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Originally Posted by rickholio
This might be a viable point if it wasn't for the fact that a large plurality of the inmates are incarcerated for drug related offenses, the vast bulk of those being simple possession or sale/distribution. In many states, there's as many people serving terms for drug-related offenses as violent crimes.
The reason so many people are in jail is simple:
- Jails make money
- Conservatives like money
- ...and their answer to any crime is "lock em up" (or deport, or kill, or torture, or whatever)
This doesn't say anything about the illegal immigrant situation, of course... but it does show that illegal-immigrant related costs are dwarfed by the cost of half the prison budget going to housing people who get high and their dealers.  |
Well for one I fail to see how jails make money. I know there is the economic arguement that it is pumping money into the US economy by hiring American's, etc to work there, but it isn't really a valid arguement (considering the money could be spent on much better things). The Justice system as a whole is a very very expensive process, and ultimately the money could be pumped back into the US economy in much more positive ways. But in any event (and this is just one example), and correct me if I am wrong, illegal immigrants wouldn't be paying tax on the money they earn, so for one the US Government could offer tax breaks to those people that work low-end jobs. I am not saying there aren't some economic benefits to illegal immigration, but some people talk about it as if stopping it would bring down the US economy, which is ridiculous. The US could certainly go along ok without it. Some adjustments would have to made no doubt, but the US has certainly faced harded situations before and come out on top.