as well as the roadblocks to legal immigration (excessive bureaucracy and silly restrictions). Establish a situation where illegals are unable to work, receive social services or send money home matched with a system which allows individuals to enter the country legally if they can demonstrate employable skills and a clean criminal record. Expand visa services to process applications more quickly. Establish a one time only exemption for individuals to return to their home country and apply for legal entry without penalty for previous illegal presence. Reform our archaic narcotics laws to remove the smuggling incentive. I believe the situation would resolve itself within a few years. Returning home to apply for legal entry is not an intolerable burden given the value of a green card. Nor is it “amnesty with a round trip ticket” given the fact that applicants would still have to meet all requirements for legal entry, demonstrate they had broken no U.S. laws other than illegal entry and voluntarily return home at their own expense. Illegals found in the U.S. 12 months after enactment of reform would be ineligible for legal entry.
Any study where you could truthfully spin it to say “as much as 75% were legally in the country” or “as many as 75% of Hispanics leaving were here illegally” is probably a study not worth quoting.
If Jason can honestly say “up to 75% of Hispanics leaving PWC due to the policy were legally here”, but I can just as truthfully state “as many as 6,000 illegal immigrants left”, something is wrong. It only adds to confusion as to what the truth is and name calling ensues with no regard to solving the problem. Who would rethink anything when both sides know the other is using total crap for evidence? This is politics at one of it’s lower forms. UVA should be ashamed.
@Peter –
Now you’re talking.
Completely on board with fixing the immigration system in the United States as well. My only caveat is that we have to fix the border problem NOW. Anything else is treating symptoms without addressing the cure. Everything we do to make the problem different on the symptomatic side (and drug enforcement is a great analogy) only makes the problem more costly.
Of course, much like drug interdiction, the solution is not legalization (i.e. drug amnesty). However, we are never going to be able to have an honest conversation about drug policy in America until we end the drug cartels.
We could kill two birds with one stone by going after the cartels and enforcing the borders. I’m more and more concerned that Mexico is completely incapable of handing the cartels… and that our “illegal immigrant” problem may just as well be a refugee crisis fleeing a failed state. But that’s a whole other ball of wax.
@Britt –
So everyone agrees that the UVA study was totally inconclusive? Which, BTW, is precisely what UVA said it was?
@ Shaun – which begs the question as to why people are quoting from it and trying to pretend it yields anything of value.
@Britt –
Good question — why not ask the Prince William BOS and the Daily Caller who used the UVA study to support the ordinance?
Shaun – if they did that, then that is as lame as UVa issuing it to start with. They should have just said it was inconclusive and left out how pathetic the findings were.
The BOS had far better arguements than that study. Anybody quoting UVA looks like an opportunist willing to use anything for back up.
I mean really. If you are going to cite that study, you might as well cite their global warming studies and off the grants awarded to them
@Britt –
I could not agree more.
Shaun,
Most importantly,in 2007 PWC according to the Virginia State Supreme Court had over 5,000 individuals driving without a license in PWC. This was 5,000 driving at the detriment of the residents. This figure has significantly dropped since the implementation of the illegal immigrant resolution. This stat would never be posted by your friends on the local liberal PWC blog site which makes apologies for the presence of illegal immigrants in our community.
Will we be seeing a similar hatchet job on Victor Davis Hanson’s excellent piece entitled “Two Californias”?
For the intellectually honest:
http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson121610.html
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