Why do we bother stopping illegal immigrants?
813843
The term illegal means nothing?????  You need to look in the dictionary my friend and find out what it means!!  I'll help you out - AGAINST THE LAW!!  Apparently you don't understand the immigration laws!\n\nIt does mean nothing to all the illegals that cross the border everyday, that is true.  Because they don't care about the US!\n\nBut for American citizens (including immigrants) the term illegal does mean something!!\n\nFYI -- illegals do bring drugs, gangs, economic liablities to the US
326500
No, the would just find another way. The way to stop them is to take away their jobs here. Arrest those that hire them, they are scum bags any way, and put them in jail make them pay huge fines and that will stop the flow. NO JOBS = NO illegal immigration.
871023
Build the fence. Stop the illegal immigration.
559399
No not at all, it is differant if we do it. And besides if they are chasing Illegals away from the border they are leaving me alone.
1019649
It may sound cruel but all benefits must be stopped to the illegals. Period. That goes for the children they have too. If we can get the guts to deny them it is possible they will leave. I think I read where Texas is sending a bill to Mexico for services to the illegals.  That is a great idea.  Hold Mexican assets and take the cost of services to their citizens. Mexico would then do something about the boarder.
634890
I think your questions reflect the general confusion about the issues that a lot of the other people answering your question also have.\n\nFirstly,  the troops are not meant to stop Mexican immigration, they are meant to protect the US from security threats, in other words terrorists who decided to use Mexico as a springboard to come to the US.  Sure, they will stop illegal immigrants, but that's not the real reason why deploying the National Guard is being considered.\n\nSecondly, immigrants are not hurting the US economy.  There are approximately 11 million immigrants in the US, which is less than 4% of the population.  Immigration is actually good to oil the global economy and the American economy.  As economies develop, such as the US economy has, the citizens become more wealthy and better educated, which leads them to look for better paying jobs.  If you are well educated, you are not going to apply for a fruit-picking job, you'll try to become a lawyer, businessman or a college professor, for example.  Immigrants are the ones who help us do the jobs in sectors that suffer from labor deficits.\n\nThere are those who argue that if immigrants didn't come to the US, the minimum wage would be higher and therefore US citizens would be more willing to do those jobs.  That's nonsense, because of what I just explained: a better educated population does not want to work in agriculture, work as house maids or delivery boys!  If Mexico fell of the face of the Earth, other immigrants would come from other countries to take up the jobs that nobody else is doing.  In fact, that's what happened when most people came from Europe over the last 200 years.  Do you think my or your great-great grandaddy was the Duke of Earl?  He was likely as uneducated as any immigrant you meet on the Texas border!\n\nHaving said that, I understand the frustration that many people feel when they see immigrants coming to the US and getting jobs while they are having trouble getting jobs themselves.  However, that's not the fault of the immigrants, it's the fault of our politicians who have repeatedly failed to overhaul our educational system such that everyone has access to a good education.  \n\nYou know why not everyone has access to a good education, i.e. why some public schools are so terrible? Because property taxes are used to fund public schools.  If you are from a poor family, you likely live in a poor neighborhood where property values are depressed, and thus the tax the government obtains from those properties is insufficient to properly fund the public school you attend (i.e. to pay good salaries to teachers, train them properly, and maintain facilities).  A good solution (but please, do suggest a better one if you can think of it, the US surely needs it) would be for city governments to take some tax funds from the richer neighborhoods to poorer neighborhoods (and I'm not saying here "let's become Communist", I'm saying take a small percentage, say 10%) and this would contribute to the advancement of everyone.  This debate has indeed been brought up repeatedly in city councils thorughout the country, yet thus far the politicians have been unwilling to make difficult decisions because they are afraid their constituents will not vote for them again.  This is an American paradox, and one we need to solve to get poor people better jobs.  \n\nThus, instead of blaming your ills on immigrants, I suggest you write a letter to your congressman/woman and to your city couincilman/woman, and ask them what they are doing to provide good education for everyone in your town or city. Also, ask how you can help, don't expect everything to be served to you on a silver platter! In addition, I suggest you hit the books and get good grades, and luckily you'll get a good college education and a good job, and you won't even have to worry about immigrants, "the boogie man" or his brother.
110928
Because they are the workhorses that do all the dirty work we don't want to do....because we're all the same...human being and should want to help our fellow being.  There are ways to get here legally, but sometimes it is too difficult and people get desparate...so they arrive illegally.  I don't believe the Pilgrams were in this country legally...:P
610318
Yes, we are all getting tired of it. I have been involved with immigration since the early 90's so I am really tired of the justifications of breaking the law. Along with all the rest of the parroting that goes along with it.\n\nRemember one thing: POOR people no matter if they are US Citizens, legal immigrant or illegals they do not pay taxes and unless they are levitating they are subsided by the taxes payers.
209172
Because they serve a purpose; they do work that no one else wants to do, and for little money at that.  Also, many have citizen children once they get here, and that complicates things.  However, shipping out all the immigrants just isn't feasible, nor will it solve America's problems.
1027856
Because the idea is that we don't want illegal immigrants.  The immigrants will try to come illegally if there are jobs.  The employers break the law only, currently, if they don't ask for certain documents or know the illegal is illegal.  Going forward, the documents would be better and would tap into a database which would say if that person was OK to work.\n\nEmployers are the ones who profit off cheap illegal immigrant labor.  We want to make it less profitable for them.  Also, if they don't hire, the illegals who want jobs won't come.  (We hope.)\n\nThe strain is on schools etc. and the middle and upper classes pay for the services to the poor, regardless of whether the poor pay taxes.\n\nThat is why they should be prosecuted.
247523
the main issue, which everybody is not considering is the (ILLEGAL) immigration, not the immigration itself, the US is open for legal immigration, so why go illegal ? just to not pay taxes? why didnt illegals fix their situation ? they were given too many chances.
440793
Because we are being bombarded by these applications and not everyone is legit.  They have to do thorough background checks.  In my own oppinion we should close our borders for the next 10 yrs. work on rebuilding our own country and helping our own people.
228869
We're not trying to end immigration...just illegal immigration. And once all of the current illegal immigrants are made legal...let's not kid our selves...that's where we're heading...they're going to want to stop other people from coming here illegally, because they'll see that their newly found validity affords them rights and a more decent pay, but that they are going to be competing with those coming behind them that will be willing to work for less. It's a never ending cycle, folks...where WILL we draw the line?
879904
They are for Border Security but they also are for a guest worker program, a legal way for immigrants from any nation to come here legally, not take advantage of us, have a job, pay taxes and earn citizenship. \n\nI honestly think we need better Immigration services before we start doing that. First we need to protect our border and then we can tallk about reforming everything else
469628
That's one traditional way to stop invaders.  But all the immigration criminals ("undocumented citizens") would leave on their own if we confiscated any business that employs them and sell it to competent, non-cheating businessmen without compensation to the economic traitors.
906795
They come here, illegally, then it is very easy for them to just break law after law. They will do what ever they can to stay here. They justify this by saying that living here is their human right, or that our laws are out dated, even calling our laws silly, and well its just a very small laws. They try to sell themselves as, just poor wanting a better life. Oh yes they do get a few to feel sorry for them, but we must never stop telling Washington, that we want our immigration laws enforced, we want those that hire them fined, we want anyone renting to illegal immigrants fined, and we want all those in this country illegally deported. If not we will find someone in Nov. of 2008 who will do the job.
638029
because they protect illegal immigrants.....