The "Justice" System

After reading Matt Vancourt's blog on the Texas Prison system I was appalled at how bad it has gotten. I knew and had heard about all the drugs and cell phones being in there but one has to wonder how they get in there with such tight "security." I'm not surprised at all that its the prison guards that are responsible, I mean with strip searches and other procedures to check the inmates for contraband it has to be the guards that let it through. However, Matt mentioned how prison guards don't make much money and according to KXAN news a prisoner was recorded telling his father over the phone that they make a mere $7.50 an hour. That is utterly outrageous for someone that works in such a dangerous place. Their jobs can not be easy or enjoyable at all just for the fact that they are surrounded by people are there for not following the rules in the first place. I don't blame the guards for having to smuggle in items to make a decent living or just to make a enough to get by. At $7.50 an hour a guy with a family of four could not support them. I think Matt is right about paying our guards more, especially for the fact that they have to do the dirty work of containing the criminals who disregard the system in the first place. Maybe if they were taken better care of they would try to keep the prisons rules enforced instead of just adding to the amount of corruption and contraband within, in order to make a decent living.

Popular Texas

Texas' number of illegal immigrants has brought on some hefty problems for the state as a whole. According to The Federation of American Immigration Reform, "In 2006 Texas was the 5th fastest growing state in the United States, and accounted for the highest increase in population size among any state." With that in mind one has to think about where all these people are going to fit in especially with our high numbers of illegal immigrants. I think that as much as Texas has tried to keep illegal immigrants from crossing into U.S soil, it is inevitable and we might as well make them citizens and work them into the system. I mean we already allow aliens into our school districts so wouldn't it be best if they contribute to the taxpayer dollars that educate their children? Although a large number of illegals don't file taxes, there are a handful that do. According to The Tax Foundation, the U.S. created a system using Individual Tax Identification Number for out of country investors that don't have Social Security numbers. However, because illegal immigrants don't have social security numbers, this has proven to be a way for them to file taxes. According to The Tax Foundation, just "last year, 1.4 million people filed tax returns using the numbers." While technically they aren't able to file taxes, they have found a way to do just that. This is more or less proving that these illegal immigrants want to be a part of the system and are even willing to pay taxes without having any representation in government. All in all I think its time we accept the fact that we do and will continue to have illegal immigrants whether we like it or not. We might as well start officially taxing the inhabitants of the Texas rather than spending billions of dollars unsuccessfully trying to eliminate what has proven to be inevitable.