Your turn: In response to 'Let's take the 'Keep Out' sign off Winnebago County'
I felt compelled to write this because I have that larger than life Midwestern Momma’s heart, and felt like I must agree with Mr. West, and what type of person would I be if I didn’t?
Being that I am first generation American, I have paid special attention over the years to the immigrant situations in our country and watched politicians close and open the borders, much to the dismay of people on either side.
Your turn: Let’s take the “Keep Out” sign off Winnebago County
Reading through this heart-led plea to “Let's take the 'Keep Out' sign off Winnebago County,” I was drawn to the logistics.
The article indicates that $50 million dollars and more has been allotted to the city of Rockford to help assist immigrants resettling, and this is where the wheels started turning for me.
Intially, $50 million sounds like a lot of money that will surely care for this influx of humans coming into our area.
Looking at the medical care needs and crime situation for this influx of people, I came to a much different conclusion.
With the recent pandemic and 2024’s never ending winter, I couldn’t help but first focus my mind on the medical needs of these incoming people. It is reported that they are coming into our country in “mostly good health”, but the constant travel is exhausting and depleting for their (already conflict torn) bodies. In addition, they end up being housed in places that are overcrowded, no doubt further depleting their fragile immune systems.
Chicago has a new arrivals clinic that spends $2.2 million dollars a month, which they expect to increase to 3.75 million per month in the coming months. It has been reported that many of these people have not seena doctor in over five years, leaving potential for more complex or compounding medical issues.
Could we count on the medical establishments of Rockford and Winnebago Co. to absorb the needs of these people and still be able to adequately care for our current residents? Isn’t it true that Rockford already carries the burden of the medical care of surrounding areas? Would there be enough money to disperse some of it to those places so they could increase staffing? Aren’t we already in an extreme nursing shortage in this country following the pandemic?
We would be absolutely foolish to ignore the crime increases in our country, in Chicago and abroad, since policies were reversed stemming the immigrant flow.
A 2021 report shows that 64% of federal arrests were non-citizens, even though they only accounted for 7% of the total population. Chicago alone has seen an increase of violent crime 11,000% since the Venezulan Crisis began.
According to a 2015 report regarding the economical weight of arrests in our country, each arrest costs taxpayers $13,607, meaning that money wouldn’t go far if only 5% of the 6.2 million immigrants since 2021 were arrested. We can all agree that our current judicial system is overburdened and under-functioning, costing taxpayers $296 billion annually.
I ultimately believe that, like my own, Representative Maurice West’s heart is in the right place. He wants to establish and support the American dream for a new wave of potential Americans.
Unfortunately, it’s just not fiscally responsible for Illinois taxpayers to continue taking on responsibilities for other lives when we’re struggling to provide for the families that already reside here, immigrant and otherwise.
Alison Mitchell, born and raised in Rockford, is now an Ogle County resident. In addition to raising a large family, she enjoys studying anthropology and sociology, gardening and is always reading multiple books at any given time.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Your turn: Response to 'Take the 'Keep Out' sign off Winnebago County'
