Given that there is no practical, moral, efficient or even remotely logical way to get 12 MM people back to their country of origin - why is the guest worker plan getting so much resistance? Or perhaps there really isn't that resistance (see poll above)?
131987
I must say I was surprised by those poll numbers.  For me, and I suspect for many others, the situation is this.  I have no problem with LEGAL immigrants.  I have little problem with others coming here to work.  The problem is those who come here illegally and stay permanently.  They drain our resources (health care for instance), overburden our schools, and make little or no attempt to learn English and/or assimilate into our country.  Definitely a problem with no easy solution.  Unfortunately our government turned a blind eye to the problem for far too long.  As a result, millions of illegals took advantage.  Now it's unrealistic to expect that they will all be sent back.  I'd like to see them invest their energy into improving their own country.\n\nFor those asking about where the 79% came from, go here http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1179117,00.html
128694
I am very satisfied with the new proposal.It lets most of them stay.How would you transport 11 million ppl to their original country?And thats not even the tip of it what if they own homes or have children that were born here ,that makes them USA CITIZENS.I think it's great
473715
Close the Chanel Tunnel that may at least keep some of the crackpots at bay.  \nIf HMCE were more vigilant on who is actually entering this country instead of how much duty free cigs and booze an EU member is bringing in - then and only then will this open house revert back to it's former fortress like state, also leave the EU it does not work - even the Germans  agree with that.
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"
565325
There is controversy. I know someone who had to teach the foreigner who was taking her job what to do. It's rough up here in the Mitten, but how can one protest against something going on overseas when it's easier to protest what's going on at home?\n\nAfter all, we need jobs here NOW. Illegal immigrants are taking away those chances. We also need the jobs overseas, but we can't be immediately affected by them (in terms of, if the owners said they'll come back, they won't be back for months or maybe years.)
568787
the refusal to assimilate; why should we bend over backwards to accommodate foreigners? no other country does that---and the whole illegal entry factor; it's not hard to get into this country, all we ask is that you pay your money and go through the established procedures; sure that could take a while but SO WHAT! lots of people have done that for a long time and effectively earned the right to live and work here. unfortunately i have had experiences like this and it really toasts my waffle! why should citizens of this great nation have to be subjected to such frustration! i don't remember reading that amendment in the Constitution...
620420
While pondering  the plight of those 'poor souls' referred -to in the question, consider whether they are worthy of any more pity than any other poor souls waiting for legitimate entry into the USA. Also, while we are at it, maybe we should be taking a hard look at the wisdom of continuing with an immigation policy that dates from a time when our country needed more people.
402809
Agree with you 100%.  To send them back is like playing with a boomer rang.  But then there are those that want to kill, nuke and other anti-human things you can do to a people of another nation.  I guess thats the way they take care of their own problems at home. you do have a good point.
191226
I recently read this article in the Chicago Sun Times.  It is both enlightening and scary.  I am living overseas temporarily, but I often wonder what I'll return to when I do come home.  The US is not what it used to be.  Here's the article:\n\nNo easy answers on immigration conundrum \nApril 9, 2006 \nBY MARK STEYN SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST  \n \nHere's my immigration "compromise": We need to regularize the situation of the 298 million non-undocumented residents of the United States. Right now, we get a lousy deal compared with the 15 million fine upstanding members of the Undocumented American community. I think the 298 million of us in the overdocumented segment of the population should get the chance to be undocumented. You know when President Bush talks about all those undocumented people "living in the shadows"? Doesn't that sound kinda nice? Living in the shadows, no government agencies harassing you for taxes and numbers and paperwork. \nGo ahead, try it. In Michelle Malkin's book Invasion, she recounts the tale of two fellows who in August 2001 pulled into a 7-Eleven parking lot in Falls Church, Va., in search of fake ID from the illegal-alien assistance network that hangs around there. Luis Martinez-Flores, who'd been living here illegally since 1994, took them along to the local DMV, supplied them with a fake address and falsely certified they lived there. The very next day, the two guys returned with two pals of their own, and used their own brand-new state ID on which the ink was not yet dry to obtain in turn brand-new state ID for their buddies. A couple of weeks later, all four of them used their Virginia ID to board American Airlines Flight 77 at Dulles Airport and plowed it into the Pentagon. \nThink about that. From undocumented illegal alien in the 7-Eleven parking lot to lawful resident of the State of Virginia in just a couple of hours. Wow. Say what you like about Luis Martinez-Flores, but he runs one efficient operation. \nBy comparison, say you've got two kids under 5, and you'd like to bring over a nice English nanny to look after them. Name of Mary Poppins. Good references, impeccable character. If you apply now, there's a sporting chance the process may be completed before your children's children are in college. \nGiven that the new immigration "compromise" bill retrospectively approves all the millions of people who've been through the super-efficient Luis Martinez-Flores immigration system but without doing anything to improve the sclerotic U.S. government immigration system, maybe it would be better just to subcontract the entire operation to Senor Martinez-Flores and his colleagues. It would certainly be cheaper. The extensive Undocumented American support network manages to run it out of the back of the car from a parking lot without a lot of air-conditioned offices full of lifetime employees on government pensions, and given that the net result is exactly the same people who'd be living here anyway, why not go with the lowball bid? Legal immigrants to the United States can only envy the swift efficient service Messrs. Hani Hanjour and Khalid Almihdhar received outside that 7-Eleven. \nAll developed countries have immigration issues, but few conduct the entire debate as disingenuously as America does: The president himself has contributed a whole barrelful of weaselly platitudes, beginning with his line that "family values don't stop at the Rio Grande." True. They don't stop at the 49th parallel either. Or the Atlantic shore. Or the Pacific. So where do family values stop? At the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. If you're an American and you marry a Canadian or Belgian or Fijian, the U.S. government can take years to process what's supposed to be a non-discretionary immigration application, in the course of which your spouse will be dependent on various transitional-status forms like
280275
Honestly, I'm for it because I don't see a reason to think that trying to find 12 million people is even moderately reasonable. People will say all day long that "the illegals stole a job" but they also pay money into a system they can't use unless they get amnesty. Of course, I'm not going to fault someone for wanting a better life.\n\nOh, and about the reporting thing? That maybe wasn't necessary. It's inviting people to make fun of you.
228391
I see what you're trying to say, but it needs rewording.\n\nYeah, just because they get over here doesn't mean they are entitled to any citizen benefits.
276961
Take back their country really only means one thing to me, that is the jobs that went overseas in almost all areas.  I read an article that said you can get a job, you just have to leave the USA and work overseas for pennies.\n\nSo anyone who is structurally unemployed of course wants to take back their country - and their jobs.
303739
Honey, you are barking up the wrong tree by trying to rationalise this problem with those who are willingly crossing our borders and breaking our laws.  Why SHOULD they change this behaviour?  Why SHOULD they fix their own country's system?  They can come here, illegally, but no one seems to mind.. they can work for cash and pay no taxes and take that money back to Mexico.. AND they can apply for and RECIEVE public assistance..INCLUDING welfare CHECKS.. and all of THAT money goes back to Mexico as well.  WE are funding their country and their government only has to tell them HOW.   Don't think for a minute that this is fantasy.. I worked for the department of Social Services in California and I was REQUIRED to give them the benefits even though they were illegal.. and I was FORBIDDEN to even SAY the words 'green card' to them. why?  because it might OFFEND them!!  Needless to say, I didn't stay long.. but I did take the time to talk to many of my clients.. yes, the illegal ones [after all, they made up 90%!! of my case load] and they explained the entire process to me.. all the time LAUGHING at how STUPID we Americans are to ALLOW them to do it.  So, I know what I'm talking about.
131920
THEY (legal and non legal immigrants) threw out the race card first.  Notice they are all for breaking the law?  They want a free ticket in to this country, expect to be handed jobs and  health benefits (free, I might add) automatically, and so far our government has obliged them.  It doesn't look like our goverment is really against illegal immigration.  It's a lie and a sad thing.  I am totally against illegal immigration.  If you want to come here that's great I'm not against that, just do it legally.
559115
First and foremost.... these people DO NOT WANT TO BECOME CITIZENS.  Therefore, they will not join up to pay taxes, etc.  They will just continue to send $$$ home to Mexico. Bush and company assume they want to be citizens, but I have not heard any of the illegals say that.  Just that they are "taking over".  Send them all  back.  No special treatment or deals.
612299
I wonder how many nurses, teachers, or high-tech workers would work for $8 an hour. Wait, you didn't know that Bush's "guest worker" plan would be open to those people too?\nThat's what they have in mind. And, there would be no wage-related restrictions on it other than the minimum wage. So, employers could offer a teaching job for $8 an hour. American teachers would either take that rate or, more likely, they wouldn't. So, the employer could hire that "guest" worker from Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi would consider that a king's ransom. All the requirements of Bush's plan had been met: there wasn't an American willing to do the job.\nBush's plan would force millions of previously higher-wage jobs down near the minimum wage. What phrase would most Americans use to describe such a plan?\n\nWhat exactly does he mean by "families"? Will their immediate family come with them or not? If not, are we going to be able to split up families? Not all people coming here would be Mexicans or from the parts of Mexico near the border. Is Bush going to require men to travel hundreds of miles to see their immediate family?\nIf, however, they're bringing their immediate family with them, there will no doubt be hundreds of thousands of children born, and those children will be U.S. citizens. Who's going to be able to make them go home after they've had a U.S. citizen child? And, won't most "guest" workers intentionally have children here so it will be harder to make them go home?\nAnd, given that, doesn't this plan consist not just of an amnesty, but as a massive incentive for a huge chunk of Mexico's population to come here? Was any thought put into the consequences of this plan at all?\nNo, no guestworker program should take the place of following the law! This still allows the law-breaking illegals to go to the head of the line and disrupts the ability of legal immigrants to get their chance! Until such time as all able-bodied welfare recipients are put to work, all homeless people, all college and high school students have the chance to work, we don't need to import anyone to take our jobs! Stop pandering, stop giving handouts and stop lying to the American people!\n\nhow can an American be expected to do a job that has had the wage undercut by cheap illegal labor from Mexico? How will legalizing this cheap labor change that situation? Of course, it will not. In fact, it will only encourage more border crossing, which will result in more Mexican citizens and others living in the United States and having children who are U.S. citizens, and who are thus harder to deport when their “temporary” guest worker visas expire. Given the fraud, incompetence, and bureaucratic lethargy that mark most government programs, how can the public have any faith that such a plan would work even remotely as advertised? \n\n\n\n\nAll of these illegals will eventually stay, become voters, if the DNC has their way, their population will continue to grow and they will become a voting block that has NO interest in our language, history, military, or patriotism, only the $$$$ that are available will be the main interest.\nThat scenario is not totally here yet, but it is lingering in the future if our national course of extreme liberalism continues to erode the very fabric of our nation.\n\n\nWe only "need" illegal immigrants if we "need" to maintain a peasant class in the United States. I would strenuously argue that we don't - even if it means that a few amoral capitalists will be driven out of business and we have to pay a few cents more for our strawberries
410993
If only that were possible - let the MP's have a taste of what alot of the voters are feeling (the voters they choose to ignore I might add).\nAnd to Donald D - what are you talking about ??? Its already like living in Slovakia, Poland or any other Eastern European country although we're in England so why would we bother to move? I resent being told to move out of the country I was born and raised in because I dont like what the foreigners are doing to it !!!!!!