Illegal immigration rears its ugly head in local youth sports leagues

While most Americans appreciate the various cultures coming together for a melting pot society, most (about 80 percent) do not appreciate illegal immigrants taking advantage of a free public education, free health care and other taxpayer costs to the tune of $113 billion a year, according to one recent study.

The cost of illegal immigration has extended to local youth leagues. For instance, one area soccer league has a scholarship program for children who can't afford the tuition to play. According to a reliable source, nearly all the money awarded in recent years has gone to Hispanic children whose parents don't speak English. That is money that could be going to poor American families.

Speaking a foreign language and the inability to speak English, no matter what some open borders types will tell you, is an indicator of being an illegal immigrant. Federal rules say that in order to be a naturalized citizen, one must be able to read, write and speak simple English.

One source in a local youth sports league told me the coaches have to translate and email team instructions and schedules to players in Spanish. That evidently isn't enough for some Hispanic families who have demanded that they be called each week to get verbal instructions over the phone. Someone who speaks English has to be located while the coach waits on the phone. Other Hispanic families told one coach that their children couldn't make it to practices often but that they wanted their children to play in the games nonetheless.

One soccer league in particular has a regular league and a travel team league. One source indicated to me that at least two Hispanic families, where the parents don't speak English, insisted that their children be bumped up to the travel team or the kids wouldn't play. Not only are travel team players considered better but their tuition to play is at least partly paid for by the league.

So, let me get this straight... a family illegally comes into our country, gets a job that an American would otherwise have (only 12 percent of illegals are employed in the low-desired agriculture field), takes advantage of the public education system, takes advantage of the health care system, etc. and they are so comfortable being here that they are applying for, and getting, money from area sports youth leagues to the detriment of poor American children... and, further, demanding special treatment because they don't speak English. So much for being in the shadows.

It seems the problem is even worse in border states such as Texas. The Eagle Pass, Texas little league baseball team made it to the U.S. Southwest regional finals this year. That team was fully comprised of Hispanic players whose coach speaks to them in Spanish. The team lost to Pearland, Texas yesterday but could you have imagined if that team represented the U.S. in the World Series. That would be a spit in the face of our sovereignty and our rule of law. In past years, little league teams have been ruled ineligible for having players a few months too old to play. But evidently teams can have players who aren't even in the country legally and that's ok.

Some may say that while the parents are illegally here, the children are citizens. That could be true for some of them who have been in the country for more than 12 years (since that's the age of most little leaguers). The debate rages nationally about whether the 14th Amendment is being interpreted correctly that children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants are or should be considered citizens. One recent study showed that there are 60,000 births per year to illegal alien parents in Texas alone. That includes nearly 12,000 in Parkland Hospital - the hospital where President Kennedy was taken after he was shot in Dallas.

Another study out Thursday indicates that more than eight percent of the children born each year in the U.S. are children of illegal alien parents (termed anchor babies). The study also says that four percent of the people living in the U.S. today are here illegally (of course that doesn't include the eight percent of children born to illegals each year who are considered citizens).

One local charity, just this year, started a Hispanic Youth Soccer League and advertised for Spanish-speaking coaches. Not only is that accommodating illegal immigration, it is bordering on, if not actually, racist to single out and target a particular race in favor of another. Might there be a poor, white neighborhood of native-born North Carolinians in need of a sports program? Would anyone suggest, support or even allow a White, Native-Born Soccer League?

Even if the charity somehow verified that the participants are legally in our country, should they be excluding other races from participation, isolating one particular race, and working against their assimilation into our society? We certainly don’t want to penalize children who were brought to our country illegally by their law-breaking parents. Nor should we reward them for their parents' actions.

The affects of illegal immigration are being felt all the way down to the ball fields in the Triangle with special treatment for illegals and special financial advantages for illegals, not to mention the player slots being taken up by illegal immigrants to the detriment of American children.