Since it's fact that there is a net tax burden on society due to illegals, it is inescapable fact that they weaken us.
A businessman who only reads one side of the ledger is doomed to fail.
That is only one side of the ledger, by definition.
You don't know how many illegal immigrants pay taxes, and neither does anyone else. Therefore, whether the net is a gain or a loss can't be measured.
My checking account always looks great before I add the checks.
You don't know, because no one does, how many deposits they've made.
Furthermore, their contribution is beyond measurement- all human beings bring more to the table than can be measured.
Those sons and daughters everyone here is so afraid of contain the same potential that every American does, and has the same chance of achieving that potential. And they will be legal, native born, full-fledged American citizens, from their first breath. Just like you.
Another, subtle contribution, that I'm stunned no one here picked up on, is that there's now an American foreman and an American journeyman out there who lost their jobs.
Will they figure that out? Will one, perhaps, choose to stay awake on his next dispatch? Will the other consider putting out, even though it's cold?
They have a chance to learn, to improve. If they do, the competition will have made them stronger.
We get stronger every time an immigrant crosses the border. In so many ways.