A Day without Immigrants

[Sinergy 3]

[pax 0]

We keep bailing out the airline industry.....why should we care about them either?

And 9/11 is not a valid argument.....airlines were in a lot of trouble long before that happened.

There's a difference between lawmakers agreeing to "bail out" certain industries, and operators within certain industries deciding the laws don't apply to them!

[mercuryroad 0]

Any way you slice it, we need reform and a change of thinking.

Yes, we do. We need more labor immigration. More visas and more effective ways of securing those. And we need to put a stop to the mentality that it's okay to break the laws if we don't like them. We need to stop detaining people that came here illegally and release them with a date to appear in court and put them on a bus or plane back home instead. Instantly. We need to get tough on employers that hire illegals. Stiff fines for the business and even jail time for those engaged in hiring folks that are not legally entitled to take up employment. We need a change of thinking for sure.

Totally agree

[dalegg 143]

I'm probably the last one to have read this, but I went to the "day without an immigrant" websites and I'm really pretty amazed at what I'm reading:

If you look at daywithoutanimmigrant.com one of their poll questions asks: Should spouses of Americans and lawful permanent residents be able to visit in America?

Can't they do this on an I-130 already?

And this one shows the total disconnect with the viewpoint of the rest of the country: immigrantsolidarity.org

"We will settle for nothing less than full amnesty and dignity for the millions of undocumented workers presently in the U.S. We believe that increased enforcement is a step in the wrong direction and will only serve to facilitate more tragedies along the Mexican-U.S. border in terms of deaths and family separation. "

[Sinergy 3]

"We will settle for nothing less than full amnesty and dignity for the millions of undocumented workers presently in the U.S. We believe that increased enforcement is a step in the wrong direction and will only serve to facilitate more tragedies along the Mexican-U.S. border in terms of deaths and family separation. "

HA!!! omg, this whole immigration thing makes me cry. And IF illegal immigrants are granted full amnesty, THEN everyone with a pending petition, should get the same, and not go through the ####### we have to go through. Im just blowing steam out my #######

[mercuryroad 0]

We keep bailing out the airline industry.....why should we care about them either?

And 9/11 is not a valid argument.....airlines were in a lot of trouble long before that happened.

There's a difference between lawmakers agreeing to "bail out" certain industries, and operators within certain industries deciding the laws don't apply to them!

And what difference are you referring to? Influencing legislation through lobbying dollars?

"We will settle for nothing less than full amnesty and dignity for the millions of undocumented workers presently in the U.S. We believe that increased enforcement is a step in the wrong direction and will only serve to facilitate more tragedies along the Mexican-U.S. border in terms of deaths and family separation. "

HA!!! omg, this whole immigration thing makes me cry. And IF illegal immigrants are granted full amnesty, THEN everyone with a pending petition, should get the same, and not go through the ####### we have to go through. Im just blowing steam out my #######

I think it's a case of asking for more than what you really want so you can get what you really want and it sounds like a deal. I did this with my mom all the time hahahaha.

This rhetoric is pretty extreme.....as is rhetoric from some saying deport everyone tomorrow. Somewhere in the middle a reasonable solution can be found.

[pax 0]

Every industry has lobbyists, true. Some behave more ethically than others. And I'm not willing to bet even a dollar that the airline industries' lobbyists are better than any others'.

But this is not about bailouts that, for whatever reasons (pure and honest or not), are legitimately negotiated and agreed upon between the government and businesses. The businesses must still agree to operate within the confines of existing law and within the framework of any bailout agreement.

There is NO agreement, NO law between employers of illegals and the government! None! Zip! Nada! They have no right to employ the illegals, and the illegals have no right to work here! Period! Case closed!

Again, I'm not in favor of a "round 'em up and kick 'em out" approach. I wholeheartedly support a sound immigration policy that will allow American employers to legally and fairly employ workers in all industries, with all the current legal protections that American workers enjoy. But I am not going to defend the hiring and retention of illegal immigrants to shield "family" businesses from going under. Boo freaking hoo. IMO.

[mercuryroad 0]

There is NO agreement, NO law between employers of illegals and the government! None! Zip! Nada! They have no right to employ the illegals

Totally agree.

My point was that there are few that are innocent when it comes to politics and money.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

If you look at daywithoutanimmigrant.com one of their poll questions asks: Should spouses of Americans and lawful permanent residents be able to visit in America?

Can't they do this on an I-130 already?

Visit? Not really.

Move? Yes. USC spouse within a year or so, LPR spouse within 6 years or so.

But this is not what any of this is about. No LPR or USC needs an amnesty unless an illegal alien is a part of the equation. And that's what this is really all about: Rewarding those that have no regard for the law.

[pax 0]

There is NO agreement, NO law between employers of illegals and the government! None! Zip! Nada! They have no right to employ the illegals

Totally agree.

My point was that there are few that are innocent when it comes to politics and money.

Well, no, probably not.

But MY point is that I don't buy the excuse that American businesses need illegals to survive. There will always be a need for low-skilled labor, true. BUT that labor should be protected and respected with living wages--for immigrants and for native-born Americans--and to hire illegals is, to me, quite simply a cop-out. As Reinhard has repeatedly pointed out, plenty of businesses--a vast majority, in fact--manage to make it with a legal workforce.

Would I support an expansion of temporary visas for low-skilled laborers? Sure. Do I want to see illegal immigrants rounded up at gunpoint and deported by the thousands? Not really. But we need to stop rewarding illegal immigrants and we start with MUCH stricter enforcement on employers. Arrest, fine, even jail them. And screw their business if they knowingly hired illegals. That would effectively force the illegal immigrants hired to return home, if the risks of hiring an illegal immigrant simply become too high, and to apply for a visa.

[Traviesa 0]

But I am not going to defend the hiring and retention of illegal immigrants to shield "family" businesses from going under. Boo freaking hoo. IMO.

Well I guess we should just be thankful that's not your family. Boo freaking hoo, wow that's some great compassion for the plight of others there.

[pax 0]

My family, if we had a business, wouldn't resort to cheating to stay afloat. We were raised better.

How would that be okay? Would it be okay if we decided to hire some young children? If we had a side business in cocaine and child prostitution to tide us over? If we decided not to pay taxes?

[Traviesa 0]

My family, if we had a business, wouldn't resort to cheating to stay afloat. We were raised better.

What is it they say...until you've walked a mile??? Can't really say what you would or wouldn't do in that situation unless you've actually been in that situation. I guess you'd just allow your kids to go hungry then-or were you raised better than that?

[Fuzzness 2]

it's all about money isn't it

[mercuryroad 0]

There is NO agreement, NO law between employers of illegals and the government! None! Zip! Nada! They have no right to employ the illegals

Totally agree.

My point was that there are few that are innocent when it comes to politics and money.

Well, no, probably not.

But MY point is that I don't buy the excuse that American businesses need illegals to survive. There will always be a need for low-skilled labor, true. BUT that labor should be protected and respected with living wages--for immigrants and for native-born Americans--and to hire illegals is, to me, quite simply a cop-out. As Reinhard has repeatedly pointed out, plenty of businesses--a vast majority, in fact--manage to make it with a legal workforce.

Would I support an expansion of temporary visas for low-skilled laborers? Sure. Do I want to see illegal immigrants rounded up at gunpoint and deported by the thousands? Not really. But we need to stop rewarding illegal immigrants and we start with MUCH stricter enforcement on employers. Arrest, fine, even jail them. And screw their business if they knowingly hired illegals. That would effectively force the illegal immigrants hired to return home, if the risks of hiring an illegal immigrant simply become too high, and to apply for a visa.

You know, we actually agree here. I'm not sure where the argument is coming from anymore.

I'll only add this though.......12 million illegal immigrants purchase items in the United States every day. We may even work for those companies.....companies that do not employ illegal immigrants.

This country is made up of consumers....consumers spend money, and companies make money.....companies make money and hire more workers. As a consumer nation, we need the people that are here to be here so we can sell them things.