Are we too lenient and tolerant of ILLEGAL immigrants?

[HYHYBT]

I personally find it hilarious that a country founded on illegal immigration (do you think the American Indians sent us an invitation?)...

Nope. Immigration, yes, but it couldn't, by definition, have been illegal until laws were passed against it.

[Greenday]

So that's ok then?

Pretty much.

[Wingates_Hellsing]

So that's ok then?

Yeah, that's basically how the world worked until veeeeeery recently. *shrug* 'dems da breaks.

[Nyoibo]

Just keep that in mind if it ever happens to you.

[crashhelmet]

I don't think we're too lenient or tolerant on illegal immigrants. I think we're too lenient and tolerant of that which fuels illegal immigration.

Yes, there are a lot of immigrants that come here to escape the problems of their homeland. Many come here, at least from south of our border anyway, to earn money to send back home to their families.

Current Minimum Wage in Mexico is $57.46 pesos a day. That's roughly US$4.50 a day, at current exchange rates (about 12.75 pesos to the US dollar). About 10 years ago, it was 22 pesos a day with the exchange rate fluctuating between 8-11 pesos to the US dollar. At that time, it cost me 36 pesos for a Whopper value meal in downtown Guadalajara. I haven't been there since, so I'd have to ask my family there what the current cost is.

If we start enforcing the laws more that make it illegal to employ and harbor illegal and/or undocumented workers, employers will cut back on the number that they hire.

I can't find anything substantial that shows what kind of welfare benefits illegal immigrants get aside from this document from 1997 that shows what illegal immigrants with US born children get, from the U.S. General Accounting Office.

Illegal Aliens: Extent of Welfare benefits Received on Behalf of U.S. Citizen Children

I would think that if you kill the fuel, you'll kill the fire. If they want to come here, let them come here legally. Get their documentation. Earn their citizenship, if they wish.

CH

[Wingates_Hellsing]

Just keep that in mind if it ever happens to you.

How quaint. Guess what, there's not a single country on the face of this planet that isn't playing host to a group that took over from those that came before. That ours was the last to form that way doesn't make us any more hypocritical for keeping it than anyone else. The world's changed, imperialism is no longer the status quo, doesn't mean anyone should pack up and cart off to god knows where because way back when their ancestors took this area from someone else. It's hard to see that argument as anything other than a 'sins of the father' scenario on a grand scale.

Back on topic:
I have to agree with crashhelmet, this 'problem' is caused almost exclusively by the measures taken to 'solve' it.

[Ree]

Also the last time I checked it was also not in a nation's best interest to model their immigration policy after a poem.

Ummm...perhaps the poem was modelled after the immigration policy?

[draggar]

I've noticed that most illegal immigrants can fall into two categories:

I think the majority come here to try to improve their (and their families') lives. They work out in the fields (doing jobs not many of us would do for pay far less than what we would accept). We see them working in fields, lining up at Home Depot, even starting their own businesses (sadly, usually going under someone else's lisence and insurance), etc..

But there are some who just come here and commit crime. I believe if they commit a crime (felony etc.) they should be instantly deported.

[Greenday]

But there are some who just come here and commit crime. I believe if they commit a crime (felony etc.) they should be instantly deported.

What good does that do when they just come right back across the border?

[draggar]

What good does that do when they just come right back across the border?

Do you have a better suggestion?

Lock them up so our tax dollars pay for their stay here (heck, we already do though wellfare)?

[Greenday]

Do you have a better suggestion?

Lock them up so our tax dollars pay for their stay here (heck, we already do though wellfare)?

Not let them back in?

[Greenday]

Just keep that in mind if it ever happens to you.

Ok, I will. This is just how the world works. You want something? Work for it or earn it. And if some other nation wants to attack mine to take away the area where I live, it's theirs if they can force us out.

[blas87]

I was literally in shock last week when I heard on the news that illegal immigrants had been discovered in a little town here in Wisconsin called Antigo.

I know illegal immigrants are a real problem in this country, but all the way up here?

But then it made sense. Why should they all stay in Texas or Cali when they could hide all the way up here?

[KellyHabersham]

I remember getting into a rather nasty/intense discussion via Yahoo messenger with some guy on this topic......I don't recall exactly what he'd said, only that he was in favour of immigration of all kinds, and that he basically felt people in Mexico had a "right" to come to the southwestern part of the US.

[Boozy]

If it weren't for illegal immigrants then the economy would be doing better because actual citizens would be able to get jobs and would have money to spend locally instead of sending it to their homeland.

This is a common misconception, and it drives me nuts.

Employment is not a zero sum game. Many people seem to think that there are a finite number of jobs in the US, and once they're filled, that's it.

We know that's not true. Economies expand and contract all the time. Population growth will often cause the economy to expand.

One of the biggest advantages to low-skilled immigration in a technically-advanced country like the US is that it sharply decreases food prices. The cost savings for the average American is significant, and that capital tends to get put towards education and infrastructure, which causes more economic growth.

People also seem to have a misunderstanding of remittances to immigrants's countries of origin. Much less is sent abroad than you'd think, and much of that is spent on US imports. Remittances boost trade. That's why foreign aid packages are commonly given with the caveat that they are spent on US goods.