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Originally Posted by atari 2600
I'm not against immigration. Only a fool would be. I acknowledge & fervently & firmly believe that immigration, i.e. the melting pot, is what helped make this country great. But, like the Sheriff alluded, it should be done legally. The bureaucracy for gaining legal citizenship should be streamlined & made altogether more accessible for those that would like to call America home, but in this post 9/11 day & age that's gonna be a tough nut to crack.
If a group of wanted criminals decide to form a union & protest what would they expect to happen to them? I know it's a sort of unfair comparison, but illegal immigrants really shouldn't expect anything more than basic human rights. They are not citizens. If the corporate pigs were not benefiting from illegal mexican workers being here in America then you better believe that the National Guard would be called out & the protesters would be forced by tank escort to march right back to Mexico. So are illegal immigrants hurting America? Yes, in these exponentiating numbers, yes they are; that shouldn't be too tough to figure out. There's many a rural town where the plant or whatever hires only illegal immigrants now & this is one reason why Bush has had negative job growth. Then again, it's also ultimately the responsibility of Bush as the head of the executive branch of government & his appointed Attorney General to enforce the RICO law. Gaining national attention lately was a woman in Dalton (the carpet capital of the world as it's called in Georgia) that could not get a job without being able to speak fluent spanish. That's why the regulations on immigration are there in the first place. It seems all of you that jumped on Rhys are wearing some nice rose-colored glasses about the whole issue. Turning our heads the other way at illegal immigration at these levels only increases societal problems. The easiest to discuss is the cut & dried case of labor & employment issues. Illegal immigrants contribute to a culture of indentured servitude & do a disservice to themselves & their own potential by not becoming legal American citizens first. By being illegal aliens, they minimize their abilty to achieve prosperity by lawful means & they subjugate themselves to any number of employer labor abuses. The most obvious of which is that cannot expect to be guarranteed regular hours, overtime pay & a minimum wage.
It is the promise of free & easy widespread employment (even without citizenship) that has lured immigrants to come to America to seek prosperity. This post will not win me a lot of support, because the truth rarely does. In the post, I am only addressing what can be done for the illegal immigrants that work jobs for which they should be required to have actual documentation instead of the fake documentation that they provide; there are always gonna be illegal immigrants in this country that work either fringe, odd or private jobs that do not require them to have documentation. That's just the way it is & the way it will always be & that's fine by me because it isn't like there is an abundance of these types of jobs. What I aim to express concerns jobs with major companies that have over 25 employees. In 1996, the RICO racketeering act was updated to include employers that hire illegal immigrants. It is their duty by law to adhere to this very serious federal mandate. It is the executive branch of the government with the President of the United States at its head that is responsible for enforcing the laws in this country. You do the math. It is the responsibility of the companies that are illegally hiring the illegal immigrants to cease & desist & it is also the responsibility of the U.S. Government to enforce the law of the United States. The companies make a candyass bullshit complaint that they are given faulty information & that the federal government should provide for the employment verification process to assure the employer that the applicant's information is legitimate.
But what actually will become of this whole blown-up issue? Absolutely nothing. What really will become a large problem sometime in the near future will get swept under the rug. The immigrants that have been here illegally for a certain amount of time will be allowed to become naturalized. The length of time for naturalization will be shortened probably (only increasing the same problem) & there will be a lot of political hot air puffed about concerning "getting tougher" on immigration law, but things will more or less stay the same & the illegal immigrant & mexican population of the United States will continue to balloon until the problems increase & reach yet another critical level.
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First, this should not be an economical issue, it should not be a naturalization issue...it should be a HUMAN RIGHTS issue. People come here for a better life for their families and themselves. It's easy to point fingers and put down the idea of coming to the country illegally while sitting at a posh computer with an upbringing much better off than majority(if not all) illegal immigrants who came into this country. It's alot different when you are the one trying to survive.
Second, comparing illegal immigrants to "criminals" because they broke the law kinda worries me about you. It tells me that you really don't know as much about other cultures as you think you may know, and that you really lack compassion and sympathy. But, it doesn't surprise me. Alot of SY fans are the same way.
Saying illegal immigrants don't deserve anything more than "basic human rights" is pretty unreasonable even though they do pay taxes(yes, I know it doesn't compare to the federal taxes, so no need to even jump here).
Reading your statement really gives the impression that you have not even considered trying to understand what it is to be an illegal immigrant. People don't come here illegally unless it's for a very good reason, like surviving. Most come here for the social services & benefits(healthcare & clinics) that are not available in their homeland or that their previous homelands didn't provide adequate social services(healthcare, clinics, etc.). So far, what I've gathered from your statement was that illegal immigrants come here for hopes of "better job opportunity to make more money". Not once did you mention healthcare, education, and social services.
Do you think it's "easy" living as an illegal immigrant? How many times have you had to supply a SS#, proof of residency when you've needed something??? Until you know an illegal immigrant and how they live, maybe you should stop with the assumption that living here illegally is "fine and dandy". They probably live with the fear of being deported, caught on a daily basis. I hate to use this comparison, but have you ever lied and felt guilty or did something wrong that you knew you could get in trouble for? Well they live with that feeling every day.
While it is the Gov'ts responsibility to uphold the law, it is what it is. It's not like "nobody's doing illegal drugs" in this country. Is illegal immigration a problem to America? I think it's a problem America is well-equipt to deal with. Besides, spending the money rounding up illegal families and deporting them would cost way too much money, especially if it's that easy to just break back into the country.
It is what it is. I do think it sets a precidence with "following the law", but then again, isn't the Constitution a bit "outdated" as well? I don't think it's going to discourage many people from becoming a citizen the "legal" way because of the fact that those who become American Citizens are already much better off than those who come into the US illegally, so they can afford the "4 year plan". Most illegal immigrants can't afford to wait that long because they just don't have the money. Remember: you have to live here for 4 years and have some kind of steady employment or education. That costs money...money most illegal immigrants do not have before entering this country illegally.