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Turner-Utz: A Republican Senate will protect Arizonans’ quality of life

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Arizona voters have two historic choices to make this November. The presidential election is the marquee event. But the U.S. Senate race is equally important. We need to think strategically, because if Democrats win the White House and take the Senate, America’s immigration laws will forever change.

A Democratic Senate would rubbers tamp Joe Biden’s plans to provide amnesty to 11 million illegal immigrants, halt deportations, and boost legal immigration. Those changes would erode Arizonans’ quality of life. Only a Republican Senate could ensure some sanity.

Historically, high levels of immigration have placed a huge burden on society. That’s because taxpayers often have to subsidize immigrants’ wellbeing. For example, one study found that 51 percent of immigrant-headed households rely on welfare, compared to just 30 percent of households headed by native-born Americans.

Immigrants also push up costs for taxpayers via educational needs. Many immigrant children do not speak English. Arizona has had a troubled history of trying to teach them. For many years, a mandatory daily immersion program was in place at considerable cost.

Nevertheless, those testing into the English Language Learners program have struggled to reach proficiency. In 2017, just 15 percent of ELL students were reclassified as proficient.

Legislation passed last year will allow schools more flexibility, but resources are limited. A new wave of immigration, illegal or legal, would place massive fiscal strain on state and local government budgets.

Healthcare is another issue that showcases the burden of mass immigration. Back in 2007, a report from the University of Arizona found that immigrants were responsible for $150 million in uncompensated care costs. Ninety-three percent of this cost was attributed to non-citizens. The total bill has surely increased since then.

With more immigration, hospitals will be forced to deal with even more patients who arrive, without insurance, to use emergency rooms as walk-in health clinics. The pandemic already has hospitals near “financial extinction” thanks to canceled elective procedures during the pandemic. Now is no time to place an even greater burden on state budgets and healthcare providers.

Illegal immigration will obviously spike the day Joe Biden wins, if he’s successful. After all, with a promise of amnesty, folks from around the world will simply pack up and cross the border illegally.

But legal immigration would also skyrocket. The Trump administration has suspended the issuance of many new green cards during the pandemic. But Biden vows to reverse that policy and increase overall immigration levels.

Senator Martha McSally understands the threat. She opposes blanket amnesty for those here illegally, and she has co-sponsored the Securing America’s Future Act, which would place reasonable limits on legal immigration.

McSally is one of the keys to the Republican Senate majority. A vote for her is a vote to protect our quality of life.

Editor’s note: Carrie Turner-Utz of Buckeye is a member of Angel Families. Her mother and godmother were both hit and killed on their morning walk by a non-citizen. He then fled the scene and was finally apprehended in El Paso at the Mexico border.