A family's painful split decision

[Fandango 1,439]

I'd like to respond to the 'cookie' post! Warning...it's LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG!

Speaking for myself only, and one who is wildly angry at the illegal immigration situation....I have to say that I'm not angered because I want t a cookie...I'm angry because it's spectacularly bullsh!ttastical. I speak from a place of frustration and because I feel there's a huge injustice going on...and the illegal immigration problem spits in the face of respect, lawfulness, justice.

There are hard done people all over the world...we cannot accomodate everyone. And everyone has a heart wrenching story as to how they got where they are, but that really doesn't change anything. Our hearts can bleed til the cows come home...but why is the plight of illegals somehow more important than the plight of an impoverished person who DIDN'T illegally immigrate? I don't want to make this a nationality issue...because of course there are illegals from all over the world here...but obviously the % is higher for those who either have the resources and ability to get a flight here, or those who are in close proximity. So why is this Mexican family's plight any more important or more severe than say...oh someone in Calcutta? We are forced to deal with the illegals that are here and their situations, but there are those all over the world who have it much worse. So if this is a humanitarian issue, we need to focus on changing things for the ones who are in the worst of the dire situations.

I feel a great sense of injustice due to the fact that they're basically thumbing their nose at the system which affords them this better life. Hey, we all want a better life, no? Does that mean I should just go out and take it, regardless of legality? Can we really afford to sit back and excuse each situation on a case-by-case basis? Where is the line drawn? Illegal immigrants are a financial drain on this country. That is not up for debate. They are essentially stealing what doesn't belong to them. How many get treated at hospitals with our tax dollars? I as a citizen of this country do not get that. When I was down on my luck and uninsured, I got no assistance. Yet we give it to those who are not entitled. This is only once example, of which I could rattle off countless more.

And the whole 'they do the jobs that Americans don't' doesn't hold water for me. At the end of the day, if employers only had legal workers to pick from, they'd have to pay more. But illegals are like scabs to the union that is the American workforce. This is a free market and if there were those who weren't so willing to take up sh!t pay because they're 'undocumented'...well that job would need filling. So it should be at a fair price. Believe me, I'm not holding the employers blameless, because I personally feel that the book should be thrown at these people too. But illegals are not supplementing the workforce, they're killing it by resetting the market price for the jobs that they do because they are breaking the law.

We can speculate all we want about how most have fake ids and pay taxes that they never get back, but with being able to withhold at a greater rate, that kinda kills the argument anyways. And we can also recognize that chances are high that there are those even without ids to begin with. So not only do they get a break on taxes, but the employer does as well...and that just adds a bigger burden onto the rest of us.

I respect this country. I am thankful to be an American *cue music*....yes, the whole lottery of birthplace is something that none of us have any control over. I could have very easily been born elsewhere....but I wasn't. Does that make me better than anyone else? No, but that does give me the rights of an American citizen. I can't go to XYZ country and claim the rights of its citizens. Nor should illegals think they are somehow entitled to mine. They are not.

And the absolute unmitigated gall to actually feel the need to protest! You are in this country illegally, steal jobs which don't belong to you, then want to protest about how you have a right to be here despite the fact that you really don't have a leg to stand on....and the gov't just cowtows to these people and it makes me sick. It makes me sick that they somehow get rights that no American or LPR gets....you try to not pay your taxes and then go on a march and see what happens. Or posters on this site who are dealing with VAWA and people like Girona's son. Who's giving a sh!t about them? They do things the right way and find themselves in a bucket of sh!t, all the while these people stick their middle fingers up and say 'fock you America, I'll do what I want and you'll focking take it'...cos God forbid someone stand up and be labeled a racist or xenophobe.

Simple mathematics...resources only go so far. Who's worrying about America's poor? Who's helping them? Who's taking care of our disabled veterans? Cos trust me, I've seen veterans have to fight for medical care...or money to maintain them cos they're too focked up from the war. Who's worrying about them?

I can sympathize all day long with each individual sob story, but in all acutality...they shouldn't be allowed to take what is not theirs. I feel they are raping our country...someone has broken into my home and is eating my food and bitching about the taste at the same time...and that goes well beyond the feeling of 'poor me I didn't get a cookie'

Edited April 30, 2007 by LisaD

[rebeccajo 14]

..... Can we really afford to sit back and excuse each situation on a case-by-case basis?

Each case will be processed separately.

[homesick_american 1]

Maybe it is easier to have such a strong opinion on the issue when you don't live in the US. I think over the past 10 years most of us have gotten to know (of) at least one illegal immigrant, at least in the workplace or at a restaurant you frequent.

Uh...I knew illegals in Texas. I've known one or two over here. Your point being?

I'd like to respond to the 'cookie' post! Warning...it's LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG!

Speaking for myself only, and one who is wildly angry at the illegal immigration situation....I have to say that I'm not angered because I want t a cookie...I'm angry because it's spectacularly bullsh!ttastical. I speak from a place of frustration and because I feel there's a huge injustice going on...and the illegal immigration problem spits in the face of respect, lawfulness, justice.

There are hard done people all over the world...we cannot accomodate everyone. And everyone has a heart wrenching story as to how they got where they are, but that really doesn't change anything. Our hearts can bleed til the cows come home...but why is the plight of illegals somehow more important than the plight of an impoverished person who DIDN'T illegally immigrate? I don't want to make this a nationality issue...because of course there are illegals from all over the world here...but obviously the % is higher for those who either have the resources and ability to get a flight here, or those who are in close proximity. So why is this Mexican family's plight any more important or more severe than say...oh someone in Calcutta? We are forced to deal with the illegals that are here and their situations, but there are those all over the world who have it much worse. So if this is a humanitarian issue, we need to focus on changing things for the ones who are in the worst of the dire situations.

I feel a great sense of injustice due to the fact that they're basically thumbing their nose at the system which affords them this better life. Hey, we all want a better life, no? Does that mean I should just go out and take it, regardless of legality? Can we really afford to sit back and excuse each situation on a case-by-case basis? Where is the line drawn? Illegal immigrants are a financial drain on this country. That is not up for debate. They are essentially stealing what doesn't belong to them. How many get treated at hospitals with our tax dollars? I as a citizen of this country do not get that. When I was down on my luck and uninsured, I got no assistance. Yet we give it to those who are not entitled. This is only once example, of which I could rattle off countless more.

And the whole 'they do the jobs that Americans don't' doesn't hold water for me. At the end of the day, if employers only had legal workers to pick from, they'd have to pay more. But illegals are like scabs to the union that is the American workforce. This is a free market and if there were those who weren't so willing to take up sh!t pay because they're 'undocumented'...well that job would need filling. So it should be at a fair price. Believe me, I'm not holding the employers blameless, because I personally feel that the book should be thrown at these people too. But illegals are not supplementing the workforce, they're killing it by resetting the market price for the jobs that they do because they are breaking the law.

We can speculate all we want about how most have fake ids and pay taxes that they never get back, but with being able to withhold at a greater rate, that kinda kills the argument anyways. And we can also recognize that chances are high that there are those even without ids to begin with. So not only do they get a break on taxes, but the employer does as well...and that just adds a bigger burden onto the rest of us.

I respect this country. I am thankful to be an American *cue music*....yes, the whole lottery of birthplace is something that none of us have any control over. I could have very easily been born elsewhere....but I wasn't. Does that make me better than anyone else? No, but that does give me the rights of an American citizen. I can't go to XYZ country and claim the rights of its citizens. Nor should illegals think they are somehow entitled to mine. They are not.

And the absolute unmitigated gall to actually feel the need to protest! You are in this country illegally, steal jobs which don't belong to you, then want to protest about how you have a right to be here despite the fact that you really don't have a leg to stand on....and the gov't just cowtows to these people and it makes me sick. It makes me sick that they somehow get rights that no American or LPR gets....you try to not pay your taxes and then go on a march and see what happens. Or posters on this site who are dealing with VAWA and people like Girona's son. Who's giving a sh!t about them? They do things the right way and find themselves in a bucket of sh!t, all the while these people stick their middle fingers up and say 'fock you America, I'll do what I want and you'll focking take it'...cos God forbid someone stand up and be labeled a racist or xenophobe.

Simple mathematics...resources only go so far. Who's worrying about America's poor? Who's helping them? Who's taking care of our disabled veterans? Cos trust me, I've seen veterans have to fight for medical care...or money to maintain them cos they're too focked up from the war. Who's worrying about them?

I can sympathize all day long with each individual sob story, but in all acutality...they shouldn't be allowed to take what is not theirs. I feel they are raping our country...someone has broken into my home and is eating my food and bitching about the taste at the same time...and that goes well beyond the feeling of 'poor me I didn't get a cookie'

*wild applause*

:thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs:

[WifeOHunkyJohn 2]

To LisaD I concur with Homesick American:

*wild applause* :thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs:

Here's an article I stumbled upon the other day, but failed to get it posted on the Immigration news forum - probably because it is an opinion piece. I cheered and muttered and agreed and felt the rage of injustice myself when I read it, because I believe the opinion speaks into the truth of what is going on in the news.

Source

Dobbs: Big media hide truth about immigration

POSTED: 1:39 p.m. EDT, April 25, 2007

By Lou Dobbs

CNN

Editor's note: Lou Dobbs' commentary appears weekly on CNN.com.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Bush administration and the leadership of the Democratic Party are preparing to take another legislative leap at imposing a massive illegal alien amnesty on American citizens.

And the mainstream media are complicit in advancing this thinly veiled blanket amnesty. Instead of asking and answering important questions about why our immigration laws aren't being enforced and why we're permitting pervasive document fraud, the national media seem hell-bent on trying to obfuscate the issue, shamelessly playing with language, equating legal immigration with illegal immigration while obviously trying to preserve the illusion of objectivity.

Too often, the language of the national media describes illegal immigration as "migration" and illegal aliens as "undocumented immigrants," even though many of them have lots of documents, most of which are fraudulent or stolen. Some media outlets have taken to calling illegal aliens "entrants." Whether such language is meant to engender sympathy or to intentionally blur the distinction between legal and illegal, the mainstream media are taking sides in this debate.

The Arizona Republic, for example, used "undocumented immigrant" more than 80 times in 36 separate stories in the past month alone; the term appeared as many as 12 times in one article on "migration," according to our Lexis-Nexis search. At the same time, "illegal alien" appeared a total of only nine times during that span, with seven of the references coming from readers' opinions, one from a quotation and one from an editorial.

The mainstream media report as if America would no longer be a welcoming nation if we stopped illegal immigration. Nothing could be further from the truth. Why do the national media conveniently and routinely neglect to report that the United States brings in more lawful immigrants than the countries of the rest of the world combined? Each year, we accept 2 million immigrants legally. We give a million legal immigrants permanent residency every year. We bestow citizenship on 700,000 people a year and provide almost half a million work-related visas a year.

Illegal immigration, in fact, has the potential to change the course of American history: Demographers at the Brookings Institution and the Population Reference Bureau paint a troubling picture of the future of our democracy. As more illegal aliens cross our borders and settle in large states like California, Texas and Florida, congressional seats will be redistributed to these bigger states following each decennial Census. States with low levels of immigration will ultimately lose seats as a result. Unfortunately for American citizens, this seismic shift in political representation will be decided by noncitizens that cannot vote.

Congress will soon take up so-called comprehensive immigration reform, and a bipartisan House bill would probably admit 400,000 guest workers a year. And since any plan calling for eventual legalization would include family members who live outside the United States, the legislation would open our borders to tens of millions of people. The Heritage Foundation's Robert Rector estimated that the 2006 version of the McCain-Kennedy bill would have added an additional 66 million immigrants over the next 20 years. The bill may change, but that estimate has yet to be refuted.

There's no question this type of mass immigration would have a calamitous effect on working citizens and their families. Professor Carol Swain, professor of law and political science at Vanderbilt University and author of "Debating Immigration," would like to see more people speak up for the sectors of society most affected by illegal immigration.

"How many African-American leaders have you seen come out and address the impact that high levels of illegal immigration [are] having in the communities when it comes to jobs, when it comes to education, when it comes to health care?" she asked. "And often, these low-skilled, low-wage workers compete in the same sectors for jobs."

Let's have a vigorous open debate on illegal immigration in this country, and let's begin with the facts. Estimates of illegal aliens in this country range from 12 million to 20 million people. Why doesn't our government know how many there are?

Shouldn't this Congress and this president at least recognize that the industries in which illegal aliens are employed in the greatest percentages also are suffering the largest wage declines? And shouldn't there be an economic impact statement researched and delivered to this Congress, this president and the rest of us before any legislation granting amnesty is even considered?

Shouldn't we first bring the facts of illegal immigration out of the shadows?

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer.

[Fandango 1,439]

Aww ty guys.

I just hate when ppl boil it down to 'you have no compassion' type arguments.

[rebeccajo 14]

I don't think you will find anyone in this community who 'favor' immigration by means other than legal channels.

What I do think you will find are individuals who recognize that our overburdened, expensive, and tedious immigration system only lends itself to desperate means of desperate individuals. It causes confusion amongst those who are less literate. It causes people who have trod what they thought was a legal path to sometimes 'fall through cracks' without knowing it. I really cannot fathom how anyone who has spent any length of time reading about immigration can conclude anything other than the process is frequently overwhelming, technologically archaic, and mind-numbingly slow. In short, the system isn't user-friendly.

The issue, in my opinion, cannot be summed up with a case of patriot breast-beating about how our country is being taken advantage of. As with many issues, there are more layers than meet the eye.

[Fandango 1,439]

I don't think you will find anyone in this community who 'favor' immigration by means other than legal channels.

What I do think you will find are individuals who recognize that our overburdened, expensive, and tedious immigration system only lends itself to desperate means of desperate individuals. It causes confusion amongst those who are less literate. It causes people who have trod what they thought was a legal path to sometimes 'fall through cracks' without knowing it. I really cannot fathom how anyone who has spent any length of time reading about immigration can conclude anything other than the process is frequently overwhelming, technologically archaic, and mind-numbingly slow. In short, the system isn't user-friendly.

The issue, in my opinion, cannot be summed up with a case of patriot breast-beating about how our country is being taken advantage of. As with many issues, there are more layers than meet the eye.

Well hell, if that's the case, what about all those underpriviledged people who are neither close in proximity or have the cash or means to get here? What about them? Don't you care how desperate they are Becs?

Edited April 30, 2007 by LisaD

[rebeccajo 14]

I don't think you will find anyone in this community who 'favor' immigration by means other than legal channels.

What I do think you will find are individuals who recognize that our overburdened, expensive, and tedious immigration system only lends itself to desperate means of desperate individuals. It causes confusion amongst those who are less literate. It causes people who have trod what they thought was a legal path to sometimes 'fall through cracks' without knowing it. I really cannot fathom how anyone who has spent any length of time reading about immigration can conclude anything other than the process is frequently overwhelming, technologically archaic, and mind-numbingly slow. In short, the system isn't user-friendly.

The issue, in my opinion, cannot be summed up with a case of patriot breast-beating about how our country is being taken advantage of. As with many issues, there are more layers than meet the eye.

Well hell, if that's the case, what about all those underpriviledged people who are neither close in proximity or have the cash or means to get here? What about them? Don't you care how desperate they are Becs?

I don't believe I said a thing about 'caring' for one group of individuals over another. I said the system is unfriendly and difficult to traverse to anyone who desires to come here.

What I would like to see happen with immigration will never come to pass. I would love to see the laws rewritten so that if you want to come to America, you can come. Period. That you wouldn't need one of the myriad of categories of visas. You wouldn't need a sponsor. You would simply fill out the paperwork, subject yourself to a background check, pay a modest fee, and enter the country. You'd go file for a Social Security number, pay your taxes, and register for the draft (if that applied to you). If you could get the states to co-operate (and it takes their cooperation), immigrants wouldn't be able to draw welfare or food stamps for a few years.

The laws of economics would have the same effect on those immigrants as it does for any American citizen - in other words, sink or swim. Those immigrants would be 'equal' in the workplace to their American peers. Predatory wages and abuse of migrant workers would cease. We would see the truth then - if there are really no Americans who would do 'those jobs'. Over the course of time, some immigrants would stay and prosper. Some would go home.

If you do a bit of historical research, you'll find newspaper and political writings during other periods of heavy immigrant influx with many of the same dire predictions we read today. The rhetoric is old and (as history tends to repeat itself) it also appears to be unfounded.

I say let them come. The tired, the poor, the hungry. Let them come.

[Marilyn. 340]

I don't think you will find anyone in this community who 'favor' immigration by means other than legal channels.

What I do think you will find are individuals who recognize that our overburdened, expensive, and tedious immigration system only lends itself to desperate means of desperate individuals. It causes confusion amongst those who are less literate. It causes people who have trod what they thought was a legal path to sometimes 'fall through cracks' without knowing it. I really cannot fathom how anyone who has spent any length of time reading about immigration can conclude anything other than the process is frequently overwhelming, technologically archaic, and mind-numbingly slow. In short, the system isn't user-friendly.

The issue, in my opinion, cannot be summed up with a case of patriot breast-beating about how our country is being taken advantage of. As with many issues, there are more layers than meet the eye.

Well hell, if that's the case, what about all those underpriviledged people who are neither close in proximity or have the cash or means to get here? What about them? Don't you care how desperate they are Becs?

I don't believe I said a thing about 'caring' for one group of individuals over another. I said the system is unfriendly and difficult to traverse to anyone who desires to come here.

What I would like to see happen with immigration will never come to pass. I would love to see the laws rewritten so that if you want to come to America, you can come. Period. That you wouldn't need one of the myriad of categories of visas. You wouldn't need a sponsor. You would simply fill out the paperwork, subject yourself to a background check, pay a modest fee, and enter the country. You'd go file for a Social Security number, pay your taxes, and register for the draft (if that applied to you). If you could get the states to co-operate (and it takes their cooperation), immigrants wouldn't be able to draw welfare or food stamps for a few years.

The laws of economics would have the same effect on those immigrants as it does for any American citizen - in other words, sink or swim. Those immigrants would be 'equal' in the workplace to their American peers. Predatory wages and abuse of migrant workers would cease. We would see the truth then - if there are really no Americans who would do 'those jobs'. Over the course of time, some immigrants would stay and prosper. Some would go home.

If you do a bit of historical research, you'll find newspaper and political writings during other periods of heavy immigrant influx with many of the same dire predictions we read today. The rhetoric is old and (as history tends to repeat itself) it also appears to be unfounded.

I say let them come. The tired, the poor, the hungry. Let them come.

sounds good....

[Fandango 1,439]

I don't think you will find anyone in this community who 'favor' immigration by means other than legal channels.

What I do think you will find are individuals who recognize that our overburdened, expensive, and tedious immigration system only lends itself to desperate means of desperate individuals. It causes confusion amongst those who are less literate. It causes people who have trod what they thought was a legal path to sometimes 'fall through cracks' without knowing it. I really cannot fathom how anyone who has spent any length of time reading about immigration can conclude anything other than the process is frequently overwhelming, technologically archaic, and mind-numbingly slow. In short, the system isn't user-friendly.

The issue, in my opinion, cannot be summed up with a case of patriot breast-beating about how our country is being taken advantage of. As with many issues, there are more layers than meet the eye.

Well hell, if that's the case, what about all those underpriviledged people who are neither close in proximity or have the cash or means to get here? What about them? Don't you care how desperate they are Becs?

I don't believe I said a thing about 'caring' for one group of individuals over another. I said the system is unfriendly and difficult to traverse to anyone who desires to come here.

What I would like to see happen with immigration will never come to pass. I would love to see the laws rewritten so that if you want to come to America, you can come. Period. That you wouldn't need one of the myriad of categories of visas. You wouldn't need a sponsor. You would simply fill out the paperwork, subject yourself to a background check, pay a modest fee, and enter the country. You'd go file for a Social Security number, pay your taxes, and register for the draft (if that applied to you). If you could get the states to co-operate (and it takes their cooperation), immigrants wouldn't be able to draw welfare or food stamps for a few years.

The laws of economics would have the same effect on those immigrants as it does for any American citizen - in other words, sink or swim. Those immigrants would be 'equal' in the workplace to their American peers. Predatory wages and abuse of migrant workers would cease. We would see the truth then - if there are really no Americans who would do 'those jobs'. Over the course of time, some immigrants would stay and prosper. Some would go home.

If you do a bit of historical research, you'll find newspaper and political writings during other periods of heavy immigrant influx with many of the same dire predictions we read today. The rhetoric is old and (as history tends to repeat itself) it also appears to be unfounded.

I say let them come. The tired, the poor, the hungry. Let them come.

My response was to the bit in red...if we're going to sit here and make excuses cos the 'process is hard'...well that to me sounds like a justification. If we can 'understand' the lawbreaking to the point of justification...where's our sympathy for those who are not even fortunate enough to be able to make the journey?

As far as your ideal situation as you've explained above, you're right...that will never come to pass. Forgive me for saying so...but the plan is rooted in nowt but feel-good idealism & has no chance of even remotely working. Sure...this country was founded on immigrants. That was how long ago? Now we have some 300million people here...so how do you expect us to be able to accomodate everyone? that's like saying you'll catch niagra falls with a dixie cup.

The catastrophic consequences of you plan would actually effect every part of this country. From the roads we drive on, the schools our kids go to, the healthcare system, our police force, housing systems, our jail system, firefighters, etc....let alone what it would do to the unemployment rate & the value of the dollar (which is bad enough as it is)...omG the effects would actually have the ability to turn America into a third world country. Let alone the amount of depressed and underprivelged areas already in existence in this country.

I know you weren't seriously putting that forth, and as you said, that would never come to pass...but I had to comment because you brought it up. No one here revels in other people's misery...but the facts are facts...we cannot save the world. Now it's a great ideal and I'm singing 'I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony' right now...but simple logic mandates that we can't buy the world a Coke.

[Niels Bohr 72]

There is going to be another immigration march on May 1st. However, this time it's against the influx of high deportation rates.

[Alex+R 0]

People need to remember that most of the evidence published by unbiased groups points to illegal immigrants overall being boosters to the US economy, although statistics and figures from all camps are everywhere. There is no way to say for sure that illegal immigrants are a drain on our system, and I think people need to stop taking it for granted that immigrants are "costing" us. Mawilson just posted today some figures about the revenue illegal immigrants are generating for social security, for example, despite the fact that they will never benefit from it unless they somehow become citizens.

Edited May 1, 2007 by Alex+R

[Fandango 1,439]

People need to remember that most of the evidence published by unbiased groups points to illegal immigrants overall being boosters to the US economy, although statistics and figures from all camps are everywhere. There is no way to say for sure that illegal immigrants are a drain on our system, and I think people need to stop taking it for granted that immigrants are "costing" us. Mawilson just posted today some figures about the revenue illegal immigrants are generating for social security, for example, despite the fact that they will never benefit from it unless they somehow become citizens.

Oh really? So their kids don't go to school that we pay for? You think they're paying for their emergency room care? How about how many require the assistance of the police/fire/paramedic? And even if ONE illegal is in our jail right now, they're causing a drain on our system. Jeez, Alex....'stop taking it for granted that immigrants are costing us'? 'no way to say for sure that illegals are a drain on our system? How about the unemployment for the American worker who didn't get a job as a direct result of an illegal being hired?

But since you don't mind...howout you offset the costs and pay for more than you already do?

I've already addressed the 'revenue that illegals are generating for ss'...you think they're claiming 0 witholdings? Is that what you'd do if you were an illegal? Come on now, Alex, you're not a naive woman. Compassion is one thing, but logic is another.

[Alex+R 0]

People need to remember that most of the evidence published by unbiased groups points to illegal immigrants overall being boosters to the US economy, although statistics and figures from all camps are everywhere. There is no way to say for sure that illegal immigrants are a drain on our system, and I think people need to stop taking it for granted that immigrants are "costing" us. Mawilson just posted today some figures about the revenue illegal immigrants are generating for social security, for example, despite the fact that they will never benefit from it unless they somehow become citizens.

Oh really? So their kids don't go to school that we pay for? You think they're paying for their emergency room care? How about how many require the assistance of the police/fire/paramedic? And even if ONE illegal is in our jail right now, they're causing a drain on our system. Jeez, Alex....'stop taking it for granted that immigrants are costing us'? 'no way to say for sure that illegals are a drain on our system? How about the unemployment for the American worker who didn't get a job as a direct result of an illegal being hired?

But since you don't mind...howout you offset the costs and pay for more than you already do?

I've already addressed the 'revenue that illegals are generating for ss'...you think they're claiming 0 witholdings? Is that what you'd do if you were an illegal? Come on now, Alex, you're not a naive woman. Compassion is one thing, but logic is another.

I think the problems we are having with illegal immigrant children crowding schools and unpaid medical bills at the hospital is what comes from a population explosion of poor people and has happened during every immigration burst in US history. (The claim that American workers are losing jobs to illegal immigrants is not 100% untrue in all cases, but rarely so) Is it an ideal situation? Noooo. I think you had a lot of valid points in your previous post, but I don't think I was talking out of a place of compassion. I was talking pragmatically. Some economists really do say illegal immigrants help us quite a bit, especially since so many (a majority) pay taxes with ITINs.

I don't think sending them all home is a very good idea. I think making a program for them to be here legally and creating proper channels for, say, punishing them for crimes, employing them (but never over American workers) and taxing them, is the way to go. Amnesty is a silly idea. I think the part in bold comes from the idea that all illegal immigrants are bad people. Most want to contribute to the country giving them this opportunity. At their protest this time last year, there were so many signs proclaiming love of America. I don't think about this in terms of sympathy or compassion for people who put themselves in this situation, but rather from the perspective of what I personally think is best for America. Promise ya.

[Fandango 1,439]

I think the problems we are having with illegal immigrant children crowding schools and unpaid medical bills at the hospital is what comes from a population explosion of poor people and has happened during every immigration burst in US history. (The claim that American workers are losing jobs to illegal immigrants is not 100% untrue in all cases, but rarely so) Is it an ideal situation? Noooo. I think you had a lot of valid points in your previous post, but I don't think I was talking out of a place of compassion. I was talking pragmatically. Some economists really do say illegal immigrants help us quite a bit, especially since so many (a majority) pay taxes with ITINs.

I don't think sending them all home is a very good idea. I think making a program for them to be here legally and creating proper channels for, say, punishing them for crimes, employing them (but never over American workers) and taxing them, is the way to go. Amnesty is a silly idea. I think the part in bold comes from the idea that all illegal immigrants are bad people. Most want to contribute to the country giving them this opportunity. At their protest this time last year, there were so many signs proclaiming love of America. I don't think about this in terms of sympathy or compassion for people who put themselves in this situation, but rather from the perspective of what I personally think is best for America. Promise ya.

Hey you're entitled to your opinion, and I have no problem with that. But to say that illegals aren't a drain on our system is something that I will never agree with