What are your views on illegal immigration?
128111
I think all illegal immigrants should be deported, they simply cannot just cut in front of the millions of people trying to get to this country legally! I can't understand why there is opposition to this theory. I understand that Mexico is much poorer than the U.S. and it is good to help those in need, but they need to come here legally. Without secured borders we are vulnerable to terrorism: in the sense that any and all walks of life can penetrate our borders. I am fine with people coming here legally, so please secure our open borders.
309049
Honestly when it comes to this whole debate about immigration I'm a bit torn.  \n\nHere are some of my thoughts (whether they make sense or not is another story):\n\nToday I was able to order lunch at McDonalds today and they got my order right thanks to the illegal immigrants not being at work because of the boycott.\n\nOur nation was built by many great people, most of whom were immigrants. But the immigrants who came here previously worked hard to learn the language and make a better life for their families.\n\nToo many immigrants don't understand why they are really boycotting anyway.  Seeing someone draping themselves with a Mexican flag doesn't scream "I want to be an American and make a better life for my family" it says more that they want to bring everything that is Mexico with them even though they are running from it by coming here in the first place.\n\nAmerican students are held back to make sure their immigrant counterparts are able to get up to speed which proves difficult because of language and cultural barriers.\n\nSome immigrants like one of my neighbors do work their tails off to learn english, contribute to the community and help their neighbors out when in need.  The neighbor I am speaking of mows the elderly woman across the street's lawn and shovels her walk during the winter.  His wife will often cook dinners for another neighbor who is pregnant and whose husband is in Iraq.\n\nTo answer your question would I boycott a business that closes to support the Hispanic community?  I don't know.  It would probably depend on what I knew about the business and their motives for doing so.  It's a tough call, at least for me.
573131
Being from Texas, I've been aware of this issue for at least a decade. What's amazing to me is how some people can't see the difference between legal and illegal. They keep yapping about how racist it is to want to guard the U.S. border. They're obviously clueless as to what this constant invasion will mean to the future of the U.S. \nBut it has opened my eyes to how much our elected politicians do not want to stop the invasion.
485515
I think I like this kind of talk\nBottom line: The issue may come down to what one veteran pollster called "sequencing" -- where voters want the government to demonstrate that it's serious about reducing illegal immigration before legalizing 12 million people. That would mean first controlling the border and creating a tamper-proof citizenship card so that employers who hire illegal workers can be prosecuted then assembling a legalization plan.  \n\nI could definitely live with this.Thanks for the great information\nIn the words of that great sage Yogi Berra(not sure of the spelling)\n"It ain't over till its over"
433473
I guess I am the biggest supporter of "illegal immigrants" but I do not support "illegal immigration". I know it doesn't make much sense for a lot of people.
349002
I work with a guy who was about 4 years old when his parents immigrated legally. He was not born here so when he got old enough he started the process to become a legal citizen. He paid for it, he did it the legal way and he has been here seventeen years and is about to get his citizenship. He is adamantly against illegal immigration. I makes him mad to think he went through the proper, legal. tedious process and those people could end up getting their amnesty without doing what he had to do. \n\nI'm sick of people claiming those illegal immigrants just want 'work to feed their poor families'. That is such a CROCK!  I have yet to see anyone coming across that border looking emaciated or starving. I see people from Ethiopia and other countries where they are REALLY starving, their children are DYING from malnutrition  and they would LOVE to come to the USA. They are POOR. The USA sends aid to those countries but we cannot take in millions of poor people to be supported by our taxes. It's the same with those illegally entering from our border with Mexico. We cannot continue to support unlimited numbers of people who just 'want a better life'. I want a better life, too. I can't just go move in with a rich person and demand they take care of me and my family, provide us with medical care, food, clothing and let me have the run of his house. It don't work that way. You have to live according to what YOU, YOURSELF, can provide. If they want a better life, make it better in their own country. They shouldn't slither into the USA and demand WE take care of them. They're not starving! They are no more poor than some of our own citizens. They need to get a real life in their own country.
252198
I agree with your point of view on illegal immigrants. My parents came to Canada 15 years ago, and to this day, only my mother is a citizen. When they first came to Canada they had to work in low-paying jobs even though they had both completed post-secondary education back in their country. Currently, through years of saving, they were able to buy a home and lead a middle-class life, but compared to the types of jobs they would have had back home, their jobs don't even compare. \n\nMy parents didn't come here to sell drugs or commit illicit activities, they came here to leave a country which was changing from communism to capitalism, and in the process having many problems. I believe that illegal immigrants such as drug dealers should be punished for their crimes and most certainly not allowed into another country. However, many illegal immigrants are trying to get away from persecution, war or other problems in their country. Also, it is hard enough for immigrants to start a new life, and we should try to be more open-minded towards them because they are not horrible people. As for illegal immigrants taking jobs, I believe that most of the jobs these people are taking are so under-payed that a citizen shouldn't even be thinking of it. Furthermore, if an employer feels that an immigrant is better suited for a job than a citizen then it is up to the employer to chose who they would like to hire. Everyone has a right to a better life.
365297
I think you are a very compassionate person. A lot of people are against illegal immigration simply because it is "illegal." However, in reality they go on with their lives each day with little or no problems coming from illegal immigration. I know several immigrants (legal and not) and all are very hard workers and really nice people. I understand that not all of them are this way, but I've had nothing but nice things to say about them from my own personal experience.\n\nI do agree that we need to get a handle on illegal immigration, but we shouldn't be hateful towards those who are coming here illegally. They don't come here thinking "Oh, I want to be illegal, I want to hurt Americans and their economy." They come here to make better lives for themselves. Everyone wants to know why they can't just come here legally. Not only is it not as easy as everyone thinks to come here legally (you know this from experience), when you're completely poverty stricken and your children and family are starving, I doubt you're really going to be willing to take the necessary steps to coming legally. A lot of time they're in very desperate situations.
182229
My take is the same as yours - a lot of hoo-ha and then back to life as we know it.  Personally, given the total reality of situation, I don't see a whole heckuva lot changing when it comes to illegal immigration.  Too many people getting too much out of it.
604742
I asked  two questions recently along those same lines and got practically NO responses from illegal immigrants or their supporters, they don't want to face the truth:\nhttp://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AolkQSa5gg8z6H7yAx9bnJTsy6IX?qid=20060624152340AAc8ZtD
531335
"Do you think that immigration should be limited or that any limits should be lifted - Why"\n\n"Do you think that it is different today than in the past and why?"\n\n"Do you think that illegal immigration should be punished and why?"\n\n"Who do you think should have to pay for the immigration process (background checks etc.)?"\n\n"What do you think should be the criteria, if any, for someone wanting to be a citizen (in the past there were job and or monetary requirements, should there be now and why)?"\n\n"Should our immigration laws be stricter or more lenient than other countries'?"\n\nHope this gets you started.  Good Luck!
425382
I hope they don't build it at all.  I'm against illegal immigration, but I think there are better ways to handle it.\n\nEnforce and update the regulations and laws that make it so appealing to cross the border illegally and then get supported by the government.... there's a start.\n\nA border fence... that will be a war zone.  I'm glad I don't live close to that.\n\nWho will be crazy enough to take a job like that?  \nMaybe illegal immigrants, but I imagine the legal ones would have NOTHING to do with THAT.  Probably more likely to be built by crazy rednecks.\n\nI♥♫→mia☼☺†
69739
I LOVE IT!\n\nWTF. (if someone reports me, you're a dumbass, because this is an opinion, and im not threatening anyone.)\n\nMexicans come to United States. Steal our jobs, bring crime, and end up in our jails. 400 illegals were taken off the street in a recent operation. We pay for jails through taxes. Jails must board and feed immates, so that's our money. They also take our school districts for granite. We pay for schools. We pay for public health, which some take that away. Sure America maybe the "promise" land, but only for the legal aliens.\n\nIf your direction to this comment is about illegal aliens, than I strongly back it. If tis about legal aliens, I firmly disapprove of it.
265661
I support immigration, but I believe there should be limits and background checks. Those people who work hard should definitely be legalized, but those who are criminals should be deported immediately.
244669
I am a real liberal rather than the usual anti-conservative and I am completely against illegal immigration.\n\nPeople are coming across the border (not just from Mexico and Latin America, but from Asia and Eastern Europe; not just in sweat shops but in sex industry as well) illegally because they are being recruited by unscrupulous employers to circumvent the idea of free market economics. If the demand for workers is greater than the willingness of the indigenous labor supply to settle for the money offered then wages are supposed to go up. Instead, a black market worker is smuggled into the country, often at great physical peril, and then is kept at a job which would be illegal because the hours are too long and the environment is too unsafe by the threat of deportation or physical intimidation and the worker cannot seek redress because he must remain secretive. This is BAD for America.\n\nHowever, and I am sure you will not like this, I fear that if the War in Iraq were going better we would not be debating this issue right now. The economy has been in the tank for almost five years, and illegal immigration has been a non-issue until six months before a major election when the party in power is seen as being weak. Maybe that is a smoke screen, maybe it's just a coincidence.
257699
I agree with both of your issues!  However, i do not agree with the statement that they "are here whether we like it or not."  I don't like it!  Most Americans don't like it!  If we protest enough, our elected Officials will eventually do something about it.\n\nWrite your Congressmen and Senators.  Write to the President.  Inundate them with mail that demands what is right for America.  Withhold your votes from anyone who does not make "Restoring America for Americans" the cornerstone of their political platform.  Withhold your votes from anyone who doesn't make ILLEGAL immigration a major plank of their platform.  Let your elected Officials know this.\n\nBe proactive ~ America is so close to apathy that it is mind-boggling.  It's time for another Revolution, people ~ one with no weapons other than words and quiet determination.\n\nStop thinking "Republican" or "Democrat" and start thinking "AMERICAN!"  Vote a straight ticket and you grow a row of idiots.  VOTE THE CANDIDATES WHO ARE FOR AMERICANS ~ born or LEGALLY naturalized.\n\nA standing ovation to Bullseye for his input above.  I've copied it and will now email it to everyone on my list.\n\nADDITIONAL DETAILS:\n\nBecause the pro-illegal alien lobby has a bottomless pit of money and can hire PR people to spin (and fabricate) anything any way, there are an undue number of myths and lies that the public (and many politicians) has bought into. The FACTS are:\n \n1. It is NOT racist to call these people "illegal aliens" In fact, "illegal aliens" is the only term used in federal laws and regulations to describe criminals (and they ARE criminals) who come into our country illegally. They are not illegal immigrants, not undocumented immigrants, not migrant workers, and not day laborers - they're ILLEGAL ALIENS.\n \n2. Mexico is NOT a poor country. It has the fifth richest economy in the world, and by sending its teeming masses to our country, that status keeps on rising. Mexico has more resources per square mile than the U.S. and plenty of money to take care of its own people. Why should the taxpayers of this country subsidize Mexico's corruption?\n \n3. Illegal aliens are NOT necessarily coming here to work. Lou Dobbs recently reported that 33 percent of our prison population is now comprised of non-citizens. Plus, 36 to 42 percent of illegal aliens are on welfare. So, for a good proportion of these people, the American dream is crime and welfare, not coming here to work.\n \n4. Illegal aliens are NOT doing work Americans won't do. What jobs won't Americans do? In most states, Americans still clean their own houses, do their own landscaping, clean hotel rooms, work in restaurants and fast food places, paint houses, DO CONSTRUCTION WORK, work in airports, etc. - just like we have the past 200 years before "our" government allowed these people to invade our country. There are 18 million Americans who cannot find a job, so illegal aliens who are coming here to work do so at peril to American workers.\n \n5. Illegal aliens absolutely do not contribute more than they cost. Certainly the millions in prison and on welfare aren't contributing a dime to our economy, and the ones who are working often are paid in cash with no deductions for taxes at all. The ones who use fraudulent social security numbers and qualify to pay taxes and social security have so many deductions for dependents that they pay little if any taxes. We have seen them pay less than $100 in taxes and get back $4,000 refunds (thanks to earned income tax credits and multiple dependents). The Center for Immigration Studies estimates that the average Mexican illegal alien costs U.S. taxpayers a whopping $55,000 each. Some bargain, eh?\n \n6. The economy does NOT depend on illegal aliens. Sure, greedy CEOs (making $50 to $150 MILLION a year) and business owners depend on illegal aliens, but due to #3, #4
253747
Define 'our government'.\n\nI'd be OK with keeping all the illegals but the undesirables if the border were secure. I don't want to increase immigration rates GOING FORWARD until it actually is secure, however.\n\nAs to what our government is doing, I'm still waiting to see which way they will tip.\n\nhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060527/ap_on_go_co/immigration_64