Illegal Immigration

[damus]

YEAH! In fact, let's make the wall a mile high!!! And then we can send all the republican patriots down to guard the border for free! THis is no long-term solution.

Doesn't anybody else see this? We need to get rid of these "bandwagon" politicians.

But in response to D.P Baker... I agree that we need a better legal-immigration policy. More of a "come on in.. but be sure to register at the door before you make yourself comfortable" policy.

I agree with you in regards to "bandwagon" politicians, but be fair. It's both sides of the aisles that are populated with hacks whose opinion can be bought or influenced by what the polls are saying instead of principle. There have been only a handful of voices out in the media who have been outraged over our border up untl recently. Mostly it was the Buchanan-type protectionist conservatives. Isn't it a huge national security issue in the age of global terrorism to have such pourous borders?

I think we need to wean ourselves off dependency on these illegal workers, and eventually perhaps give the ones here now citizenship. If we are to do this, we're going to need to spend good money enforcing the law and impose big fines or jail sentences to one any person or business who hires illegals. If we were to have a policy allowing anyone to come in and be a citizen, there would be a flood of immigrants from all over the world. Controlled immigration is the sensible way to go.

[Clobber]

Also, this is a slap in the face to the ones that have waited years to become citizens legally.

Several people here have mentioned this. I certainly can't speak for all, but I've have the pleasure of working quite a few naturalized citizens. NONE of them adheres to the attitude of, "well, I had to go through to hell to get here, so everyone else should too." Quite the contrary, they believe that current immigration policies are inadaquet and that there must be a better way.

I would be one of those with first-hand knowledge of legal immigrants who don't agree with you. I wouldn't use your hyperbolic argument of "going through hell," but they played by the rules. They look at it like running laps around the track. Let's say it's a 400m run. They ran it all. They view those trying to circumvent the process as cutting across the track, and expecting for their efforts to be equally rewarded. And those who defend the fairness of rewarding cutting across the track as slapping the faces of legals. Citizenship must be earned.

You also cite the naturalized citizens' belief that current immigration policies are inadequate as supportive of illegal aliens attaining citizenship, which is a logical fallacy. Because the citizen militia also believe current immigration policies are inadequate, and you wouldn't (I hope) assert that they support the illegals' protests.

The question is what are the perceived inadequacies, and whether most legals agree with illegals as to what are the inadequacies, and what should be the solutions. I would venture that those, for the most part, are diametrically opposed. Those inadequacies start with enforcement and security (background checks and border control). They follow with admitting a broad group of aliens. The aspirants should pay at least a substantial portion of the costs of administering their applications. I do not know too much about the human rights refugee policies, so I can't speak to their effectiveness.

I do think many illegals have demonstrated a work ethic that should be rewarded. At the same time, they've demonstrated a contempt for at least one rule that should be punished. The proposition that they are absolute law-abiding citizens is absurd. There are many (not all) who are law abiding citizens apart from the fact that they violated immigration laws. The balance of the reward and punishment is going to be controversial, but those who seek to circumvent the very rules they seek protection under should not get a reward for them above those who honor the same rules.

I think everyone can agree that there shouldn't be an open door policy. I would hope that politics (such as the rumored involvement of ANSWER) will not distract from what should be the ultimate goal: a secure, enforced policy that is fair to foreigners seeking citizenship and those who already have it. Those who are here must submit to the enforcement of the very laws they seek protection under. If you break a law, then you might not receive every protection everyone else does. American citizens must succumb to this. Everyone who seeks to become a citizen must as well.

[urbanguy]

Check this out...

Illegal Immigrant Estimates by States & DC

Source: Associated Press and Pew Hispanic Center

Click here for interactive map: MAP

Note: Research by the nonprofit Pew Hispanic Center shows that the number of illegal immigrants inside the United States has exploded from some 3.5 million in 1990 to more than 10 million today. Estimates are from 1990 and 2004, the latest year for which estimates are available.

States & DC: 2004- [1990]

1 Alabama: 40,000 [5,000] 700% increase

2 Alaska: *under 10,000

3 Arizona: 450,000 [90,000] 400% increase

4 Arkansas: 40,000 [5,000] 700% increase

5 California: 2,450,000 [1,480,000] 66% increase

6 Colorado: 230,000 [30,000] 667% increase

7 Connecticut: 80,000 [20,000] 300% increase

8 Delaware: 15,000 [5,000] 200% increase

9 District of Columbia: 20,000 [15,000] 66% increase

10 Florida: 885,000 [240,000] 269% increase

11 Georgia: 350,000 [35,000] 900% increase

12 Hawaii: 30,000 [5,000] 500% increase

13 Idaho: 40,000 [10,000] 300% increase

14 Illinois: 405,000 [195,000] 108% increase

15 Indiana: 65,000 [10,000] 550% increase

16 Iowa: 65,000 [5,000] 1,200% increase

17 Kansas: 50,000 [15,000] 233% increase

18 Kentucky: 35,000 [5,000] 600% increase

19 Louisiana: 25,000 [15,000] 67% increase

20 Maine: *under 10,000

21 Maryland: 245,000 [35,000] 600% increase

22 Massachusetts: 200,000 [55,000] 264% increase

23 Michigan: 105,000 [25,000] 320% increase

24 Minnesota: 85,000 [15,000] 467% increase

25 Mississippi: 25,000 [5,000] 400% increase

26 Missouri: 45,000 [10,000] 350% increase

27 Montana: *under 10,000

28 Nebraska: 40,000 [5,000] 700% increase

29 Nevada: 170,000 [25,000] 580% increase

30 New Hampshire: *under 10,000

31 New Jersey: 355,000 [95,000] 274% increase

32 New Mexico: 50,000 [20,000] 150% increase

33 New York: 635,000 [360,000] 76% increase

34 North Carolina: 395,000 [25,000] 1,480% increase

35 North Dakota: *under 10,000

36 Ohio: 110,000 [10,000] 1,000% increase

37 Oklahoma: 60,000 [15,000] 300% increase

38 Oregon: 175,000 [25,000] 600% increase

39 Pennsylvania: 125,000 [25,000] 400% increase

40 Rhode Island: 35,000 [10,000] 250% increase

41 South Carolina: 55,000 [5,000] 1,000% increase

42 South Dakota: *under 10,000

43 Tennessee: 95,000 [10,000] 850% increase

44 Texas: 1,380,000 [440,000] 215% increase

45 Utah: 90,000 [15,000] 500% increase

46 Vermont: *under 10,000

47 Virginia: 235,000 [50,000] 370% increase

48 Washington: 210,000 [40,000] 425% increase

49 West Virginia: *under 10,000

50 Wisconsin: 85,000 10,000 750% increase

51 Wyoming: *under 10,000

[Dan]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/05/16/imm...tion/index.html