Republican Party Ninth District Martha Zoller

One of the nation's fastestgrowing populations of illegal immigrants is not California, Texas or another "border state" - it is Georgia, and North Georgia in particular. Current estimates show there are roughly 440,000 illegal aliens residing in Georgia. That is nearly 5% of our entire population. And the cost to our state is $1.1 billion dollars every year.

This is not an argument between being humane or enforcing our legal system. It comes down to raw fiscal facts. We cannot maintain a population so large that drains such an enormous amount from our state income and does nothing to compensate us for the expense. We are paying for their healthcare, education, subsidized housing, and huge law enforcement expenses. We have a known population of thousands of illegal inmates, and federal compensation for those inmates is dwindling. And even that federal money originated from state taxes, as do all federal dollars.

Just as the number of illegal aliens is drastically increasing every year, so it is across the nation. As of 2007, there were over 13 million illegals in America. The federal government is directly responsible to take the necessary action to begin halting this epidemic. Yet, the leadership in Washington have neglected, and even offered opposing legislation, rather than fighting for our citizens on this issue.

There are plenty of laws on the books, but the implementation has to come from Congress. In 2006, the Secure Fence Act was passed, to place 700 miles of fencing along strategic lines. In over a year, a total of 5 miles have been built. The interlocking surveillance camera system that the bill also promised was to be completed by last May. The deadline came and went without progress. Our congressmen and senators must be held accountable and take the lead.

We must require illegal immigrants to go back to their home country to get the proper paperwork and deport those with expired passes.

For public safety, education and community cohesion, we must require that all citizens be proficient in English.

We have to give more local jurisdiction over illegal aliens, including tougher sentencing for convictions and rewarding local law enforcement by compensating for the expense of incarceration and transferal to deportation officials.

There is no easy, one step solution, but until the borders are secure and law enforcement can do their job to enforce the laws, we can't negotiate any further.

Georgia has made progress in passing tough legislation under the Gold Dome, but the Federal Government led by Congress and the President must take responsibility and be held accountable to do their constitutional duty.

Martha Zoller is a nationally recognized conservative commentator and is host of "The Martha Zoller Show". Martha is a graduate of the Grady College of Journalism at the University of Georgia and lives in Gainesville, Georgia with her husband, Lin. They have four children ranging in age from 16 to 25.