Editor's Note:   This viral email appears to be picking up steam now that immigration reform is back on the front burner.  For some reason, the fact-check sites I normally rely on aren't much help on this one.  I looked into it on my own a little, so I'll be glad to share what I found with you.

Before I get into the "fact-check" part, I just want to address the fatal flaw in this email.  It's hateful, plain and simple.  Build your case without scapegoating and making caricatures out of poor people and I'll be happy to listen to what you have to say.  There are some comments in this email that are just uncalled for:

• On the discarded food B.S.:  I've eaten lunch several times with students at a local public elementary school populated with exceptionally well-off children.  These kids fill up a 55-gallon industrial waste bin on wheels with uneaten food every day at lunch.  Why don't these kids eat their food instead of throwing it away?  Maybe they don't like the taste of it.  Maybe they aren't hungry.  Maybe they are just so excited to laugh with their friends out of class they forget to eat their lunch and end up dumping it when lunch period ends.  Only a crotchety old busy-body would elevate it to blasphemy when a child discards a half-eaten sandwich.  And only a vile racist would assume that the only discarded food in our school lunchrooms is produced by the poor children of illegal immigrants.   
  
• The author of this email ridicules the impoverished children at her school for being obese, carrying cell phones, and getting pregnant.  You would think that someone who purports to be a teacher would be educated about childhood obesity and sympathetic to the genetic factors that elevate the obesity risk in Hispanic children.  And poor, fat children with cell phones--oh, the humanity!  Lord.  I would also recommend that you read up on teenage pregnancy, contraceptive use, and sexual activity.  You will find that there are differences between black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white teenagers in those areas.  Seems there is a correlation between poverty and teen pregnancy.  Honey, there are finger-pointers, and there are problem solvers.  I'm on board with the problem solvers, particularly when the problem causes untold suffering in families for generations.  You'll have to decide for yourself who you are on board with. 
  
• We're told these cell-phone-carrying pregnant gluttons are also destroying property with graffiti, calling their teachers "whores," carrying diseases, dropping out of school and refusing to "assimilate."  They also smoke pot and steal your corn chips.
  

Now, on to the fact-checking.

This hateful load of B.S. has been circulating since at least 2006 but it has never been authenticated as actually originating from an English teacher in southern California.  A couple of blogs attribute it to someone at Ukiah Unified School District, but Ukiah is in NORTHERN California, and the woman in question isn't an English teacher.  I called the school.  So I wouldn't put much stock in it actually being written by an English teacher--it just as likely was written by Andy Rooney, Bill Gates, or Kramer from Seinfeld.

Another inaccuracy in this viral email is the claim that illegal immigrants can get the earned income tax credit.  I read through the IRS' Publication 596 "Earned Income Credit:  Are you Eligible?" and it was clear to me by the end of page 6 that illegal immigrants can't get the earned income tax credit.  It's right there in black and white, honey--look at it for yourself.

Along those same lines, illegal immigrants don't qualify for food stamps.  The food stamp program (now referred to as SNAP) is administered by the United States Department of Agriculture, and right on page i of this USDA report it says, "Since the inception of the current Food Stamp Program (FSP) in 1977, undocumented immigrants have never been eligible for benefits."  And as of January 2003, only 38% of the eligible citizen children of non-citizen parents even participated in the food stamp program.  Why?  Looks like "they may fear an undocumented household member will be reported to the Immigration and Naturalization Service."  See for yourself in paragraph 2 under the "Purpose" section of the USDA's "Non-Citizen Requirements in the Food Stamp Program" guide.

Honey, I could go on and on about this shameful viral email.  I'm not going to spend any more time on it.  I hope you'll treat the rest of it with suspicion.  If you'd like to read more about illegal immigration, feel free to check out my blog.  You can also find out more about what the "Essential Worker Immigration Coalition" has been doing while folks are abusing illegal immigrants if you'll start reading at paragraph 2 here. 

WATCH YOUR STEP:  STEAMING VIRAL EMAIL B.S. STARTS HERE

This English teacher has phrased it the best I've seen yet.

Tomatoes and Cheap Labor

CHEAP TOMATOES?

This should make everyone think, be you Democrat, Republican or Independent

From a California school teacher - - -
"As you listen to the news about the student protests over illegal immigration, there are some things that you should be aware of:

I am in charge of the English-as-a-second-language department at a large southern California high school which is designated a Title 1 school, meaning that its students average lower socioeconomic and income levels.

Most of the schools you are hearing about, South Gate High, Bell Gardens , Huntington Park , etc., where these students are protesting, are also Title 1 schools.

Title 1 schools are on the free breakfast and free lunch program. When I say free breakfast, I'm not talking a glass of milk and roll -- but a full breakfast and cereal bar with fruits and juices that would make a Marriott proud. The waste of this food is monumental, with trays and trays of it being dumped in the trash uneaten. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I estimate that well over 50% of these students are obese or at least moderately overweight. About 75% or more DO have cell phones. The school also provides day care centers for the unwed teenage pregnant girls (some as young as 13) so they can attend class without the inconvenience of having to arrange for babysitters or having family watch their kids. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I was ordered to spend $700,000 on my department or risk losing funding for the upcoming year even though there was little need for anything; my budget was already substantial. I ended up buying new computers for the computer learning center, half of which, one month later, have been carved with graffiti by the appreciative students who obviously feel humbled and grateful to have a free education in America .. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I have had to intervene several times for young and substitute teachers whose classes consist of many illegal immigrant students here in the country less then 3 months who raised so much hell with the female teachers, calling them "Putas" ( whores ) and throwing things, that the teachers were in tears.

Free medical, free education, free food, day care etc., etc, etc.  Is it any wonder they feel entitled to not only be in this country but to demand rights, privileges and entitlements?

To those who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants contribute to our society because they LIKE their gardener and housekeeper and they like to pay less for tomatoes: spend some time in the real world of illegal immigration and see the TRUE costs.

Higher insurance, medical facilities closing, higher medical costs, more crime, lower standards of education in our schools, overcrowding, new diseases etc., etc, etc. For me, I'll pay more for tomatoes.

Americans We need to wake up. The guest worker program will be a disaster because we won't have the guts to enforce it. Does anyone in their right mind really think they will voluntarily leave and return?

It does, however, have everything to do with culture: A third-world culture that does not value education, that accepts children getting pregnant and dropping out of school by 15 and that refuses to assimilate, and an American culture that has become so weak and worried about "political correctness " that we don't have the will to do anything about it.

If this makes your blood boil, as it did mine, forward this to everyone you know.

CHEAP LABOR? Isn't that what the whole immigration issue is about?

Business doesn't want to pay a decent wage.

Consumers don't want expensive produce.

Government will tell you Americans don't want the jobs.

But the bottom line is cheap labor. The phrase "cheap labor" is a myth , a farce, and a lie. There is no such thing as "cheap labor."

Take, for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children. He takes a job for $5.00 or 6.00/hour. At that wage, with six dependents, he pays no income tax, yet at the end of the year, if he files an Income Tax Return, he gets an "earned income credit" of up to $3,200 free.

He qualifies for Section 8 housing and subsidized rent.

He qualifies for food stamps.

He qualifies for free (no deductible, no co-pay) health care.

His children get free breakfasts and lunches at school.

He requires bilingual teachers and books.

He qualifies for relief from high energy bills.

If they are or become, aged, blind or disabled , they qualify for SSI. Once qualified for SSI they can qualify for Medicare .   All of this is at (our) taxpayer's expense.

He doesn't worry about car insurance, life insurance, or homeowners insurance.

Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material.

He and his family receive the equivalent of $20.00 to $30.00/hour in benefits.

Working Americans are lucky to have $5.00 or $6.00/hour left after paying their bills and his.

The American taxpayers also pay for increased crime, graffiti and trash clean-up.

Cheap labor? YEAH RIGHT! Wake up people!

THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS WE SHOULD BE ADDRESSING TO THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR EITHER PARTY. 'AND WHEN THEY LIE TO US AND DON'T DO AS THEY SAY, WE SHOULD REPLACE THEM AT ONCE!'

THIS HAS GOT TO BE PASSED ALONG TO AS MANY AS POSSIBLE OR WE WILL ALL GO DOWN THE DRAIN BECAUSE A FEW DON'T CARE

AMEN!!!