Illegal immigration putting strain on New Jersey taxpayers

The guest column article titled "State must stop runaway train called property taxes," written by Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula in the Jan. 18 issue of the Sentinel fails to address the strain on the New Jersey taxpayers from illegal aliens, or "undocumented workers." Does anybody question whether violation of federal illegal immigration laws affect property taxes?

A report entitled "The Costs of Illegal Immigration to New Jerseyites" has recently been posted on the Web site of Federation for American Immigration Reform, Washington, D.C., describing the yearly fiscal deficit of over $2 billion to New Jersey taxpayers for the education, health care, and incarceration of illegal immigrants. Another article worthy of reading - describing how people rationalize the failure to enforce federal immigration laws - is titled "Contesting criminality: Illegal immigration and the spatialization of legality," by Susan Bibler Coutin, University of California, in the criminal justice periodical known as Theoretical Criminology.

Gov. Jon Corzine has also failed to address the harmful consequences of illegal immigration. Perhaps they consider it political suicide to even talk about it.

Richard P. Zuckerman

North Brunswick