Immigrants heading to Washington to push reforms.

[scandal 951]

This was an op-ed in today's Chicago Tribune. It made me mad when I read it so I thought I'd make the rest of you mad too.

* I don't know if this figure of 400,000 deportations under Obama is accurate, but if it is I'm shedding no tears.

* What does the phrase "non-criminal undocumented immigrants" even mean?? If you are here "undocumented", meaning you evaded US immigration law, then you have BROKEN that law meaning you are a LAWBREAKER who has committed a CRIME which is what the definition of the word CRIMINAL is. So how can you be a non-criminal? That phrase is inherently nonsensical.

I am all for immigration reform. But I'm also in favor of respect for our laws. No one is above the law. No one. Not the President, not members of Congress, and certainly not people who break immigration laws and then have a sense of entitlement and "outrage" that they are being mistreated.

Obama’s moral failure on immigration

March 18, 2010

I'm a community organizer. Last week, I did something I never thought would be possible. I met with the president of the United States in the West Wing of the White House.

President Barack Obama met for 75 minutes with 14 leaders from across the country to discuss immigration reform — and the destruction of some 1,100 immigrant families a day through deportations carried out by his administration.

The meeting was tense, blunt and passionate. And there was a racial irony to our discussion. Our labor, faith and immigrant rights leaders included seven Latinos, three Asians and four whites. We were meeting with our country's first African-American president, the son of an immigrant father. His senior advisers at the meeting included three African-Americans (one the child of immigrants), a Latina, a Chinese-American woman and a white woman.

There were years of intertwined friendships and relationships at the table, including my own with the president that began when he was a Chicago community organizer in 1986. Yet, despite all of these ties, we were there to tell him about his moral failure on immigration, and his looming political catastrophe.

Immigrant families are destroyed every day through deportations, Deepak Bhargava of the Center for Community Change, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit advocacy group, told Obama. Latinos are angry and feel betrayed that the Obama White House has increased deportations and hasn't advanced reform, which could result in a nightmare for Democrats in the fall elections.

The president was just as blunt. He said that he and 45 to 47 Democratic senators support immigration reform. The problem, he said, is the lack of Republican support. Obama said his administration is shifting the focus of deportation onto undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes. If Americans come to believe the government is serious about immigration enforcement, he said, they will support reform measures that allow undocumented immigrants to gain legal status here.

Obama's wrong. Immigration is hunting down teens, workers, mothers, not just criminals. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reports, President George W. Bush's second term began with 246,000 deportations a year. Under Obama, the number is closer to 400,000. The administration's lack of leadership on immigration reform and its increased deportations of non-criminals has created a toxic relationship with Latino immigrants.

The president agreed to call on Republican senators to join in a bipartisan push, but the administration's spin is still that Republicans will need to step up first if immigration reform is going to be passed. This sounds like blame-shifting.

The president is poisoning the well of political support he received from Latinos. And Republicans aren't lining up to stand next to him on immigration.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of marchers will be on the streets of Washington, D.C. We hope that this participatory democracy will cause Republicans and Democrats to focus on legislative solutions for immigration reform. We will continue to push Obama and other leaders such as Sen. ####### Durbin to have courage.

In the U.S., we change stupid and broken laws. That is why first lady Michelle Obama and women across the U.S. can vote. That is why President Obama and I can eat at the same lunch counters in the South.

A law that allows the destruction of 400,000 families a year is immoral. Obama needs to make an honest push for immigration reform and stop his administration's reign of terror against non-criminal undocumented immigrants.

Something is afoot in immigrant communities. In Chicago, courageous young immigrants are "coming out," publicly declaring that they are undocumented and unafraid of the consequences. If immigration legislation stalls, President Obama may provoke a new period of civil rights confrontations — aimed at him.

Joshua Hoyt is the executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I don't share your anger.

Illegal entry is not a criminal matter. It is civil.

Rudy Guiliani, back when he was still sane, made the point well.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing some form of amnesty given out to the illegal/undocumented, as long as beneficiaries of this amnesty were permanently disqualified from petitioning family members.

Yea. Let's depend on people who bucked the system to follow rules intended to keep their relatives out. Good luck with that.

Obama WANTS their family members here. He's bluntly said so much. All we need on top of all his other sh!t is our socialist government welcoming into the fold more people who don't respect our laws.

I say, when they show up in DC, nuke 'em.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Unfortunately, there is no constitutional way to round up them up in DC. Even if DC has a stop and identify law they need only give their names and address...unless the crowd gets violent....or another group gets them to act violent.....any volunteers?

Edited March 19, 2010 by Sousuke

[Pooky 3,782]

On Sunday, tens of thousands of marchers will be on the streets of Washington, D.C. We hope that this participatory democracy will cause Republicans and Democrats to focus on legislative solutions for immigration reform. We will continue to push Obama and other leaders such as Sen. ####### Durbin to have courage.

In the U.S., we change stupid and broken laws. That is why first lady Michelle Obama and women across the U.S. can vote. That is why President Obama and I can eat at the same lunch counters in the South.

A law that allows the destruction of 400,000 families a year is immoral. Obama needs to make an honest push for immigration reform and stop his administration's reign of terror against non-criminal undocumented immigrants.

What is more immoral, the "destruction of 400,000 families a year", or the wilful neglect that allowed these illegal immigrants to take root in this country in the first place?

The author makes one serious mistake. When he states that "In the U.S., we change stupid and broken laws", he fails to appreciate that it is not the law that is stupid and broken. The current laws are quite adequate, it is the enforcement that is lacking.

Tackle the employers that give these illegal immigrants employment while turning a blind eye to, or worse still giving encouragement because of, their illegal status. When caught in connection with a crime, deport an illegal immigrant. Stop turning a blind eye to the problem at hand. It's why illegal immigration is an issue in the first place.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

What is more immoral, the "destruction of 400,000 families a year", or the wilful neglect that allowed these illegal immigrants to take root in this country in the first place?

The author makes one serious mistake. When he states that "In the U.S., we change stupid and broken laws", he fails to appreciate that it is not the law that is stupid and broken. The current laws are quite adequate, it is the enforcement that is lacking.

Tackle the employers that give these illegal immigrants employment while turning a blind eye to, or worse still giving encouragement because of, their illegal status. When caught in connection with a crime, deport an illegal immigrant. Stop turning a blind eye to the problem at hand. It's why illegal immigration is an issue in the first place.

The one's destroying the families are the family heads who make the risky decision to come here in the first place. It was their choice. Likewise if they have a child or wife who is deported, they should take responsibility for their actions and leave the country to reconnect their families.

[peejay 327]

I don't share your anger.

Illegal entry is not a criminal matter. It is civil.

Rudy Guiliani, back when he was still sane, made the point well.

If it's not a crime then why are illegal aliens subject to arrest, detainment, and deportation for being illegally present? Clearly your description of a minor civil infraction does not mesh with reality.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Giving illegals amnesty is a slap in the face to everyone who has followed the proper legal process.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reports, President George W. Bush's second term began with 246,000 deportations a year. Under Obama, the number is closer to 400,000.

Bravo, Mr. President. Bravo. :applause:

[Sc0tt28 26]

If I drive without a license, am I simply an "undocumented driver"?

One of these days I'm going to try that one - get belligerent with the cop saying "I have the 'right' to drive without a license" and then when the cop throws me in jail I file for reverse discrimination. If its ok for "undocumented immigrants" then why isn't it ok for "undocumented drivers"...is it because I'm white?

I might be on to something here, this could work in many different scenarios.

--Squatters (undocumented homeowners)

--Trespassers (I'm not trespassing I'm simply exercising my 'right' to be on your property without proper documentation)

--Impersonating public official (hmm, thats a good one huh? undocumented cop)

--Any number of drug related offenses (undocumented pharmacist)

Any other ideas? I'd love to see the politicians faces if anything like this were to actually hold water and make it to the Supreme Court or something. "Uhhhhh....well, hmmmm you see what happened was..."

[Sc0tt28 26]

Don't be silly. The 'reform' being advocated here is reform that will legalize the illegal/undocumented. That kind of 'reform' does not apply to legal Hispanics. The Hispanic angle exists in this story only because Hispanics/Mexicans are such a large bloc of the illegal/undocumented.

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing some form of amnesty given out to the illegal/undocumented, as long as beneficiaries of this amnesty were permanently disqualified from petitioning family members.

Also, before doing any of that I'd much rather see 'reform' targeted at fixing the broken legal immigration system. Everyone on this site knows it's a mess.

The problem with blanket amnesty is, where does it end?

-People come here illegally

-We give them a green card

-More people come here illegally

-??

The whole argument of amnesty throws sovereignty right out the window...we simply do not have it if illegals are allowed to just come as they please. Not only with no consequence but with reward by getting for free (or cheap) what millions have waited, paid, and struggled for. Like the other poster said, it is a slap in the face to those that have come here legally. And not just a slap but a "you know what" slap followed closely by a sneer and "Ha ha, sucker!!". To give amnesty to any and all illegal immigrants would open the flood gates because the only thing keeping millions more from coming is the risk involved. If there was no more risk then EVERYONE would be at our doorstep. Where does it end?

Honestly its not the jobs that I have the biggest problem with, its the sovereignty.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Depend on them? Are you kidding me... Especially in the economy of today, Americans would gladly take those jobs that you THINK they won't do... Don't be foolish to think that Americans aren't willing to work the tough jobs.

Wrong, Dawg. So very friggin' wrong. Do you really know Americans who would work 12 hours a day in the fields and pick strawberries for $4.25 an hour (current rate here in Oxnard), of which they deduct $250 a month for a bunk bed in some run down shack which houses 8 immigrants each?

Because frankly, they shouldn't give a damn about the 'hispanic' voters and should give a damn about the country and the rule of law.

If they did, they would be voted out of office, and somebody who gives a damn about the "Hispanic" votes would replace them. Thus, the policy would not change, just the politicians. It's so easy to grasp, a caveman could do it.

Not as easy as you think. Many law enforcement officials have laws in cities/states that prohibit them from looking into someone's legality or even detaining them if known to be illegal.

Exactly, which is why I, if I were the President of the United Stats, assuming I WANTED to get rid of illegal immigration, would make it a Federal Law (by executive order, I signature required: mine!) for any peace officer of any State of the Union to check the legal presence of anybody, anytime. Any time one would want to register a car, change their address, fill out an application for gas, electricity, water, power, garbage, I would require the same. Cell phone? Yep. School registration? You bet! It's so easy, but they simply don't want it. Nobody does, really, especially not the politicians who have illegals helping in the house, and the yard, and the auto body shop, and as janitors, everywhere.

Edited March 19, 2010 by Just Bob