JeanE, Should the US maintain her sovereignty? Yes. Should we choose who gains the privilege of citizenship? Yes. If we install the world’s greatest border fence, refuse all government services to illegal aliens and deport everyone we can catch, will we still have people entering the country illegally? Yes.
Who would then be thrown out as soon as they were discovered. That is the process that must be put into place. Nothing less will do.
Why would people come here illegally in the face of all those obstacles? Because the quality of life and economic opportunity is still better on this side of the border. It like asking why rocks roll downhill- it’s because of the forces acting on them.
They come because they know that they can stay and do as they wish and we will do nothing to them, except extend citizenship to them after x number of years.
I don’t oppose “enforcing our laws”, I just don’t think that enforcing our existing laws will satisfactorily solve the problem.
Read that sentence again. You don’t know what enforcing our existing laws will do, because we we don’t enforce anything – except making sure to railroad border guards into prison, tacking on idiotic “gun” penalties to minor crimes (if that) to show what enforcement of law can look like when someone really wants to do it. What we can do, if the President chooses to enforce our law, would be quite enough. And if it isn’t, then those parts of the law need to be strengthened, not weakened.
American citizens who employ workers can and should be penalized for hiring illegal aliens, but we have to make sure that the employers can figure out who is and isn’t here legally.
And that legislation should have passed on its own years ago. It has nothing to do with enforcing the law on illegals. That section pertains to enforcement on US citizens – a different class.
That’s why tamper-proof ID and social security verification is important- employers won’t support tough programs unless they have reasonable protection from fraudulent ID’s.
It’s not up to employers.
Why will Mexico help limit illegal immigration? Follow the dollars. Remittances to Mexico are a significant portion of their economy. If the availability of those remittances is tied to legal status, they will be anxious and eager to make sure that every guest worker obtain legal status before entering the US. (the Heritage Foundation folks understand how to do this- I admit I do not know enough about the law to fully grasp this.)
That’s just preposterous. Sorry, but all of known history says something quite different. I’m all for cutting off their ability to send money. That’s fine with me, but it won’t move Mexico to be more above board. Mexico will only change they realize that we are taking this situation seriously – and amnesty says quite the opposite. Now, if we start charging Mexico for the cost of handling their illegals and the illegal traffic they support …
What do you propose doing about the illegal alien Maria who marries a US citizen Joe? Deport her? Deport him? Deny her admission to the hospital when she is having their first baby?
She’s illegal. Deport her. Period. If he wants to follow her, then fine. Nothing else to say about that.
As an illegal, she has no right to hospital services. But if you’re sying to let her in the hospital, then she has to be shipped out the day she’s released.
These are real questions here in Texas, and I promise you that you won’t get a lot of support from Joe and his family if you try to force Maria into the shadows.
He’s married to an illegal. Obviously, I’m not going to get any support from him for the rule of law.
More importantly, police know that communities that live in the shadows are much more likely to shelter criminals- the residents are afraid to call the police even when they witness crime, and when everything is a blackmarket deal, it fosters contempt for the law and separation from the larger community. In other words, it creates the kind of separatism that might lead to secession.
The faster we get them out the better. The shadows argument doesn’t work. You can use it with every criminal group to argue for amnesty.
I think your approach would exacerbate the very problems you fear. Right now the vast majority of immigrants, legal and illegal, want to integrate into American society- they want to get a job, find a home and raise a family, and they want their kids to have better opportunities than they have had, I think your approach would Balkanize communities that have successfully integrated immigrants for decades.
It is not their right. Period. I don’t care how much they want to be Americans, it is OUR choice to invite them, not their choice to force themselves on us.
I expect we will continue to disagree on the best approach to the problems of illegal immigration, but I hope I have demonstrated that McCain supporters are not simply “shrugging it off without a thought”. We have just come to different conclusions about how best to address the issue and preserve America’s security, prosperity and domestic tranquility.
I do appreciate your effort, but I just can’t accept any of your arguments. It is a nice change to hear your side’s reasoning. Thank you.
