Rep. Space Wants PAYBACK
House Representative Zack Space wants foreign countries to foot the medical bills incurred by undocumented immigrants in the United States.
Yesterday, Space introduced the Preventing All Your Bucks from Aiding non-Citizens is Key (PAYBACK) Act. Under the new bill, 110% of the costs of treating undocumented immigrants would be withheld from any foreign assistance provided to another country. If the United States does not offer any foreign assistance, the country would be billed for 110% of the medical costs. If we happen to be in debt to the foreign country, the amount of the debt would be reduced by 110% of the costs of caring for the foreign country's citizen.
"I am absolutely opposed to taxpayer dollars being used to support benefits and services for illegal immigrants," Space said. "It is fundamentally unfair and outrageous to foot the bill for immigrants unlawfully in the United States. The bill I intend to introduce will allow taxpayers to be reimbursed for the cost of care and services provided to illegal immigrants in our hospitals."
All funds collected under the PAYBACK Act would be transferred to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the purpose of strengthening border security.
What do you think of Space's proposed legislation?
Photo: Barry Williams/Getty Images
Comments
Most of us citizens fail to realize that we have illegal immigrants because our country is so great and because these immigrants see a better future for their families. It should be a matter of pride for us that citizens of so many other countries want to come and live here.
When these illegal immigrants arrive, most of them immediately start to look for ways to establish some legal base using which they can work. When they start to earn money, they pay taxes just like any citizen does. So why should they not be eligible for the same care that the citizens get?
If you were not making enough money to feed your family, would you not look for other ways to survive? Everybody jumps on the bandwagon without having any understanding of why these illegal immigrants are here, and most citizens want to deny them even their basic right to life. Is this the right thing to do? Is this what our forefathers would have wanted?
we r not responsible to support the millions of cash-cow welfare anchor babies they keep popping out & can’t afford that puts them & their country in the poor house. let them reap the consequences of their own foolish ways, not at the expense of american’s quality of life. WARNING: southern CA is the #1 sanctuary state for illegal mexican immigrants. following CA will impact ur everyday citizens at the home level. to understand this watch this hidden video, & don’t let this happen to ur communities youtube.com/watch?v=5dha5A9vsdk …these illegals r not ur educated, law abiding, God fearing upper middle-class folk! they’re the scum of the earth of their country, morally bankrupt, desperate low-life’s. they belong to Raza, whose intent is to take over five states in america as their own via populating them, becoming the majority.
they r brazen beyond belief. once in ur communities they travel to upscale neighborhoods to prowl ur streets, come into ur yards digging in ur trash-cans for cans, ss & credit card numbers. police will not respond & if u tell them to get off ur property u r at risk of being attacked or killed. waste no time in demanding that city officials enforce trespassing laws NOW! good luck.
Funny! As if only illegal immigrants go to the doctors and abuse federal help! American people surely love to blame anybody for anything. Never the ones to take responsibility. To the poster above, what is “American quality of life?” I guess u are “God fearing upper middle class folks” that call other people names, by the way those people are also G-d’s children. Immigrants, illegal or legal are here to stay and you just need to accept them or get over it already. There’s no other way.
Zack Space forget his family story ,his parents emigrates in USA from Grece ,and his parents once to have citezenship like all this immigrants, Zack Space parents once to have benefits like evry american citezen.But today Zack Space forget his grandfader (Zacharias Space)People like Zack Space need to represent immigrants today ,but hi read to menny scrap boock.You and yor teory can not keep the USA united.You can retorn in yor grandfader past and give give a helping hand to impoverish imigrants alike yor GRANDFADER.Thes people it`s poor people and needs realy halp.
Is Zack insane? Under this bill if a Panamanian accesses health care in the US after sneaking across the Mexico-US border somehow the government of Panama is to blame? What should have Panama done? Set up a Berlin Wall all around itself to keep its citizens from crossing a border 7 countries away? Last time I crossed a border it wasn’t my country that cleared me to enter it was the country I was going to, so if you have too many illegals then guess who’s fault it is…the US border service, not the home country of the illegals.
Oh, and good luck try to hold back payment of debt to other countries because of laws changed in the US. Try telling your banker that you are unhappy with marketing material sent to you by Visa so you wont pay your mortgage and see how well that goes over…
As a legal immigrant, I think this is a great idea. Sure, it’s a bit impractical, as Shane points out, bit it’s morally right.
I moved to this country because I found the love of my life. I waded through red tape (although as a White European I had it easer than some) and paid a fortune in fees. Furthermore, due to the low income of my wife-to-be, we had to have a sponsor!
To add insult to injury, the State of California is using my tax withholdings to pay for the education and healthcare of ILLEGAL immigrants.
I don’t blame the illegals for one minute, mind you. Had I been a poor Mexican, I might have done the same thing. It’s the braindead and/or devious politicians and greedy employers that really tick me off.
I do not the reason for such a Bill when there are too many seious challenges that US is facing…more or less everybody in the US is “immigrant”…somebody came earlier, somebody later…For instance, the House Rep Zack Space predecessor. The Gordon Rule is everybody to take care of its own costs. However, somebody is more or less fortune and the system functions to cover up discrepancies. Why u do not open a debate why the taxpayers money went to high bonuses to “rich” CEOs pockets? Why the US has allowed Bernnie Madox to happen? Rather than distracting people mind with such a Bills, the best approach is to focus on strategic points.
This seems like a pretty reasonable compromise and at least an attempt to acknowledge the huge, grossly unfair burden that illegal immigration places on the ordinary American taxpayer. Yet, as we can see from your comments, the open borders advocates don’t like even this modest proposal! They want those gringo tax dollars NOW and the hell with the people, i.e. American citizens, who provide them!
Proof enough for me that it’s the welfare freebies that are attracting them, not “jobs.” And Vishal, sure they want a “better life.” What makes you think that it should be at the expense of American taxpayers who are already having a hard time making ends meet? No one gave my ancestors WIC vouchers, “free” public school education, Section 8 housing, “free” healthcare or food stamps.