Mandatory E-Verify for all Employers and a 5 year in prison if they hire illegal aliens would stop illegal immigration.
Revoke Birth Right Citizenship and build the wall!
Sanctuary Cities Officials Must be arrested for violating immigration laws which states it is a felon to harbor or aid illegal alliens!
Now that the GOP is in control they are not introducing or passing any laws stopping illegal immigration because their donors want cheap illegal immigration regardless of the cost of U.S lives and tax dollars ! Citizens must DEMAND a change !
Revoke Birth Right Citizenship and build the wall!
Sanctuary Cities Officials Must be arrested for violating immigration laws which states it is a felon to harbor or aid illegal alliens!
Now that the GOP is in control they are not introducing or passing any laws stopping illegal immigration because their donors want cheap illegal immigration regardless of the cost of U.S lives and tax dollars ! Citizens must DEMAND a change !
9
So, an immigration 'hardliner' is one that wants our laws enforced? Would a civil rights hardliner be someone that wants citizens treated equally, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity? Are you a hardliner if you want the school to uphold anti-harassment laws when he's being bullied.
Call me a hardliner!!!!!
Call me a hardliner!!!!!
14
Look, if the Mexican's had proper visa papers, just like the Pilgrim's did when they got off the Mayflower, then we would accept them with open arms.
2
The wages of non-college-educated American citizens will never rise so long as there is a reliable, relentless supply of illiterate, unskilled labor flowing across the border.
15
Since the first Earth Day in 1970, the US has added 124 million people - with the majority of them being post 1970 immigrants and their children. If we continue immigration at current levels of over 1 million people per year, we will add another 117 million people by 2065, with 88% of that increase being due to new immigrants and their descendants. We will have gone from 200 million people to 441 million in about 100 years. This is immigration driven demographic insanity that is completely ecologically, environmentally, and economically unsustainable. Thanks to the "immigration hard liners" who have worked hard to get the message out that we should enforce our immigration laws and reduce legal immigration to historical levels of 250,000 people per year so that we can achieve population stability.
15
I support amnesty for non-criminal, unauthorized immigrants currently in our country, with the caveat they are given the full panoply of US Labor Law protection - such as minimum wage, forty-hour work week, applicable overtime wages, union membership opportunities, etc. - so they aren't further exploited by employers to undercut American workers standards of safety, wages and living. Indeed, is it not interesting that literally no one, especially Trump, has simply advocated the full enforcement of the last Ronald Reagan amnesty law which provides fines and/or prison for employers who illegally hire such workers in first place? The effect of such enforcement would result in the drying-up of employment for these workers so that they would self-deport without need for inhumane Government expulsion. Could it be the American Chamber of Commerce has put pressure on the Republican Party not to kill the illegal-labor goose that continues to lay the golden cheap-wage egg?
1
The US must limit legal immigration and eliminate illegal immigration. Our population has doubled in my short lifetime. Doubled. Those of you who decry environmental destruction - what do you think destroys the environment? Deforestation for homes, industrial agriculture, excess water consumption? It is the rapidly growing population (due to immigration over the last 20 years) that drives environmental destruction - and climate change.
Even Clinton proposed a sharp decrease in immigration (set at 1,000,000/year, not including refugees). He was squelched by what I now believe are the far left, progressive-precursors.
It is not cruel or inhumane to limit immigration and defend our borders. It is not cruel to eliminate 'anchor-babies' or instant citizenship for babies born here to illegal parents. That is why I struggle with the dreamers approach - their parents came here, mostly already pregnant, to give birth to an American citizen with the belief that no one would send them back home.
Just say no to immigration. The reasons for it in the 20th century are long gone. We no longer have the industrial revolution where we didn't have enough workers to grow the economy. Quite the opposite. We no longer have high paying jobs that support a family that cannot speak the language or has attended school. Those have been gone for decades, but we keep bringing in people.
Funny, progressives always want change, unless they don't.
Even Clinton proposed a sharp decrease in immigration (set at 1,000,000/year, not including refugees). He was squelched by what I now believe are the far left, progressive-precursors.
It is not cruel or inhumane to limit immigration and defend our borders. It is not cruel to eliminate 'anchor-babies' or instant citizenship for babies born here to illegal parents. That is why I struggle with the dreamers approach - their parents came here, mostly already pregnant, to give birth to an American citizen with the belief that no one would send them back home.
Just say no to immigration. The reasons for it in the 20th century are long gone. We no longer have the industrial revolution where we didn't have enough workers to grow the economy. Quite the opposite. We no longer have high paying jobs that support a family that cannot speak the language or has attended school. Those have been gone for decades, but we keep bringing in people.
Funny, progressives always want change, unless they don't.
17
Keep up the good work!
2
Sigh... Even the democrat voters seem not to know that
Obama was actually enforced immigration law quite hard. So hard that many immigrant rights organizations criticize Obama on the issue. They would even call him "draconian" and "harsh."
Most people don't know that Obama deported more than 3 million illegal immigrants. Yeah. Look up the stats. He did mass deportation.
So for those people who believe that Obama or Democrats are lenient on illegal immigrants, you are deluding yourself or you haven't done proper research.
The only difference is that Obama and Democrats decided not to dehumanize and insult people with certain nationalities and their dignities publicly even if they were illegal. Yes, there's such thing as dignity for people who break the law.
And that's what differentiate a mature civilization and a puerile civilization. One enforces the law while respecting one's dignities while the other enforces the law brutally while denigrating one's dignities.
Obama was actually enforced immigration law quite hard. So hard that many immigrant rights organizations criticize Obama on the issue. They would even call him "draconian" and "harsh."
Most people don't know that Obama deported more than 3 million illegal immigrants. Yeah. Look up the stats. He did mass deportation.
So for those people who believe that Obama or Democrats are lenient on illegal immigrants, you are deluding yourself or you haven't done proper research.
The only difference is that Obama and Democrats decided not to dehumanize and insult people with certain nationalities and their dignities publicly even if they were illegal. Yes, there's such thing as dignity for people who break the law.
And that's what differentiate a mature civilization and a puerile civilization. One enforces the law while respecting one's dignities while the other enforces the law brutally while denigrating one's dignities.
4
Turning people away at the border is not cruel. It is not dehumanizing to send Mexicans home to Mexico. Mexican dignity should in part consist of admitting that Americans have every right to refuse anyone entry here including Mexicans.
7
The "Nuremberg Laws" of 1935 were "Laws for the Protection of the Racial Purity of the German People". We know only too well where that led.
1
Is seems inherently racist to assume that immigrants, legal or otherwise, are only here to pick fruits and vegetables.
5
Wow, enforcement of existing immigration laws is somehow "hard line." Immigration is supposed to serve the broad national interest. There was absolutely no debate about this over the past 30 years as millions of people settled into the country illegally. If you oppose illegal immigration you get labeled a racist. That is a sure fire way to stifle honest discussion.
Exactly how many people should be allowed to come to the US? We have not had a national discussion about this. Instead, people just came and came. Obama created lots of new executive orders to let people stay. Do we want a half a billion people? One billion? That is where we are headed, and its all because of immigration.
I'm as liberal as they come, but I support strict enforcement of immigration laws and a reduction of immigration until our own people are taken care of. Further, I do not support endless population growth, which is what we are being force fed by immigration.
Exactly how many people should be allowed to come to the US? We have not had a national discussion about this. Instead, people just came and came. Obama created lots of new executive orders to let people stay. Do we want a half a billion people? One billion? That is where we are headed, and its all because of immigration.
I'm as liberal as they come, but I support strict enforcement of immigration laws and a reduction of immigration until our own people are taken care of. Further, I do not support endless population growth, which is what we are being force fed by immigration.
17
http://dailycaller.com/2014/11/16/shock-flashback-obama-says-illegal-imm...
"In the passage, Obama also reveals that he personally feels “patriotic resentment” when he sees Mexican flags at immigration rallies.
“Native-born Americans suspect that it is they, and not the immigrant, who are being forced to adapt” to social changes caused by migration, he said.
“And if I’m honest with myself, I must admit that I’m not entirely immune to such nativist sentiments,” Obama wrote. “When I see Mexican flags waved at pro-immigration demonstrations, I sometimes feel a flush of patriotic resentment. When I’m forced to use a translator to communicate with the guy fixing my car, I feel a certain frustration.”
"In the passage, Obama also reveals that he personally feels “patriotic resentment” when he sees Mexican flags at immigration rallies.
“Native-born Americans suspect that it is they, and not the immigrant, who are being forced to adapt” to social changes caused by migration, he said.
“And if I’m honest with myself, I must admit that I’m not entirely immune to such nativist sentiments,” Obama wrote. “When I see Mexican flags waved at pro-immigration demonstrations, I sometimes feel a flush of patriotic resentment. When I’m forced to use a translator to communicate with the guy fixing my car, I feel a certain frustration.”
13
According to the Dems, you are literally not allowed to demand anything ever from anyone who wants to come here. You're supposed to pay their bills, learn their language and be grateful they're here.
11
About time we took care of an increasingly dire problem; millions, milions of illegals need to found and sent home. Had earlier Adimistrations of both Parties done their job, as they all swore to do, this would not be an issue. We now have a President who was elected to do, just what is being done, however slowly.
16
Cannot wait to see what Mayor D taxes in NYC when the money is stopped; should be a good show.
10
Fine. Send the drug dealers and gang bangers back where they emmigrated from. But regarding the undocumented individuals who have been good neighbors, avoided committing crimes, etc., can't there be such a thing as "common law citizenship"?
4
@Juvenal451
So you think its OK to reward foreign nationals who intentionally break immigration laws? Why would that not cause more and more illegal immigration like it did after the last amnesty in 1986? Why would anyone bother to do it the legal way?
So you think its OK to reward foreign nationals who intentionally break immigration laws? Why would that not cause more and more illegal immigration like it did after the last amnesty in 1986? Why would anyone bother to do it the legal way?
9
I fail to see what is so difficult and so expensive about controlling ILLEGAL immigration. Cannot we simply deny the ILLEGALS jobs and their ability to send US dollars to their country of origin? Can we not deny them free health care? Can we not deny them welfare? Can we not deny them free education? There MUST be an easier way than what we do now or have done in the past. At a much lower cost. Walls will not keep them out....no matter the billions of dollars we spend. Just watch !!!!!
13
The whole legal immigration system is a mess - my wait for a green card is likely to drag for 10-15 years. This kind of wait time suits corporations - they don't need to give raises or promotions.
If I choose to go back to India, my social security contributions won't be refunded, even though all the keyboard warriors will tell me that no one forced me to come to the US.
If I choose to go back to India, my social security contributions won't be refunded, even though all the keyboard warriors will tell me that no one forced me to come to the US.
1
We only have 300 million and we don't need a billion. Well American Businesses do. Come Mr. Trump and solve this problem. Build that wall.
13
American business's need far less of the uneducated and unskilled and more of the fully educated scientists, engineers, medical doctors and nurses. Illegals fall into the first two unwanted classes.
5
"Imagine all the people living life in peace." - John Lennon
1
I am really worried that they will come after all of us descendants of Irish immigrants. Were they properly documented? They took so many low rung jobs from real Americans. Sad.
3
Hm. Looks like Stormfront is leaking today.
1
No papers no admittance, units that simple.
The snowflakes cant seem to grasp that the law isn't up for debate. In fact, it rather black and white. No pun intended.
The snowflakes cant seem to grasp that the law isn't up for debate. In fact, it rather black and white. No pun intended.
9
White Americans, as a group, have become a group of racists, bigots, and xenophobes. Spending too many years cocooned in the almost all white suburbs has created a self indulgent, entitled group who care more about themselves rather society as a whole. These unenlightened individuals are trying their best to drag the rest of us down another ignorant and self centered world. Resist we must and educate is imperative.
2
This flamethrowing rhetoric is a mirror image of what was spouted by Trump during the campaign. It's just coming from the other side of the political spectrum. It's time we all recognize it for what it is - the demonization of the other.
A lot of Trump voters were low-information voters. But they are low-information because so many of them didn't go to college and are the children of parents who didn't attend college. What that means in America, for them, is low-wage lives working in chain restaurants or Walmart and not the entitlement and privilege you suggest is theirs.
A lot of Trump voters were low-information voters. But they are low-information because so many of them didn't go to college and are the children of parents who didn't attend college. What that means in America, for them, is low-wage lives working in chain restaurants or Walmart and not the entitlement and privilege you suggest is theirs.
7
The article refers to this guy as "an outspoken opponent of illegal immigration" as though it were an indictment. Is there anyone in favor of illegal immigration? When people speak of immigration reform, are they not referring to reforming legal immigration?
15
Judging from the comments, many are in favour of what is called "open borders."
It works poorly with welfare states. Everyone wants to get to one. What is the end point? How many people can our increasingly overcrowded countries absorb before the welfare state collapses?
It works poorly with welfare states. Everyone wants to get to one. What is the end point? How many people can our increasingly overcrowded countries absorb before the welfare state collapses?
13
Americans never learn their history. Wake up! It's 1911 again. Let's get the Dillingham Commission rolling. Let's get the professors from Princeton, Harvard, Yale to tell us how Italians and other Mediterraneans, Middle Easterners, Slavs, Jews, Japanese, etc. are destroying America, how they are racially inferior, not capable of participating in a democratic society, speaking odd languages, worshiping strange gods, criminally minded, dirty, and the list goes on. Let's look at the 1900 census to determine immigration policy. No, wait, too many undesirables here in 1900. So let's dial it back to the 1890 census. Oh, yes, 1890 was good: mostly white people here, all sturdy pioneering types of Northern European stock. Yes, let's base our immigration policy on that. The result: 1924 National Origins Quota Act, which we had in place until 1965. That's your history. Learn it.
Seriously, illegal immigrants? Where? Not here in New York City. Change immigration policy. Let more people come in legally, especially where we need jobs filled and population replenished. Frankly, I'm for open borders. Nationalism is a thing of the past. All fears of immigrants and immigration have proven false over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.
Seriously, illegal immigrants? Where? Not here in New York City. Change immigration policy. Let more people come in legally, especially where we need jobs filled and population replenished. Frankly, I'm for open borders. Nationalism is a thing of the past. All fears of immigrants and immigration have proven false over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.
4
Let's forget about immigration and just think of the greatly increased population the US Census Bureau predicts we're going to have in another 50 years.
Technology is eliminating jobs by the tens of millions, and we can see that the number of new jobs created by new technologies are, for the most part, far fewer in number than the jobs destroyed.
So we are now at a point in history where we can have lots more people and far fewer jobs.
That means we should be thinking very carefully about how many additional new people we want to have the US -- from any source. The idea that we have lots of unfilled jobs and need our population "replenished" is simply outdated.
Our future will not look like our past when it comes to population, resources and jobs.
Technology is eliminating jobs by the tens of millions, and we can see that the number of new jobs created by new technologies are, for the most part, far fewer in number than the jobs destroyed.
So we are now at a point in history where we can have lots more people and far fewer jobs.
That means we should be thinking very carefully about how many additional new people we want to have the US -- from any source. The idea that we have lots of unfilled jobs and need our population "replenished" is simply outdated.
Our future will not look like our past when it comes to population, resources and jobs.
6
The "1924 National Origins Quota Act, which we had in place until 1965" led to a fairly stable population of 25 to 34 year-olds for three decades - the best decades for young Americans ever. Zero or low college tuition, affordable rent, affordable housing, good jobs . . .
5
"Immigration Hard Liners" should be rewritten to read "White Nationalists" Ascend to Power. I don't hear anyone clamoring to build a wall along the Canadian border.
A few years ago, the state of Georgia decided to get tough on illegal immigrants. Immigrants left the state and fruits and vegetables rotted in the fields.
There is no doubt that immigration laws need to be addressed and no politician will touch that issue. So, where are we? We have the Trump Gestapo breaking up families and doing such a fine job of controlling immigration by harming those who contribute and who live peaceful lives here. What good is this?
Forty percent of the Fortune 400 companies in this country were started by immigrants or first generation of immigrants. Steve Jobs parents were from Syria. Jobs started that small company called Apple. Now, if the Trump Gestapo had their way, no one from Syria could enter here. Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer, was an illegal immigrant. And, the list goes on.
The Trump Gestapo is not the way to fix the immigration problem A wall will not fix the immigration problem. Electing politicians who are wiling to fix our immigration issues is the way.
A few years ago, the state of Georgia decided to get tough on illegal immigrants. Immigrants left the state and fruits and vegetables rotted in the fields.
There is no doubt that immigration laws need to be addressed and no politician will touch that issue. So, where are we? We have the Trump Gestapo breaking up families and doing such a fine job of controlling immigration by harming those who contribute and who live peaceful lives here. What good is this?
Forty percent of the Fortune 400 companies in this country were started by immigrants or first generation of immigrants. Steve Jobs parents were from Syria. Jobs started that small company called Apple. Now, if the Trump Gestapo had their way, no one from Syria could enter here. Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer, was an illegal immigrant. And, the list goes on.
The Trump Gestapo is not the way to fix the immigration problem A wall will not fix the immigration problem. Electing politicians who are wiling to fix our immigration issues is the way.
9
"America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between." ~ OSCAR WILDE
Today, double executions in Arkansas, Trump's 100 days fake news claims, tariffs on soft wood from Canada and this. America first and more repugnant every day. Glad I left! Not a moment too soon.
"I have no further use for America. I wouldn't go back there if J.C. was President." ~ CHARLIE CHAPLIN
"I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant." ~ H.L. MENCKEN
Today, double executions in Arkansas, Trump's 100 days fake news claims, tariffs on soft wood from Canada and this. America first and more repugnant every day. Glad I left! Not a moment too soon.
"I have no further use for America. I wouldn't go back there if J.C. was President." ~ CHARLIE CHAPLIN
"I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant." ~ H.L. MENCKEN
3
I despise the concept of needing illegal immigrants so they can be exploited for cheap labor. I am not a raving socialist, but that aspect offends me.
11
So Ted Cruz and other Republicans would have taken in Christians fleeing Syria but not other Syrians. Trump and his Muslim ban. Both included a religious litmus test, obviously unConstitutional, which is very telling of GOP immigration plans.
Fears that "safety" is at risk from non-Christian, non-white immigrants has been preached by the far right and Trump voters believe it without any proof of the stated problem. While off the point, if "safety" were a civic concern, why not focus on 35,000 gun deaths each year, a number far larger than deadly violence from non-white immigrants.
To suggest that there is no racism or xenophobia in the "Make America Great/Safe Again" campaign is a farce. The MAGA crowd demonizes "them" for perceived safety and economic problems while disregarding a look in the mirror at political policies or data.
Fears that "safety" is at risk from non-Christian, non-white immigrants has been preached by the far right and Trump voters believe it without any proof of the stated problem. While off the point, if "safety" were a civic concern, why not focus on 35,000 gun deaths each year, a number far larger than deadly violence from non-white immigrants.
To suggest that there is no racism or xenophobia in the "Make America Great/Safe Again" campaign is a farce. The MAGA crowd demonizes "them" for perceived safety and economic problems while disregarding a look in the mirror at political policies or data.
2
Notice how the NYT picks are only for pro-illegal comments. The liberal propaganda machine working its subliminal message on unsuspecting readers.
21
So, the illegals these folks want to get rid of are Latino? What about the tens of thousands of illegals from Europe? Ireland, Italy, Eastern European countries? They don't count because... why?
3
I know in parts of Yonkers, NY there are many undocumented immigrants, many of them with well-paying jobs. As I walk around various stores here in Westchester, NY I am astounded by the numbers of European languages that I hear spoken between shoppers. And I say to myself, are all these people documented immigrants? Or are they like so many others. Tourists who overstayed their visas when they came to visit relatives in America.
I don't hear much about ICE grabbing these Europeans. But the Latin American undocumented immigrants in the area seem to be threatened. Which anecdotally only confirms what this article notes, the nativist tendencies of those opposed to immigration. The racism and jingoism is appalling and morally reprehensible. But no matter, they sit in power and morality is the least of their concerns.
I don't hear much about ICE grabbing these Europeans. But the Latin American undocumented immigrants in the area seem to be threatened. Which anecdotally only confirms what this article notes, the nativist tendencies of those opposed to immigration. The racism and jingoism is appalling and morally reprehensible. But no matter, they sit in power and morality is the least of their concerns.
2
Spanish is a European language; maybe that's the language you are hearing in the malls? You ought to join these people and protest all this nonsense. Open borders, it's the only way.
The country is behind President Trump and his Administration on the issue of immigration. This is why he won. Please build the wall and end birthrights.
16
Jack Ma predicts that in only 10 to 20 years, robots will replace so many American workers that jobs will only offer 3 to 4 hours of work per day. Will Americans migrate south to countries that have not displaced the workforce with robots? Perhaps in only a decade, American workers will be the illegals searching for economic opportunity because nothing is available here.
2
I have yet to figure out how non-Native Americans who hail from another continent have the gall to consider themselves "Nativists" in this "New World". This land was extremely diverse the moment the Pilgrims landed here. Most African Americans and Hispanics Americans have been in North America long before many people of European ancestry here and Asian Americans helped build the infrastructure of the West. If this diversity makes some non Native American "Nativists" uncomfortable thats fine-they can always go back to where their Non-Native American ancestors came from- that includes Mr. Trump nee Drumpf whose grandfather Friedrich crossed without papers back and forth from Germany eluding authorities and whose mother is a Scottish immigrant. It also includes his East European born wives, one of whom was apparently working illegally on her visa and would be deported by the standards of this administration and Neo-Confederates like Jeff Sessions.
4
What a joke. This is just window dressing. Until the politicians make it illegal to hire illegal immigrant labor and actually punish the businesses that do there will be no effect on illegal immigration whatsoever. They won't do it because the business-class won't allow it. The business-class loves illegal immigrants because they can work them like dogs at below regulated rates and if any of them complain they can turn them over to ICE. It's wonderful for them, and bad for anyone out there who believes that workers are entitled to fair treatment and the rule of law.
Illegal immigration is a huge problem but it's complete folly to expect the political right to actually do anything about it. Their benefactors getting are rich off illegal immigrant labor, and those business benefactors are going to make damn sure nothing is done to interfere with that.
Illegal immigration is a huge problem but it's complete folly to expect the political right to actually do anything about it. Their benefactors getting are rich off illegal immigrant labor, and those business benefactors are going to make damn sure nothing is done to interfere with that.
4
These folks are a picture of fear in display. Sadly, their fear will doom America to become a second rated country with a graying population while other countries will no doubt use this opportunity to absorb the youthful energy of struggling immigrants. Just imagine how many Einsteins and Steve Jobs to which America would shut her door! And Elon Musks and even Peter Thiels. It is ironic that Thiel decided to hedge his bet with a New Zealand citizenship. Such is the stupidity of fear
3
Reminder. Roughly half the US voted for Mr. Trump, even if you nor any of your friends did. The "fear and stupidity" argument is insulting to Americans who voted in their personal interests.
The "youthful energy" you speak of are the people who left their country to pick tomatoes at a 1.50 an acre. Steve Jobs was educated, the bulk of illegals aren't.
The "youthful energy" you speak of are the people who left their country to pick tomatoes at a 1.50 an acre. Steve Jobs was educated, the bulk of illegals aren't.
12
Net migration from Mexico to the US is negative. Studies of all Latin immigration populations show that these people are either highly skilled (college education) or very low skilled (no high school or no HS diploma).
There is little basis in the data to support the position that immigrants are taking blue collar jobs from US high school educated workers. Here in California, all the contractors I hire to work on my house are white, native born blue collar tradesman that own their own business. The people that show up to do the work are Latinos.
These subcontractors have a nice middle class life because they can rely on cheaper immigrant labor. When I talk to the workmen they say they have worked for their employer for many years, I simply don't see a downside to immigration in my day to day life here in California. Just the opposite.
There is little basis in the data to support the position that immigrants are taking blue collar jobs from US high school educated workers. Here in California, all the contractors I hire to work on my house are white, native born blue collar tradesman that own their own business. The people that show up to do the work are Latinos.
These subcontractors have a nice middle class life because they can rely on cheaper immigrant labor. When I talk to the workmen they say they have worked for their employer for many years, I simply don't see a downside to immigration in my day to day life here in California. Just the opposite.
4
The downsides are there, you just don't see them -- and probably don't want to imagine them.
For example, you seem to think it's great that there's one American owner and who has a workforce of foreign workers.
What about the American workers who would have loved to have a good paying construction job? What do you imagine they are doing instead? How many are making far less working in service jobs?
The same holds for the descendants of all of today's immigrants. What's your plan for the children and grandchildren of today's immigrant construction workers? You don't want them in construction, you'd rather continue importing foreign workers.
How long can our economy function with tens of millions of underemployed and unemployed people sitting on the sidelines as our elites continue to support bringing in tens of millions of new immigrant workers?
How long can our society function with American citizens' rights to work at good jobs in their own country taken away?
It makes me sad and mad to realize that building professionals work within this unjust system every day and defend it to themselves by saying we can take away all the American workers' jobs and as long as the contractors are American, everything's fine.
For example, you seem to think it's great that there's one American owner and who has a workforce of foreign workers.
What about the American workers who would have loved to have a good paying construction job? What do you imagine they are doing instead? How many are making far less working in service jobs?
The same holds for the descendants of all of today's immigrants. What's your plan for the children and grandchildren of today's immigrant construction workers? You don't want them in construction, you'd rather continue importing foreign workers.
How long can our economy function with tens of millions of underemployed and unemployed people sitting on the sidelines as our elites continue to support bringing in tens of millions of new immigrant workers?
How long can our society function with American citizens' rights to work at good jobs in their own country taken away?
It makes me sad and mad to realize that building professionals work within this unjust system every day and defend it to themselves by saying we can take away all the American workers' jobs and as long as the contractors are American, everything's fine.
5
As someone who has traversed the US/Mexican border in Arizona end to end, (420 miles) reported on immigration since 1974 and have spent countless hours conversing with immigrants, legal and not, in both English and Spanish, i will emphatically tell you they would not be here if not for jobs.
Those jobs are supplied by countless employers exploiting cheap labor. Yet we go after the weakest of weakest links instead of those at the root of the problem. Pursue the employers rather than build a wall and hire a 10,000 person deportation force at exorbitant cost, then the problem will be contained. Anything else is a fool's errand.
Those jobs are supplied by countless employers exploiting cheap labor. Yet we go after the weakest of weakest links instead of those at the root of the problem. Pursue the employers rather than build a wall and hire a 10,000 person deportation force at exorbitant cost, then the problem will be contained. Anything else is a fool's errand.
19
Immigration and trade have hallowed out the middle class. America has had nothing resembling a sane policy for twenty five years. A quarter of Mexico now resides outside Mexico, most in the US. Was their an election where this was decided. Immigration is a good thing when wages are rising too fast or economic activity is moving abroad due to labor shortages or skilled workers are brought in. Instead we have made it more difficult for law abiding immigrants and allowed endless low wage immigration. How will we fund our bloated pension and SS obligations with workers making less than retiring workers?
20
Reading some of the comments here one can understand why Trump won.If readers of the NYT can have such views about Mexicans who are relatively easy to integrate one can very well imagine more Democrats than one could imagine voting for Trump.
9
" . . . inflammatory statements and shared nativist roots?"
Of course - it's the NYT.
Nothing has done more to diminish the quality of life for the US middle class through higher housing (land) costs, competition for jobs, low wages, greater poverty, mortgage fraud, medicare fraud, crime, disease, cost of public schools, cost of college, depletion of resources, burden on the taxpayer and overall congestion than the INCREASE of and change in the nature (more poor, more criminals, e pluribus multum) of the POPULATION since 1965, driven almost entirely by entry of migrants and their descendants (immigrants, h1b visa holders, visa overstays, refugees, etc)
Because we are overpopulated, millions of young people graduating this year will never be able to buy a home in the town where they were born. What sort of person wishes for that?
The high price of housing is a major factor in poorer quality of life for the middle class and the poor. Population density is the main driver of the price of land, and thus the price of housing. High immigration is the main driver of population density.
See, for example, Immigration and the revival of American Cities by Jacob L. Vigdor for the Americas Society/Council of the Americas and the Partnership for a New American Economy, in which he claims that more than 40 million immigrants currently in the united states have increased housing prices nationwide by $3.7 trillion.
Of course - it's the NYT.
Nothing has done more to diminish the quality of life for the US middle class through higher housing (land) costs, competition for jobs, low wages, greater poverty, mortgage fraud, medicare fraud, crime, disease, cost of public schools, cost of college, depletion of resources, burden on the taxpayer and overall congestion than the INCREASE of and change in the nature (more poor, more criminals, e pluribus multum) of the POPULATION since 1965, driven almost entirely by entry of migrants and their descendants (immigrants, h1b visa holders, visa overstays, refugees, etc)
Because we are overpopulated, millions of young people graduating this year will never be able to buy a home in the town where they were born. What sort of person wishes for that?
The high price of housing is a major factor in poorer quality of life for the middle class and the poor. Population density is the main driver of the price of land, and thus the price of housing. High immigration is the main driver of population density.
See, for example, Immigration and the revival of American Cities by Jacob L. Vigdor for the Americas Society/Council of the Americas and the Partnership for a New American Economy, in which he claims that more than 40 million immigrants currently in the united states have increased housing prices nationwide by $3.7 trillion.
21
Please stop using language disingenuously. They are illegal aliens. The law describes people who are non citizens as aliens. Please speak and write the truth.
35
I'm happy to see the immigration laws enforced like all other laws in this country.We are supposedly a nation of laws including immigration laws. Crossing the border illegally is a federal crime. Crossing illegally after being deported is a federal felony. If you do not like the current immigration laws the lawful thing to do is to get Congress to change the law. If Congress won't change the law. Then you get the people to elect a new Congress. What you do not do is create a program in the Executive branch with the help of non citizen lawbreakers (DACA) that is designed to go around the Congress and the American people. Immigration "reform" failed again because people do not want another amnesty. Due to the corruption and dishonesty associated with the 1986 amnesty.An amnesty we were assured would be the LAST amnesty. The lawlessness and dishonesty of the last administration regarding illegal aliens and immigration "reform" contributed to the election of President Trump.Many taxpayers are fed up with subsidizing illegal aliens.
35
Really the middle class subsidizes the wealthy. They benefit from the cheaper labor.
2
So many parts of our economy depend on migrant workers that, with the current fear and racism driven immigration policy initiatives from Trump, we can only be seen as slowly shooting ourselves in both feet. Agriculture in all parts of the country and seasonal tourist industries like those on Cape Cod all depend on immigrant labor. You cannot find enough Americans at any wage to pick fruit in 100 degree weather. For the importance of their contributions to our society, these migrant workers are woefully underpaid. Now we will devalue them further by refusing them entry. Trump himself has relied on migrant labor at many of his properties. He'll satisfy some of his base as well as the truly ignorant hard liners described here. But he'll do enormous damage in the bargain.
13
Convicted murderers should be compelled to pick fruits, vegetables, hard labor (infrastructure). 20 yrs. hard labor, then released. Legal immigrants/ Nativists would then have plausible grounds for monthly guaranteed income.
2
The three decades . . . from the mid forties to the mid seventies, were the golden age of manual labor."
* * * Why were times so good for blue collar workers? To some extent they were helped by the state of the world economy. * * *
They were also helped by a scarcity of labor created by the severe immigration restrictions imposed by the Immigration Act of 1924." Paul Krugman, Conscience of a Liberal, Chapter 3 (pages 48-49)
* * * Why were times so good for blue collar workers? To some extent they were helped by the state of the world economy. * * *
They were also helped by a scarcity of labor created by the severe immigration restrictions imposed by the Immigration Act of 1924." Paul Krugman, Conscience of a Liberal, Chapter 3 (pages 48-49)
10
Actually, that's what they have been doing. Only now it will be much harder if not impossible to get here in the first place. Agricultural states are scrambling to find help.
3
Could the Times (or someone familiar with it) explain the way the immigration court system is set up? The Constitution gives Congress the power to determine how the courts are set up, but did Congress write a blank check to the executive branch so that the president could expand the immigration court system at any point, so long as they have the money? That doesn't seem right, but that's the impression I get from the article, when it says the DOJ is "hiring" (an odd word, because generally we say the president appointed, not hired) more immigration judges. Could someone please clear this up for me?
3
We must not confuse anti immigration with legal immigration and illegal immigration with immigration or undocumented aliens. The US is an abundantly welcoming, generous and caring society. Once illegals enter unlawfully they are captured and released on their own recognizance with a promise to return for their court date; many do not. It is this experience with american immigration law that not only encourages illegal entry but also has little punitive measures and deterrence to repeat offenders. Pro illegal immigration proponents state that they pay taxes and contribute to the American economy, doing jobs that Americans won't do!. Their jobs are laborious and back breaking; as is coal mining! The key is to increase wages so that Americans feel the job is worth doing temporarily and stop the surplus of unskilled illegal aliens. America is a great country and many do want to migrate here; but a vast majority do it legally. Many would argue, illegals flee from deplorable conditions and suffer political oppression; yet when it is time to plea their case in court, they refuse to show up for their court date. It is time to enforce the laws; be honest and state that illegal immigrants forged documents, steal identities or prefabricate documents in order to stay in the nation illegally; all of these actions are felonies. Proponents would state it is illegal-immigration ingenuity and victimless crimes. Either we our a nation of laws and borders or we our not.
24
Reading some of these comments makes one realize how much people are influenced by sound bites about immigrants that are designed to get an emotional reaction and avoid presenting the whole picture on immigration.
Most illegal immigrants overstay their visas after flying here, not swimming across the Rio Grande.
You think only Hispanic looking people are illegal immigrants? Bet most commenters couldn't quote the statistics on the number of illegal immigrants from Ireland, Poland, Canada, Italy and other nations with Caucasian people, but those people are "illegal" too.
Oh but wait, those are "good" illegal immigrants, right? So some of them speak English with an accent, but otherwise who cares if they're illegal, they deserve a chance to make it here too.
The Stephen Millers of the world have no problem with white illegal immigrants, they just don't like legal or illegal immigrants of color.
Some of us would like the anti-immigration folks to stick to the facts and stop using hysteria to hide their racist beliefs.
Most illegal immigrants overstay their visas after flying here, not swimming across the Rio Grande.
You think only Hispanic looking people are illegal immigrants? Bet most commenters couldn't quote the statistics on the number of illegal immigrants from Ireland, Poland, Canada, Italy and other nations with Caucasian people, but those people are "illegal" too.
Oh but wait, those are "good" illegal immigrants, right? So some of them speak English with an accent, but otherwise who cares if they're illegal, they deserve a chance to make it here too.
The Stephen Millers of the world have no problem with white illegal immigrants, they just don't like legal or illegal immigrants of color.
Some of us would like the anti-immigration folks to stick to the facts and stop using hysteria to hide their racist beliefs.
41
Stop calling them anti immigrant. They are anti illegal alien.
17
Anne you make an interesting point here. My experience over the years has been that much anti-hispanic feeling is caused by the unwillingness of this group to speak English in public. Young families in the supermarket speaking Spanish to their children, teens at the bus stop conversing in Spanish, and so on, all perfectly fluent in English. The impression given is : We are just here for the money, we have no intention of abandoning our culture or assimilating except to the degree necessary to the marketplace. This attitude prevents the building of common culture. Shared language has always been the goal. What we have now is a problem of sheer numbers of people who feel no need or obligation to assimilate to a shared culture.
2
Anne, ILLEGAL is ILLEGAL no matter where you came from. Please as most left-wingers do don't make this a racial issue it isn't. Its an issue of is a country allowed to control its own borders and is the rule of law for everyone?
I am sure you are a proponent of open borders and that even criminals should be able to stay here. Please point out an street gang that is predominantly Norwegian or Irish that has caused the crime problems of those from Mexico or Central America. They just happen to be Hispanic yes. But crime is crime.
Get off the soap box you leftists love to speak from. OBEY the law and you are welcome here. You choose not to listen to this because it doesn't fit your far left agenda.
I am sure you are a proponent of open borders and that even criminals should be able to stay here. Please point out an street gang that is predominantly Norwegian or Irish that has caused the crime problems of those from Mexico or Central America. They just happen to be Hispanic yes. But crime is crime.
Get off the soap box you leftists love to speak from. OBEY the law and you are welcome here. You choose not to listen to this because it doesn't fit your far left agenda.
1
Eliminate "birthright citizenship" and they'll stop coming.
42
Anerica is in need of immigration reform, it should look to the immigration acts of the 1920s as models. Thank you.
18
A lot of the comments here want to draw a clear line between legal and illegal immigration.
Really? Cause this is legal immigration:
- meat processing plants are finding it hard to attract American workers. Instead of raising wages, they get visas and bring in immigrants from places where life is so hard, pig factory jobs seem great at any wage. The company actually has people on staff that help these folks fill out food stamp and other benefit paperwork when they get here.
- large trucking companies don't want to pay drivers for sitting for two days waiting on a load. They don't want to pay them when Walmart takes 4 hours to unload them. They think scheduling them go home once every EIGHT weeks is too onerous. American driver's expect to be treated better than that. So, same deal.
Illegal immigration can drive down wages, too. But I am more angered with corporate "makers" that don't mind savaging wages in an entire industry in search of ever higher profits for their CEO's than I am over hard working folks searching for a better life.
I'm up for true discussions about immigration. But
as long as immigration activists frame their opposition in angry, race-based arguments, I'm going to dismiss them.
Arrogant white people who don't think any other race can compare. (Please. These folks are usually the lowest achieving whites in the country.)
Same reason why the confederate flag flys over the crappiest trailer in the park.
Really? Cause this is legal immigration:
- meat processing plants are finding it hard to attract American workers. Instead of raising wages, they get visas and bring in immigrants from places where life is so hard, pig factory jobs seem great at any wage. The company actually has people on staff that help these folks fill out food stamp and other benefit paperwork when they get here.
- large trucking companies don't want to pay drivers for sitting for two days waiting on a load. They don't want to pay them when Walmart takes 4 hours to unload them. They think scheduling them go home once every EIGHT weeks is too onerous. American driver's expect to be treated better than that. So, same deal.
Illegal immigration can drive down wages, too. But I am more angered with corporate "makers" that don't mind savaging wages in an entire industry in search of ever higher profits for their CEO's than I am over hard working folks searching for a better life.
I'm up for true discussions about immigration. But
as long as immigration activists frame their opposition in angry, race-based arguments, I'm going to dismiss them.
Arrogant white people who don't think any other race can compare. (Please. These folks are usually the lowest achieving whites in the country.)
Same reason why the confederate flag flys over the crappiest trailer in the park.
15
Tired of hearing " but they're breaking the law " about people entering the country illegally from people who bet with bookies , work " off the books " , bootleg cable TV , text while driving all the time red lights , drive with no licenses or insurance , use other people's ID to go to the doctor cause they don't have medical insurance , steal from their job by taking light bulbs ; toilet paper etc . , beat up their wives and a thousand other examples !
8
Implying that these people don't get punished when they're caught. Breaking into the United States of America isn't comparable to stealing lightbulbs, moral relativism of this degree reflects a mental issue.
5
Too bad they're doing stupid things instead. They should be enforcing eVerify with a vengeance, not building a useless stupid wall.
7
"“You would have to go to the 1920s and 1930s to find a comparable period in which you could point to people within the executive agencies and the White House who favored significant restrictions,” Mr. Tichenor said. …"
Eisenhower, for one. Too bad my fave Dem congresswoman Barbara Jordan never ran for president- great restrictionist there.
Eisenhower, for one. Too bad my fave Dem congresswoman Barbara Jordan never ran for president- great restrictionist there.
9
The American natives would posit that all of European decent here are illegal immigrants.
6
American natives came from Asia. Been here a lot longer than those of European decent but still illegal immigrants based on your logic.
10
If only they had won the American Indian Wars. Unfortunately, most countries we see today are products of warfare. Natives lose the war they lose the land, its happened a thousand times before them.
1
Everybody talks about how "Those jobs aren't coming back." It's a knowledge economy. What's the point of recruiting uneducated Central Americans who can't speak English? Unemployment is 20%-40% in Spain among 20-30 years olds, depending how you measure it. They speak English. (And Spanish.) They've been to college. A lot have finished grad school. Why don't you want them?
10
The Southern Poverty Law Center has done heroic work down through the decades. They shouldn't, however, determine for all Americans what is right and fair in our laws and policies.
We have allowed low-wage immigrants to come over from Mexico because the affluent of this rich nation, and especially California, refuse to pay fair wages to American-born workers to do the same work.
Further, the affluent of California simply will not have low-income, low-education white or black Americans roaming their homes and properties, touching their things and witnessing up close all that they have. What a sad societal breakdown that reveals.
Latinos, OTOH, who come across the border are perfectly prepared for the work that awaits them here. They work hard, network easily with each other, and they seem to be born and bred to quietly serve the affluent who employ them to enable privileged lives in exquisite surroundings. They don't look you in the eye. They don't ask you what you thought of the Lakers game last night. The work gets done and then they're gone.
There are, on average, less than 100,000 homes with a value of $1M or more in New York, Illinois, Texas, Mass., and Florida. There are almost 900K in California alone with many more right under $1M. All with maids, nannies, groundskeepers. The story of illegal immigration and the wealth and power behind it begins and ends in California. But sorry, it is NOT a story about generous left-coasters with only the best intentions.
We have allowed low-wage immigrants to come over from Mexico because the affluent of this rich nation, and especially California, refuse to pay fair wages to American-born workers to do the same work.
Further, the affluent of California simply will not have low-income, low-education white or black Americans roaming their homes and properties, touching their things and witnessing up close all that they have. What a sad societal breakdown that reveals.
Latinos, OTOH, who come across the border are perfectly prepared for the work that awaits them here. They work hard, network easily with each other, and they seem to be born and bred to quietly serve the affluent who employ them to enable privileged lives in exquisite surroundings. They don't look you in the eye. They don't ask you what you thought of the Lakers game last night. The work gets done and then they're gone.
There are, on average, less than 100,000 homes with a value of $1M or more in New York, Illinois, Texas, Mass., and Florida. There are almost 900K in California alone with many more right under $1M. All with maids, nannies, groundskeepers. The story of illegal immigration and the wealth and power behind it begins and ends in California. But sorry, it is NOT a story about generous left-coasters with only the best intentions.
28
Fascinating take. I hope the NYT will send an enterprising reporter or two to California to look into this untold aspect of the 1%'s support for illegal immigration.
10
It is refreshing to see the New York Times present the other side of the immigration debate. For too long I have had to read comments from Democrats seething in fury about how this country was built by immigrants and that there was no difference between illegal and legal immigrants. Well, simply put, illegal immigrants have broken United States law and must be deported. Legal immigrants should be made welcome, providing they learn English, respect our way of life, are not jihadists and want to work.
22
As long as Democrats believe "rights for undocumented immigrants" is a core issue for their party- they will continue to lose elections. What Nancy Pelosi et al- doesn't realize is many American Latinos don't think too favorably of undocumented Latinos who freeload off THEIR tax dollars.
26
"An outspoken opponent of illegal immigration"... I'm sorry--do people advocate for illegal immigration?
18
You bet they do. Read some of these comments. Listen to supporters of sanctuary cities and open borders. Of course there are advocates for illegal immigration. One could also assert that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce takes positions that do, in effect, advocate for illegal immigration.
8
So much for "draining the swamp."
1
Hmmm, "ideas"?
I suspect that's using a bit too strong a term for what is basically racist rhetorical claptrap, recycled and cleaned up a bit for wider exposure to a far too gullible public.
Even if there were a magical solution (there's not, so that's why it's "magical") that would instantly deport everyone without the proper papers, it would change virtually nothing about most of the problems commonly ascribed to those called "illegals" and make very little difference even where there was a shred of basis to the mostly fictional fear-mongering that is the primary product of such schemes.
Disreputable capitalists would still ship US jobs overseas.
Plenty of US-grown cannabis around, so why buy fuinky imports, whoever brought them over the border?
Folks that look and speak differently than white people do will still be moving in next door.
And many Americans will still speak Spanish as their first language -- and in public, to boot! You should've studied your high school Spanish harder.
And the vast majority of crime has always been conducted by citizens -- and still will be.
Racist and divisive political memes ungrounded in reality have no place in public policy. They undermine the idea of a great nation by reducing our politics to a cheap dog-and-pony show that spouts racism disguised as patriotism.
I suspect that's using a bit too strong a term for what is basically racist rhetorical claptrap, recycled and cleaned up a bit for wider exposure to a far too gullible public.
Even if there were a magical solution (there's not, so that's why it's "magical") that would instantly deport everyone without the proper papers, it would change virtually nothing about most of the problems commonly ascribed to those called "illegals" and make very little difference even where there was a shred of basis to the mostly fictional fear-mongering that is the primary product of such schemes.
Disreputable capitalists would still ship US jobs overseas.
Plenty of US-grown cannabis around, so why buy fuinky imports, whoever brought them over the border?
Folks that look and speak differently than white people do will still be moving in next door.
And many Americans will still speak Spanish as their first language -- and in public, to boot! You should've studied your high school Spanish harder.
And the vast majority of crime has always been conducted by citizens -- and still will be.
Racist and divisive political memes ungrounded in reality have no place in public policy. They undermine the idea of a great nation by reducing our politics to a cheap dog-and-pony show that spouts racism disguised as patriotism.
12
So what you're saying is anyone that wants a border and thinks America should serve Americans is bad. Do I have that right? Do Americans have ANY special privileges in America or is that racist?
Nice avatar. Just say it, you're a communist and private property and borders are bourgeois concepts. Your ideas have no place in America, they are provably false, always lead to violence and supremely hypocritical. Yes, yes, true communism has never been tried, we know.
Nice avatar. Just say it, you're a communist and private property and borders are bourgeois concepts. Your ideas have no place in America, they are provably false, always lead to violence and supremely hypocritical. Yes, yes, true communism has never been tried, we know.
13
If your concern was living in a Third World country, you shouldn't have elected Trump. Give the man 4 years and we'll be there, even if he deports everyone he wants to next week. And Dave, most other countries also have the undocumented around, they just don't obsess about it or try to blame all their problems on the "other." Last time I checked, Americans still run our government and create 99% of our problems.
Or do you still believe that tax cuts for the wealthy trickle down to us working folks? Some folks are still waiting on that to happen with Reagan's tax cuts. The less foolish never believed any of that. The wealthy can wait on tax cuts, why not cut taxes on working folks first? The Donald will have to answer that one right after he finishes cutting taxes on corporations, which, umm, aren't even people, but who apparently need it them more than you do.
Or do you still believe that tax cuts for the wealthy trickle down to us working folks? Some folks are still waiting on that to happen with Reagan's tax cuts. The less foolish never believed any of that. The wealthy can wait on tax cuts, why not cut taxes on working folks first? The Donald will have to answer that one right after he finishes cutting taxes on corporations, which, umm, aren't even people, but who apparently need it them more than you do.
1
Most of the people saying this is about "enforcing the law" and saying they are only against "illegal immigration" either did not bother reading the article (hello Breitbart trolls) or blocked out important parts like this one to avoid cognitive dissonance.
Dr. Tanton, leading figure in organizations discussed in this article, is described as corresponding with white nationalists and quoted as saying, “For European-American society and culture to persist requires a European-American majority, and a clear one at that.”
Dr. Tanton is at least honest about his motivations than the "it's only about enforcing the law" crowd.
Dr. Tanton, leading figure in organizations discussed in this article, is described as corresponding with white nationalists and quoted as saying, “For European-American society and culture to persist requires a European-American majority, and a clear one at that.”
Dr. Tanton is at least honest about his motivations than the "it's only about enforcing the law" crowd.
5
What is wrong with native Americans wanting native Americans on reservations in the US? Is there anything wrong with Jews who want their children to marry those who were raised in Jewish families? Or for the Amish to marry the Amish? If they do not, will their culture disappear? If we admit millions of Indian immigrants will they seek to maintain their culture? If they do, will our culture persist?
Enough of us have decided that the outcome of multicuultuturalsim is Balkanization and chaos not unity and harmony among people with differences. Once again the idealism of liberalism runs into the reality of human nature. Just as communism is evil because it denies the true nature of humanity multiculturalism is evil because it fails to allow cultures to flourish. Multiculturalism is the destruction of families.
Enough of us have decided that the outcome of multicuultuturalsim is Balkanization and chaos not unity and harmony among people with differences. Once again the idealism of liberalism runs into the reality of human nature. Just as communism is evil because it denies the true nature of humanity multiculturalism is evil because it fails to allow cultures to flourish. Multiculturalism is the destruction of families.
1
The problem of illegal immigration has not been addressed during the last 30 years and now the people are fed up. I remember the late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan of Texas trying to get both Democrats and Republicans to address this issue.
As a Democrat, I do not agree with Trump on much, but someone has to fix this illegal immigration problem.
As a Democrat, I do not agree with Trump on much, but someone has to fix this illegal immigration problem.
20
This issue has festered so long as the economy grew accustomed to cheap labor. When a person is deported after living here for decades, becoming a part of their community and raising a family then being removed to a country they do not know nor speak the language, we do not gain as a country. I say deport anyone who feds at the public trough, rich or poor.
2
When was the last time we had an in-depth discussion about how many new people we should be taking in each year?
Um..... nobody can remember?
It's because we are going back to the 1990s -- to a commission headed by Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Jordan. And guess what? Its recommendations were mostly ignored.
It's high time that discussion of immigration included a range of voices, including those who want tough questions answered.
I welcome those voices within the Trump administration. It's one of the reasons this non-conservative Democrat voted for him.
Um..... nobody can remember?
It's because we are going back to the 1990s -- to a commission headed by Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Jordan. And guess what? Its recommendations were mostly ignored.
It's high time that discussion of immigration included a range of voices, including those who want tough questions answered.
I welcome those voices within the Trump administration. It's one of the reasons this non-conservative Democrat voted for him.
20
If illegal immigration is truly the problem, rather skin color or religious preference, there is a simple solution at hand. Stop U.S. employers from hiring anyone with proper I.D. Not just the landscaper or the painting contractors, but corporate farms, companies working on local, state or federal contracts and politicians and the elite importing and enslaving nannies, cooks and maids.
In this time of electronic money transfers, require individuals or companies withdrawing more than a specified amount in cash from bank accounts to explain the purpose. It can be done. You can't buy a money order for more than a minimum amount and that requires I.D. I can't make a cash deposit into a relative's account as a gift if I'm not listed on the account. So why is it O.K. that Ace Painting withdraws $2000 or more every Friday morning and the IRS and HHS don't care at all.
Lobbyists will stop any effort to cut off the supply of cash to illegal workers because of the tax savings and lack of regulation of treatment of workers. And, politicians really don't want to take on businesses of any size.
It's simple==no under the table pay equals substantial loss of incentive to cross the border. Set up a guest worker program, require businesses to pay all workers a fair wage and provide benefits such as workers comp. and overtime.
But, I know, where's the fun in that? Nobody gets a lot of air time and donations being rational
In this time of electronic money transfers, require individuals or companies withdrawing more than a specified amount in cash from bank accounts to explain the purpose. It can be done. You can't buy a money order for more than a minimum amount and that requires I.D. I can't make a cash deposit into a relative's account as a gift if I'm not listed on the account. So why is it O.K. that Ace Painting withdraws $2000 or more every Friday morning and the IRS and HHS don't care at all.
Lobbyists will stop any effort to cut off the supply of cash to illegal workers because of the tax savings and lack of regulation of treatment of workers. And, politicians really don't want to take on businesses of any size.
It's simple==no under the table pay equals substantial loss of incentive to cross the border. Set up a guest worker program, require businesses to pay all workers a fair wage and provide benefits such as workers comp. and overtime.
But, I know, where's the fun in that? Nobody gets a lot of air time and donations being rational
3
Need to correct an error It should read .."stop employers from hiring anyone WITHOUT proper I.D....'.not even Freudian, just careless editing.
1
Make America White and Protestant again = The Trump Agenda. This is beginning to sound like the 4th Reich.
16
Please, the comparison to Nazi Germany is ludicrous and insulting to the millions who died in the Holocaust. Where are the gas chambers, crematoriums, firing squads and yellow stars? Instead, we have illegals bold enough to protest in the street demanding rights they do not have and should not have. Reality check.
18
Since Ann Coulter is possibly speaking at Berkeley I looked at her last column. She wrote about how the Sierra Club for years was against illegal immigration because it damaged the environment but after a large 110 million donation they stopped railing against immigration Her basic premise is, "Mass Third World immigration is a triple whammy for the environment because:
1) Millions more people are tromping through our country;
2) The new people do not share Americans’ love of nature and cleanliness; and
3) We’re not allowed to criticize them."
Apparently the culture of many illegal immigrants is different in that they litter a lot. Many of the areas they track through by the southern border is full of garbage. I have heard this argument before looking at the environmental aspects of increased immigration such as increased air pollution from an increase of cars, heating, air conditioning etc. of course anti immigration supporters mention increased crime and exploitation of illegal immigrants. Apparently 80% of women brought in illegally are raped or sexually abused by the people who smuggle them in. We have of course heard about other crimes committed and violent gangs who bring in drugs etc. But then on the other side there are many good immigrants. Maybe the issue now is how many immigrants do we need. Do we have full employment for citizens? Do we want criminal illegals in the country? Does a country have a right to control who enters it?
1) Millions more people are tromping through our country;
2) The new people do not share Americans’ love of nature and cleanliness; and
3) We’re not allowed to criticize them."
Apparently the culture of many illegal immigrants is different in that they litter a lot. Many of the areas they track through by the southern border is full of garbage. I have heard this argument before looking at the environmental aspects of increased immigration such as increased air pollution from an increase of cars, heating, air conditioning etc. of course anti immigration supporters mention increased crime and exploitation of illegal immigrants. Apparently 80% of women brought in illegally are raped or sexually abused by the people who smuggle them in. We have of course heard about other crimes committed and violent gangs who bring in drugs etc. But then on the other side there are many good immigrants. Maybe the issue now is how many immigrants do we need. Do we have full employment for citizens? Do we want criminal illegals in the country? Does a country have a right to control who enters it?
28
You are citing Ann Coulter as an authority?
3
It used to be there was a temporary worker program, particular used for agriculture. This was eliminated a couple of decades ago. But big and powerful groups, such as farmers, continued to hire people, who were now primarily illegal, and the rich hired illegals for their gardens and to help raise their kids. If people want to be angry about illegal immigration they should point their finger at the rich and overwhelmingly republican groups that perpetuated this system by breaking the law for their considerable financial benefit. It is always easy to pick on the weak in an equation that required both the weak and the strong. But I say shame on you for doing so. Yes, the illegal immigration caused by decades of demand from rich businesses needs to be fixed, and immigration needs to be within the law. So let's go ahead and do that for new immigrants and accept the collective responsibility of the rich for those that are already here.
52
We owe nothing to those who freely broke our laws.
7
It would set a very bad precedent to say, "We'll keep those already here."
There'd be every incentive to keep coming as illegals.
There'd be every incentive to keep coming as illegals.
3
Former President Reagan did this. He took the responsible step and offered citizenship to roughly three million illegals in exchange for tougher border control. Fast forward to April 2017, there are roughly 11 million illegals now, most likely more since there is no real way to keep track. As for the tougher border control, clearly this did not occur because the number of illegal aliens increased not decreased. If breaking immigration law is rewarded with legal status, the result will be more illegal aliens flooding into America. It's time to enforce existing immigration laws. President Trump and his Administration have done this and so far the outcome in a 60% drop in border crossing within the first 90 days.
6
The pro Trump people like to hide behind the facade of opposing illegal immigration. But we all know their true motives. Dr. Tanton's words hit the nail right the head - "For European American society and culture to persist requires a European-American majority."
The legal/illegal immigration debate is a red herring. The real issue is cultural, and racial, purity.
The legal/illegal immigration debate is a red herring. The real issue is cultural, and racial, purity.
26
Why do most people assume that supporters of immigration law enforcement are white? African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic-American, and many people of diverse ethnic background support President Trump's immigration stance, especially those who emigrated here legally. The race card is a weak excuse for enabling law breakers. It is a slap on the wrist for illegal aliens, but a slap in the face for legal immigrants. Yet strange enough, legal immigrants can see through this fallacy.
3
The one thing people do not understand is that you cannot have open borders and the welfare state. These two a mutually exclusive. So you have to decide what do you want - socialism or open borders since you cannot have both.
37
“Trump has put together the people who are taking this thing down to the operating-instruction level."
For those looking for instant gratification, Trump's 100 days can be disappointing. But Trump has a clear long haul plan, and is methodically going about achieving it.
Only a non-politician can afford that patience. Refreshing !
For those looking for instant gratification, Trump's 100 days can be disappointing. But Trump has a clear long haul plan, and is methodically going about achieving it.
Only a non-politician can afford that patience. Refreshing !
9
Here we go again.
Democrats are going to loose another election because of open border, pro-free trade policies.
They dont realize these people do not vote including the ones who got amnesty in 1980s. 33% of Hispanics voted for Trump in this election.
Democrats are going to loose another election because of open border, pro-free trade policies.
They dont realize these people do not vote including the ones who got amnesty in 1980s. 33% of Hispanics voted for Trump in this election.
17
Immigration policy should be thought of as a policy of whom we should admit to make our country better off.
It shouldn't just be a free for all game of whoever can make it over the border or overstay a visa for long enough wins the amnesty prize.
So once we secure the border, let's admit immigrants like we do college students or job applicants--who is going to make our nation stronger and more prosperous.
I for one would prefer a mix of educated immigrants from around the world--let's "brain drain" the rest of the world and be stronger for it.
It shouldn't just be a free for all game of whoever can make it over the border or overstay a visa for long enough wins the amnesty prize.
So once we secure the border, let's admit immigrants like we do college students or job applicants--who is going to make our nation stronger and more prosperous.
I for one would prefer a mix of educated immigrants from around the world--let's "brain drain" the rest of the world and be stronger for it.
23
excellent idea
1
Well, this would have to be a two way street if we would be "stronger for it". We would need to also EXPORT all the very stupid non-contributing people who were born here.
But who shall take them?
But who shall take them?
1
If tomorrow Americans start to cross Mexican border in droves and start working there illegally without paying Taxes, will Mexican gov allow that to happen?
In case you said yes, Mexico does not allow illegal Central American citizens into their country.
They come through traffickers who exploit and rape the victims including un accompanied children after lowering them on false promises.
In case you said yes, Mexico does not allow illegal Central American citizens into their country.
They come through traffickers who exploit and rape the victims including un accompanied children after lowering them on false promises.
24
White people are already invading Mexico ,they are called tourist ,but they are treated better than Mexicans in The U.S.A.
2
tourists hsve money and are desirable
2
Mexicans in Texas are in their Native land.
I see people put on the Nextdoor App the they want a "Spanish Speaking"'Nanny for their kids to learn Spanish. Then a young American girl will reply that I have taken Spanish since elementary school and 4 years of high school including scoring a 5 on the AP Spanish test. Then the seeker of the nanny respondes they want a native born Spanish speaker.
This is all code that they want an illegal nanny, that they don't have to pay the Nanny tax on. That they can pay less than $10 hr. Instead of paying the $15-$18/hr going rate in the area for a legal US citizen for a Nanny in the Buckhead/ Sandy Springs area of Atlanta. These are people who live in $600k to $3.5M plus houses send their kids to $25-30k private schools.
This is all code that they want an illegal nanny, that they don't have to pay the Nanny tax on. That they can pay less than $10 hr. Instead of paying the $15-$18/hr going rate in the area for a legal US citizen for a Nanny in the Buckhead/ Sandy Springs area of Atlanta. These are people who live in $600k to $3.5M plus houses send their kids to $25-30k private schools.
34
I live in L.A. where there are many, many times more Latinos than there were fifty years ago. You know what? They're by and large really good people: hard workers, honest, friendly, family oriented. An immigrant is manytimes more likely to help you on the street than most of the "anti" crowded. BTW Just how many female citizens are ready to do their jobs for their pay. I'm not saying there aren't problems, but their kids will be paying my Social Security. Haters, find something else to hate on and stop being so heartless like you fearless leader, Trump.
25
So they're nice. All nice people who break the law should be allowed to, right?
12
If they're so wonderful, let them be wonderful back in their countries. They have no right to come here after we said no.
17
Individually they are generally good people. But rules are rules and they didn't follow them.
5
The New York Times once knew the difference between legal and illegal immigration. Its reversal on the issue of illegal immigration since becoming a partisan blogsite is remarkable. In February 2000, the New York Times editorialized that “the primary problem with amnesties is that they beget more illegal immigration. Demographers trace the doubling of the number of Mexican immigrants since 1990 in part to the amnesty of the 1980's. Amnesties signal foreign workers that American citizenship can be had by sneaking across the border, or staying beyond the term of one's visa, and hiding out until Congress passes the next amnesty. The 1980's amnesty also attracted a large flow of illegal relatives of those workers who became newly legal. All that is unfair to those who play by the immigration rules and wait years to gain legal admission.”
42
Border does need to be secure ,but put people in charge who are capable and know what they are doing.
1
There are some very hard facts that doom anti-immigration advocates hopes for sustained suppression.
First, to take just one crucial industry, roughly half of U.S agricultural workers are immigrants, many undocumented. Farmers openly acknowledge this.
Secondly, there is geography.
The United States sits on the northern border of Latin America. Start at San Diego, CA, and go south for 6,000 miles, and you will still be in Latin America. Some 620 million people inhabit this region.
Of course, most will not opt to head for the U.S., but so long as this nation offers the promise of a better life, it will continue to attract immigrants. Laws, protests, walls, enforcement officials will slow, but not staunch this flow.
Stealthily, American industries that are heavily dependent on immigrant labor will ensure the labor supply remains plentiful.
This is an economic phenomenon.
Law and politics are just the background noise.
We who have lived near the border for many years have seen this theater of "let's end immigration" and "deport them all." None of it will result in fundamental change.
First, to take just one crucial industry, roughly half of U.S agricultural workers are immigrants, many undocumented. Farmers openly acknowledge this.
Secondly, there is geography.
The United States sits on the northern border of Latin America. Start at San Diego, CA, and go south for 6,000 miles, and you will still be in Latin America. Some 620 million people inhabit this region.
Of course, most will not opt to head for the U.S., but so long as this nation offers the promise of a better life, it will continue to attract immigrants. Laws, protests, walls, enforcement officials will slow, but not staunch this flow.
Stealthily, American industries that are heavily dependent on immigrant labor will ensure the labor supply remains plentiful.
This is an economic phenomenon.
Law and politics are just the background noise.
We who have lived near the border for many years have seen this theater of "let's end immigration" and "deport them all." None of it will result in fundamental change.
39
According to the Pew Research Center, unauthorized immigrants make up 26 percent of U.S. farm workers, but only 4 percent of unauthorized immigrants work on farms. So, we could deport 96 percent of the 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants currently residing in the United State without affecting farms. We could replace the 4 percent who work on farms my expanding the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker visa program or reviving the Braceros program of the 1950s and 60s.
4
Unauthorized immigrants make up 17 percent of America’s agricultural workforce and 26 percent of farm workers. We could deport 83 percent of illegal immigrants without affecting agriculture. Source: Pew Research Center
http://www.pewhispanic.org/2016/11/03/industries-of-unauthorized-immigra...
http://www.pewhispanic.org/2016/11/03/industries-of-unauthorized-immigra...
4
Unless we enforce the law.
2
Ah, there it is again. "Anti-Immigration." Not "Anti-Illegal Immigration", like it should be, but "Anti-Immigration". It's a smart headline - "Anti-Immigration Activists Gain Power to Enact Agenda". All you have to do is just drop these subtle little hints, and it'll condition people to demonize anyone who simple believes that immigrants should come here legally and in manageable numbers. Very smart, indeed...
36
And just how "smart" is it to believe that people who earn $1-$3 "a day" can afford to come here legally? Instead of demonizing these people why don't you see their pioneering spirit that is the same spirit that made this country so appealing to so many?
10
Ok so admit it. You're for open borders. We get it.
6
Oh please. Immigration "reform" groups such as FAIR advocate large scale cutbacks in legal immigration. Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, in a essay published in this paper some weeks back, wrung his hands over the numbers of Third World populations legally immigrating and called for a 'temporary' halt to all immigration. You yourself say immigrants should come here not just legally but in manageable numbers. What's your idea of such a number? Are some groups more 'manageable' than others? What's your criteria for such a distinction?
When there is ongoing and continuous strife ( monetarily, governmental, militarily ) in the world, then where are people supposed to go ?
We are the cause of this and now we want to slam the door and shut our eyes.
We are all human beings part of the same human race. We have the same red color blood pumping through our veins and the same aspirations for ourselves and our families.
The sooner we realize that, the greater the chance we will survive as a species going forward with all the major problems facing us. The stance of; '' I got mine and keep your hands off of it'' is not going to get it done.
It just dooms us all.
We are the cause of this and now we want to slam the door and shut our eyes.
We are all human beings part of the same human race. We have the same red color blood pumping through our veins and the same aspirations for ourselves and our families.
The sooner we realize that, the greater the chance we will survive as a species going forward with all the major problems facing us. The stance of; '' I got mine and keep your hands off of it'' is not going to get it done.
It just dooms us all.
18
Math does not support your claim. If we divide all the wealth equally between all Earth population then everyone will come out dirt poor.
11
@DL false argument.
I am not advocating that everyone make the same. ( nor do I agree with your assumption )
I am talking about ending wars, nationalism and the consumption of everything by the top 1%
I am sure you would agree if your water, earth, and air were no longer clean. How about no job , or working for min. wage. How about your block being bombarded with chemical weapons ?
right.
I am not advocating that everyone make the same. ( nor do I agree with your assumption )
I am talking about ending wars, nationalism and the consumption of everything by the top 1%
I am sure you would agree if your water, earth, and air were no longer clean. How about no job , or working for min. wage. How about your block being bombarded with chemical weapons ?
right.
6
President Trump cannot control the borders states Nancy Pelisi. By her line of reasoning, the president is responsible for the 11 million illegal aliens! The border is porous and once crossed, illegals become undocumented, become a part of the American immigration narrative and crimes as identity theft and possession of forged instruments(both felonies) become excusable and part of immigration ingenuity! Either a wall to secure a border or stronger immigration laws with emphasis on catch and deport replacing catch and release; subsequently illegals becoming undocumented and protected by sanctuary cities. The current system is inadequate and not taken seriously by the illegal entrants into our country. Our history is based on legal immigration and respect for laws. Our welcoming nature has been an attraction and our generosity taken advantage of! Our nation is exceptional and welcoming, but as more come in unrestricted, like a sponge reaching a saturation point, it no longer functions properly; so too will become of our nation as resources will become more scarce and the social net overtaxed!
9
Alas, reaching as far back as the Alien & Sedition Act at the close of the eighteenth century, the history of immigration legislation is quite bleak.
The highwater mark, of course, is the Immigration Reform Act of 1965, although it too had its shortcomings.
Although the 1965 law redressed many of the restrictions imposed in 1924, it did not deal with Western Hemisphere nations to the south of the US.
Why? Because Senators -- among them Sam Ervin of NC and Robert Byrd of WVA -- forced the elimination of these key provisions. Much of this turned on the "cheap labor" argument.
President Reagan signed legislation in 1986 offering amnesty to illegal immigrants from the Americas -- especially Mexico -- but it proved an imperfect solution.
Given the notion that the US is a "nation of immigrants," the fact of the matter is that our legislative record is paltry with scant prospects for achieving genuine reform.
The highwater mark, of course, is the Immigration Reform Act of 1965, although it too had its shortcomings.
Although the 1965 law redressed many of the restrictions imposed in 1924, it did not deal with Western Hemisphere nations to the south of the US.
Why? Because Senators -- among them Sam Ervin of NC and Robert Byrd of WVA -- forced the elimination of these key provisions. Much of this turned on the "cheap labor" argument.
President Reagan signed legislation in 1986 offering amnesty to illegal immigrants from the Americas -- especially Mexico -- but it proved an imperfect solution.
Given the notion that the US is a "nation of immigrants," the fact of the matter is that our legislative record is paltry with scant prospects for achieving genuine reform.
7
Cold hard fact: the U.S. has been in a steady decline ever since the Reform Act of 1965. While earlier immigrants fought for their rights, forming necessary ethnic gangs to compete with/against WASP banksters, the new breed relied on government handouts. Also, once successful the concept of noblesse oblige doesn't exist amongst successful former subalterns. Why after 50 years the absence of an Asian , Hispanic version of JFK?
1
Americans are reluctant to support another amnesty for unauthorized immigrants because they know open border advocates will work to thwart efforts to curtail future illegal immigration. In 1986, we granted amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants based on promises that the federal government would stop future illegal immigration. But a tsunami of illegal immigrants quickly pushed the number of people in the country illegally to more than 11 million. Their unlawful presence proves the federal government alone cannot stop illegal immigration. Before granting another amnesty, we should take measures to stop future illegal immigration. We should empower states, counties and cities to make it unlawful for unauthorized immigrants to reside within their jurisdictions. (Yes. This means local police could ask for proof of citizenship.) We should make E-Verify mandatory nationwide. We should amend or reinterpret the citizenship clause to grant birthright citizenship only to children born to U.S. parents. We should automatically deny asylum to migrants who enter the country unlawfully. (Asylum-seekers should apply for asylum at U.S. embassies in their home countries or at legal ports of entry. Once these measures are in place, we should grant citizenship to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program enrollees and permanent legal residence status to unauthorized immigrants whose children are U.S. citizens.
29
How can a Syrian, an Iranian or a North Korean asylum-seeker can walk-in and apply for asylum in Damascus, Tehran, and Pyongyang if the United States does not have an embassy in those places? How can an asylum-seeker from those countries can obtain a U.S. visa to travel to a U.S. legal port of entry?
We all know this is impossible.
We all know this is impossible.
3
There is no need to grant DACA participants or their parents citizenship. Instead, if the other conditions are met, they can have permanent legal residence status provided they don't commit crimes. Just like the two year status Obama granted them. Their children will be citizens, but they will remain permanent legal aliens.
If we grant citizenship, it will result in another flood of illegal aliens.
If we grant citizenship, it will result in another flood of illegal aliens.
7
Just curious: for birthright citizenship, would you expect both biological parents to be U.S. citizens? What if the biological father has disappeared and the mother has no way of proving his citizenship? Would you expect the parents of a child born via surrogacy (either in vitro with donor sperm, or via a female surrogate and her eggs) to produce the citizenship papers of the (anonymous) male donor or the female surrogate – or is that child just out of luck? What about a child who is adopted, and the biological parents are unknown?
2
Immigration and changing demographics is the only constant we can rely on. You can either rail against it and scapegoat immigrants for all your problems, or you can embrace the rich, multicultural experience of living in America.
A hundred years from now, when Hispanic, Middle-Eastern, and Indian immigrants are as much a part of America as the Irish-Catholics are today, we'll look back and wonder what the fuss was all about. The ultimate rebuttal to the Trump mindset will be time.
A hundred years from now, when Hispanic, Middle-Eastern, and Indian immigrants are as much a part of America as the Irish-Catholics are today, we'll look back and wonder what the fuss was all about. The ultimate rebuttal to the Trump mindset will be time.
47
Just as there is the H1-B Visa program, should a special citizenship application process be set-up for those immigrants here under DACA? Call it the DA-4 American Express...
2
Thank goodness. We all know that every job lost, every crime committed, every marriage dissolved, every high school dropout, every traffic jam encountered, every lost dog, and every bad thing in life is caused by an immigrant.
11
Don't forget stubbed toes, rainy days, and ear wax.
11
Why are you in favor of ILLEGAL immigration?
13
It is ironic that it is the Republicans and the business executives that have turned a blind eye to illegal immigration.
I have a Masters Degree in Construction Engineering, earned in 1983. In 1983 Construction resulted in 1/6 The of our economy. Even in the south in Citiies like Atlanta and Miami/Ft. Lauderdale construction jobs were the ticket to White males especially being able to support their family with middle class jobs. My projects in Atlanta and Ft. Lauderdale a Union Carpenter made $15 hr plus benefits. They got 1-2 weeks vacation. They would earn enough with overtime to buy a new pickup or bass boat in alternate years. I made $25k with maybe a $2k bonus if the job was profitable.
After my first year they started doing some of the jobs out of the non-union shop ( the merit contractor). Sure the carpenters still got $15/hr, but they stopped getting benefits and no vacation ( they wanted us to fire Fred who was a laborer in his 50's, we didn't).
Soon after the sub sub contractors started showing up with Hispanics who were being paid cash. Turner Construction has been found to do this with the Masonry contractor on the Jacksonville Court house, the Cobb County Couthouse, the Falcons stadium. It is common place it is why Carpenters, Masons, Drywall installers in Atlanta and Florida don't even make $15 today. Taxes aren't paid. An engineer is paid $60k out of a top school, shouldn't a carpenter make at least $50k
I have a Masters Degree in Construction Engineering, earned in 1983. In 1983 Construction resulted in 1/6 The of our economy. Even in the south in Citiies like Atlanta and Miami/Ft. Lauderdale construction jobs were the ticket to White males especially being able to support their family with middle class jobs. My projects in Atlanta and Ft. Lauderdale a Union Carpenter made $15 hr plus benefits. They got 1-2 weeks vacation. They would earn enough with overtime to buy a new pickup or bass boat in alternate years. I made $25k with maybe a $2k bonus if the job was profitable.
After my first year they started doing some of the jobs out of the non-union shop ( the merit contractor). Sure the carpenters still got $15/hr, but they stopped getting benefits and no vacation ( they wanted us to fire Fred who was a laborer in his 50's, we didn't).
Soon after the sub sub contractors started showing up with Hispanics who were being paid cash. Turner Construction has been found to do this with the Masonry contractor on the Jacksonville Court house, the Cobb County Couthouse, the Falcons stadium. It is common place it is why Carpenters, Masons, Drywall installers in Atlanta and Florida don't even make $15 today. Taxes aren't paid. An engineer is paid $60k out of a top school, shouldn't a carpenter make at least $50k
12
It's not ironic, it's the plan. Businesses love all of the cheap labor. If you can get a job, you should be able to work on the books. And, the government should shut anyone down who pays off the books.
15
More greed on the part of contractors than anything else.
2
Both parties are guilty of turning a blind eye to illegal immigration. NO doubt there.
Until Trump, every GOP candidate (*who lost) said he was in favor of "a path to citizenship". Pathetic!
The Republicans want cheap labor for their big business donors. The Democrats want a vast tsunami of new voters who will always vote blue blue blue Democratic ticket, and never question. The wealthy Dems also want their cheap nannies and cheap gardeners and cheap housekeepers. They excuse their living like Richie Rich by claiming it's all about "compassion for the immigrant" but it is a self-serving LIE.
Trump is the only one who spoke up for us, the disenfranchised American working class.
Until Trump, every GOP candidate (*who lost) said he was in favor of "a path to citizenship". Pathetic!
The Republicans want cheap labor for their big business donors. The Democrats want a vast tsunami of new voters who will always vote blue blue blue Democratic ticket, and never question. The wealthy Dems also want their cheap nannies and cheap gardeners and cheap housekeepers. They excuse their living like Richie Rich by claiming it's all about "compassion for the immigrant" but it is a self-serving LIE.
Trump is the only one who spoke up for us, the disenfranchised American working class.
4
Euphemism of the decade: "undocumented" as a substitute for "illegal." Why are those who support enforcement of existing federal law labeled as "hard-liners" when those who espouse sanctuary cities and open borders are not? Yes, people principally from Europe conquered Native Americans often committing inhuman crimes and outright genocide. That historical fact has nothing to do with enforcement of long-established immigration laws. After the U.S. became more established, our country has long had immigration laws on the books. For most of our country's history, those who immigrated here did so legally. History informs us that every nation must control its borders or risk great social disruptions, violence, and even its continued existence. Our society should continue to debate questions about immigration policies. We must all bear in mind the need for being compassionate and humane. Being born here was a matter over which none of us had any control. Those not so fortunate are still people. But, concerns about the need for being humane do not justify breaking current laws or enabling others to break those laws. Sanctuary cites/states should be subject to the risk of losing all federal money under every federal program in which they participate. That there are some racists on one side of this debate and some self-haters of Western Civilization on the other side does not make wrong enforcement of racially/ethnically neutral immigration laws already on the books.
21
Looks like this article has attracted all the victims that make up the new right white nationalist party. Poor folks can't get a break can they? Automation is taking your job buckaroo, not brown people.
13
Do you know the difference between legal and illegal? Google it.
9
So if Automation is taking all the low-skill Trump voter jobs, why would you want to bring in EVEN MORE unskilled workers? About 1/2 of all illegal immigrants have LESS than a high school education (~1/4 less than 9th grade.) http://undocumentedpatients.org/issuebrief/demographics-and-socioeconomi...
How does this end well in your mind?
How does this end well in your mind?
12
They do the work you or your pride refuse to take on or quit after a day or two.check it out.
10 years ago, living in an impoverished rural town, barely making ends meet for my family on welfare, I got a partner and we robbed the town bank. we split the cash and I used my share to move my family to the city. I was able to get a job, get my kids into good schools and become part of the community. a week ago, my partner in crime, on his deathbed, confessed to the crime and named me in the crime.
should the police arrest me? or should they let me go free because since committing my crime, I have not committed any others and have led a good life and been part of my community?
should the police arrest me? or should they let me go free because since committing my crime, I have not committed any others and have led a good life and been part of my community?
8
You example doesn't apply to illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants violate immigration laws every day they remain in the United States without authorization. They are violating immigration law at the moment of their arrest.
6
Neither. Decades ago an equally enterprising man robbed New Jersey's casinos, declared bankruptcy, went hat in hand to the IRS and evaded paying taxes for the next decade. He's been an upstanding citizen since though we have to take his word for it.
What an odious comparison, bank robbery and illegal immigration.
What an odious comparison, bank robbery and illegal immigration.
2
And then gamed H2-B where low wage foreigners are concerned to build a resort in Florida.
3
Good to see laws enforced like all other laws in the U.S.
17
Isn't it telling that the left's primary argument in favor of open borders is to accuse opponents of racism and xenophobia?
33
Isn't it telling that the most vocal anti-illegal immigration people are virulent racists like the one mentioned in the article?
2
Legal immigrant here. The current system is a mess that is defined by fees (especially for document processing), long waits, and a very vaguely explained vetting process. Maybe this is why the country has such a giant issue with illegal immigration right now?
Anyways, the talk of "poor muricans competing with unskilled immigrants" is straight from the 1920's. The document processing costs thousands. The work visas are very much intended for skilled jobs, such as programming. In short, it's an outdated and quite frankly insulting notion.
Also, illegal immigration is not legal immigration. Don't lump the respectable senior programmers and their families, who had to deal with all sorts of bull for about ten years in the system, in with those who illegally cross the border.
Anyways, the talk of "poor muricans competing with unskilled immigrants" is straight from the 1920's. The document processing costs thousands. The work visas are very much intended for skilled jobs, such as programming. In short, it's an outdated and quite frankly insulting notion.
Also, illegal immigration is not legal immigration. Don't lump the respectable senior programmers and their families, who had to deal with all sorts of bull for about ten years in the system, in with those who illegally cross the border.
39
The legal immigration system isn't broken. The United States accepts about one million legal immigrants per year. There are big differences between legal and illegal immigration. Legal immigration produces a highly diverse stream of immigrants who come speaking a multitude of languages from a multitude of countries and cultures. Their tremendous diversity encourages them to assimilate and acculturate into American society rather than coalescing in racial and ethnic enclaves. They also tend to possess the skills and education required to flourish in U.S. society. Illegal immigration produces a non-diverse, low-skilled and poorly educated stream of migrants who lack the skills and education required to assimilate, acculturate and flourish in U.S. society.
16
Many people are just as unhappy with "senior programmers" immigrating. My brother-in-law lost his job to outsourcing and spent the last months of his employment training his replacements (all from out of the country). The chain migration of programmers is no different from the chain migration of stonecutters or laborers. Yes, you get paid more, but you are no more or less respectable, please.
12
Chicken and egg problem. It's hard to assimilate when you are illegal and have to hide in the shadows. Look what happened to a couple of family men recently who were business owning community pillars- but illegal. They got deported. All the Little League sponsorships, Fourth of July parade floats and employee pay checks (not to mention taxes paid) didn't help them. No wonder so many stay in the shadows.
2
It's time to put all those Trumpies to work on those jobs that have been denied to them!! Load them on buses and take them to the tomato fields so that they can make America great again.
21
.According to the Pew Research Center, only 4 percent of unauthorized immigrants work on farms. So, we could deport 96 percent of the 11.2 million unauthorized immigrants currently residing in the United State without affecting farms. We could replace the 4 percent who work on farms by expanding the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker visa program or reviving the Braceros program of the 1950s and 60s.
21
Is Don Trump and his minions native Americans from reservations?
No?
Ask them how they would like being deported.
No?
Ask them how they would like being deported.
6
They came here LEGALLY!! What part of illegal don't you understand?
7
Most likely on a boat and processed through Ellis island. All you had to do was show up for the vast majority of our immigration history.
2
@Art: The part that implies that other than Native Americans, everyone else, including you (unless you are one, which I doubt), blowing their tiny trumpets should get off their high horse.
I'd take a thousand undocumented immigrants any day over many of the native-born Americans I've ever had the misfortune to encounter.
ANY day.
ANY day.
11
That doesn't justify being here illegally. Oh and just ask the parents of that illegal immigrant who murdered their daughter or the thousands of people who were killed by illegal immigrants DUI if illegal immigration is harmless.
7
As if one's citizenship status had anything to do with either of those. Care to cite valid statistics on the number of murders or DUI manslaughters committed by undocumented immigrants vs. the rest of the U.S. population? Or do you just want to cherry-pick cases to "prove" your point?
Then perhaps you should leave the US since you don't like the people living in it.
4
I and all other rational americans strongly support all 3 organizations, and will continue to hope they are successful on all 10 priorities, especially terminating the birthright citizenship nonsense. Would also like to see the H1B program ended and all 1 MM H1Bs sent back to India. How sad Google, apple and Micro$oft will have to pay american-level living wages to their fellow citizens.
This is long overdue, wish it had been started 30 years ago.
This is long overdue, wish it had been started 30 years ago.
31
Your family most likely benefited from birthright citizenship, so you want to be grandfathered in, I'm guessing?
2
Actually they didn't, they immigrated over legally 4 generations ago.
But you can keep spouting deflective nonsense, if if helps you feel better. Breathe, breathe....
But you can keep spouting deflective nonsense, if if helps you feel better. Breathe, breathe....
6
I notice that all of these groups talk about punishing and deporting those immigrants who cross the border illegally. Where are the bills/laws against employers who employ the immigrants who are breaking the law? Where are the photos of the factory owners, growers, fast food executives, etc. going to jail , who are rewarding people who break the law? What about the fines? These groups do not care about the American worker,just pushing their agenda.
87
It's against the law to knowingly employed illegal immigrants. The law should be aggressively enforced.
12
Why is it that people like you find excuses for criminals to break the law? Yes, the employers should be punished. It is far more important to penalize and deport the illegals.
10
Both actions must be done simultaneously, fine the employers and deport the illegals, to obtain results.
2
Call me crazy if you will. I don't care, but remember what I told you........
The Devil and his Demons have won power over America and God's nuclear power. We are all in danger from the Fourth Reich whose focus of hatred to gain power is the CHRISTIAN Hispanics.
They will help us when the time comes and the Devils know I know.
That is why the Devils are building a wall and deporting His Panics.
The Devil and his Demons have won power over America and God's nuclear power. We are all in danger from the Fourth Reich whose focus of hatred to gain power is the CHRISTIAN Hispanics.
They will help us when the time comes and the Devils know I know.
That is why the Devils are building a wall and deporting His Panics.
You are crazy. Stop watching late night television.
4
No one who is not a citizen of the United States has any "right" to be in the United States. We through the US Government select permanent residents and thereafter new citizens. The irony of these articles in the NY Times is that those who promote the enforcement of existing immigration laws are considered "hardcore." Would the NY Times consider civil rights activists who advocate the enforcement of existing civil rights laws also to be hardcore? I doubt it.
60
Being here illegally is a misdemeanor, not a crime, and, as has been pointed out ad nauseum, most people who are here illegally are so because they have overstayed their visas.
It really isn't so difficult to calm down, deal with facts, and stop providing cover to the nationalists who are using this non-problem as cover for promoting their sick agenda.
Good grief, I continue to be amazed at the rather large swath of people in this country who haven't even the simplest clue about the immigration issue.
It really isn't so difficult to calm down, deal with facts, and stop providing cover to the nationalists who are using this non-problem as cover for promoting their sick agenda.
Good grief, I continue to be amazed at the rather large swath of people in this country who haven't even the simplest clue about the immigration issue.
8
So you've never broken the speed limit, turned without signaling, or made an illegal u-turn? Even if not, I am willing to bet everything in my wallet most of these law-loving anti-immigration advocates have not. "Enforce the law" is just rhetorical cover. These same groups lobby against LEGAL immigration, too.
2
It may be a minor crime but it is still a crime and it should have consequences. Illegals don't make our laws. We do.
8
And away we go.
When minorities struggle economically, it's because they don't work hard enough, haven't saved enough, have had too many kids, and are relying too much on the government to figure out taxpayer-funded solutions to their preventable problems.
But when whites struggle economically? It's the illegals, depressing wages and stealing jobs, and the government letting them get away with it all. Free things that the rest of us can't have. And on and on and on with the tiny violins...
Meanwhile, the US stole Mexico outright, for two centuries created political shell games that hurt its people, only for the US to currently taunt and shriek at children and their parents coming across the border to seek a better life. So much for this being a Christian nation, as Republicans so claim.
WHY is it so difficult for Republicans to ever cast a merciful lens on the Constitution? WHY can't Republicans ever use that document for anything but meting punishment?
As for "the law is the law," why don't Republicans ever, but EVER, punish corporations that hire undocumented people? I really want to know.
I challenge anyone to provide verifiable evidence that immigration, legal and illegal, is the problem it's made out to be.
When minorities struggle economically, it's because they don't work hard enough, haven't saved enough, have had too many kids, and are relying too much on the government to figure out taxpayer-funded solutions to their preventable problems.
But when whites struggle economically? It's the illegals, depressing wages and stealing jobs, and the government letting them get away with it all. Free things that the rest of us can't have. And on and on and on with the tiny violins...
Meanwhile, the US stole Mexico outright, for two centuries created political shell games that hurt its people, only for the US to currently taunt and shriek at children and their parents coming across the border to seek a better life. So much for this being a Christian nation, as Republicans so claim.
WHY is it so difficult for Republicans to ever cast a merciful lens on the Constitution? WHY can't Republicans ever use that document for anything but meting punishment?
As for "the law is the law," why don't Republicans ever, but EVER, punish corporations that hire undocumented people? I really want to know.
I challenge anyone to provide verifiable evidence that immigration, legal and illegal, is the problem it's made out to be.
21
why is it the republicans responsibility to punish lawbreakers when for the past 8 years, democratic leadership allowed them to break the law?
6
Don't be so selective. There was less illegal Mexican immigration and more deportations under Obama than during the Bush 43 period. To his credit, Bush had a less onerous and expensive plan than this administration does. Millions of illegals have been here for decades, have American children, own businesses and homes, paid taxes and contributed to the economy. We going to toss them too and keep acting like all 11 million just arrived last fall?
2
You Dems sure do hate the working class, don't you? Unless of course they are illegals working off the books holding up signs in Spanish accompanied by five or six ungrateful anchors. Let all those Mexicans seek a better life in Mexico and leave me out of it.
8
Tech jobs are being taken 80% by foreign workers. My daughter is in college for engineering. I paid my taxes my whole life here. My daughter went to school here her whole life. I am totally against having the big corporations importing workers because they are cheaper. Let import the government jobs too. Let's have all of government be foreign workers. Let's have all of congress be foreign workers.
36
Agreed. One of the biggest lies is that there is a shortage of American college graduates with STEM degrees. The reality is that corporate American has a steady supply of cheap college educated labor from India and China. Walk into a pharmaceutical company and you will find H1B Visa holders from India doing the entry level work that would go to Americans with chemistry degrees. The same is is true in many other STEM fields.
21
I know so many Americans as an engineer who have been searching for a job for a very long time in Tech and still struggling to find one.
When you have companies hiring PHDs from India for entry level positions on fraction of the wage, where is the American worker going to go?
When you have companies hiring PHDs from India for entry level positions on fraction of the wage, where is the American worker going to go?
16
Although I do agree with you, I will bet dollar to donuts that your daughter will find a well paying job easily.
1
If Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and the rest of the Democratic party had not been winking at illegal immigration for all these years, Donald Trump would not be president and they would not be shut out of power across the country. Dumb strategy on their part. Really dumb.
50
True enough, but the Bush and Reagan administrations did nothing about illegal immigration either. The Republicans have always obeyed their corporate masters who want cheap labor which cannot object to their wages or working conditions. The simplest and most humane way to end illegal immigration is to jail employers who hire illegals.
11
It is the so-called illegal immigrants who pick and process American crops. They are necessary employees, not that legal Americans should not also have this right.
Jane,
Most illegals do no such thing. Only a handful are employed in agriculture.
Most illegals do no such thing. Only a handful are employed in agriculture.
8
Europeans were the original illegal immigrants to the Americas
if only the indians had welcomed them w arrows and hatchets
9
Stone age arrows and hatchets do not work very well against iron age firearms.
6
There were no immigration laws to break when the Europeans first arrived in the Americas. They were not illegal immigrants.
12
A lot of falsehoods, alternative facts, and straight up lies about Democrats and immigration.
(1) NOBODY in the Democratic Party mainstream supports illegal immigration. NOBODY supports open borders. The Obama administration deported more people than any previous administration. Federal laws requiring deportation of foreign nationals for crimes of moral turpitude remained in place during 8 years of Obama administration.
(2) The real difference between the knee-jerk anti-immigration forces and the Democratic mainstream comes down to nuances. What is the value is deporting a 25 year old profession who was brought here as a 5 year old? Aren't we safer focusing ICE on felons rather than your average farm worker or hotel maid? Should there be a path for people who are already paying payroll and sales taxes to get on the books? Those are the real points of contention.
(3) "We just want our immigration laws enforced" is nothing but a propaganda ploy. The very anti-immigration groups mentioned in this article are also anti-LEGAL immigration. A lot of same folks involved in these organizations also backed a Republican-sponsored bill in Congress to cut down LEGAL immigration. Yes, even immigrants who played by the rules have been marked out as enemies.
(4) Get some real facts about immigration. Coastal cities where immigrants are concentrated drive this country's economy, creating market demands for Iowa corn to Texas petroleum that benefit all other parts of the country.
(1) NOBODY in the Democratic Party mainstream supports illegal immigration. NOBODY supports open borders. The Obama administration deported more people than any previous administration. Federal laws requiring deportation of foreign nationals for crimes of moral turpitude remained in place during 8 years of Obama administration.
(2) The real difference between the knee-jerk anti-immigration forces and the Democratic mainstream comes down to nuances. What is the value is deporting a 25 year old profession who was brought here as a 5 year old? Aren't we safer focusing ICE on felons rather than your average farm worker or hotel maid? Should there be a path for people who are already paying payroll and sales taxes to get on the books? Those are the real points of contention.
(3) "We just want our immigration laws enforced" is nothing but a propaganda ploy. The very anti-immigration groups mentioned in this article are also anti-LEGAL immigration. A lot of same folks involved in these organizations also backed a Republican-sponsored bill in Congress to cut down LEGAL immigration. Yes, even immigrants who played by the rules have been marked out as enemies.
(4) Get some real facts about immigration. Coastal cities where immigrants are concentrated drive this country's economy, creating market demands for Iowa corn to Texas petroleum that benefit all other parts of the country.
30
We all descend from immigrants in the past.
1
Wrong! I am pro legal immigration but very anti illegal immigration and I know many people who share my views.
Obama's numbers included those who were turned away at the borders and never made it into the country.
Wanting our laws enforced is propaganda? So can I assume that I can rob banks and not expect to not have the laws enforced because after all it's just propaganda?
Illegal immigrants are not driving the economy. What did we ever do before the onslaught of illegal immigrants? We had a thriving economy without them.
Obama's numbers included those who were turned away at the borders and never made it into the country.
Wanting our laws enforced is propaganda? So can I assume that I can rob banks and not expect to not have the laws enforced because after all it's just propaganda?
Illegal immigrants are not driving the economy. What did we ever do before the onslaught of illegal immigrants? We had a thriving economy without them.
5
1) Every single mainstream Dem supports amnesty for illegals. Obama turned people away at the border and counted that as deportation when no one else did.
2) Illegals aren't immigrants. You don't get to drag a kid here and demand we give that child our citizenship. We need to discourage illegals not invite more of them here. Many such people are not a net benefit to this country and share their parent's arrogance and contempt for this country.
3) We can do whatever we want when it comes to this issue. NO ONE is OWED the right to move here.
4) Coastal cities are a nightmare for many people right now with high taxes and barely affordable housing. The last thing we need there are yet more unskilled illegals demanding the right to break our laws and be rewarded for doing so.
2) Illegals aren't immigrants. You don't get to drag a kid here and demand we give that child our citizenship. We need to discourage illegals not invite more of them here. Many such people are not a net benefit to this country and share their parent's arrogance and contempt for this country.
3) We can do whatever we want when it comes to this issue. NO ONE is OWED the right to move here.
4) Coastal cities are a nightmare for many people right now with high taxes and barely affordable housing. The last thing we need there are yet more unskilled illegals demanding the right to break our laws and be rewarded for doing so.
7
Interesting that all of these Trump guys who oppose 'illegal' immigration, which really is not the biggest problem in this country, are all old white men. Not sure if any of them have an immigrant in their families by marriage or adoption or otherwise. This 'illegal' immigration war is all about racism! These are a bunch of racist goons who won't go after the NRA and the gun lobby for causing carnage in the country! Easy to go after poor immigrants regardless of whether criminals of not. Wimps!
18
Name calling. That's the method that pro illegal immigration people use. It's not racism to want our laws enforced. The anti illegal immigration people want all illegal immigrants deported no matter where they come from. You are the real racist because you bring race into things that have nothing to do with race.
We are a country of laws and there is nothing racist about wanting the laws enforced. I'm sure if you were robbed, you'd want the law enforced. We don't want open borders.
We are a country of laws and there is nothing racist about wanting the laws enforced. I'm sure if you were robbed, you'd want the law enforced. We don't want open borders.
10
You have another article on your site about fewer young Indians wanting to come to America on H1B Visas. Last week, you had another article bemoaning Trump's Hire American Workers and its negative effect on H1B Visa holders. You seem to ignore your own articles about these same Visa holders taking middle class jobs from Americans who worked at Disney and a college in San Francisco.
The average American has watched our immigration laws be ignored along with a flood of H1B Visa holders who take American jobs along with reducing middle class incomes. Globalism only benefits corporate America and the 1%.
The average American has watched our immigration laws be ignored along with a flood of H1B Visa holders who take American jobs along with reducing middle class incomes. Globalism only benefits corporate America and the 1%.
42
Who really was responsible for the Disney (and the San Fran) abuse? Disney, of course. H1Bs are 100% legal, too bad if you lost your job because of a fellow albeit much richer American's greed. "We are a country of laws", remember?
6
American work force needs to be protected before any one from outside is brought to replace them.
Does not matter Legal or illLegal.
Does not matter Legal or illLegal.
9
Wait a minute. You talk about enforcing immigration laws, then bemoan perfectly legal immigration. You harangue us about respecting immigration laws, but you don't respect the right of people who are here legally, either. Which is it?
3
The actual daily enforcement of American immigration laws VS. Mr. Obama's lawlessness is a breath of fresh air. Deporting illegal immigrants that committed violent crimes makes sense. Border guards that were getting paid to "stand down" and "catch and release" are actually doing their jobs now. Sanctuary cities are committing "conspiracy" for their non- enforcement of Federal laws.
If people are so mad at the immigration laws then change them.
If people are so mad at the immigration laws then change them.
19
In the depth of our roots, we are the children of Immigrants or Refugees.
It is a pity that we are not able to accommodate our fellow human beings on the basis of imaginary lines called "boundaries" and imaginary state called "country".
The Almighty has granted us equal rights to reside at any part of the world. I too agree that hard work of one section of people, and fruits of such labor, cannot be shared with people who have come, all of a sudden, from poor parts of the world. But this is a humanitarian crisis and therefore, EU should look at this issue in that way. I do not for a moment endorse human trafficking. EU should take effective steps in identifying smugglers and punishing them. But innocent people cannot be left to rot.
By the way, who is responsible for the present chaos in Middle East. Libyans were safe under Md. Gadhafi, though he was described a tyrant. If the U.S.,Israel and allies have not intervened in places like Iraq and Libya, ISIS would not have come into existence. The present humanitarian crisis across Middle East would not have also cropped up.
It is a pity that we are not able to accommodate our fellow human beings on the basis of imaginary lines called "boundaries" and imaginary state called "country".
The Almighty has granted us equal rights to reside at any part of the world. I too agree that hard work of one section of people, and fruits of such labor, cannot be shared with people who have come, all of a sudden, from poor parts of the world. But this is a humanitarian crisis and therefore, EU should look at this issue in that way. I do not for a moment endorse human trafficking. EU should take effective steps in identifying smugglers and punishing them. But innocent people cannot be left to rot.
By the way, who is responsible for the present chaos in Middle East. Libyans were safe under Md. Gadhafi, though he was described a tyrant. If the U.S.,Israel and allies have not intervened in places like Iraq and Libya, ISIS would not have come into existence. The present humanitarian crisis across Middle East would not have also cropped up.
4
We are the children of LEGAL IMMIGRANTS!! What is confusing you about legal vs. illegal?
8
Gee, many commenters here seem to be against legal immigration, even.
What a far cry from merely a decade ago when Republicans proposed changing the Constitution to allow Arnold Schwarzenegger to run for and win the US presidency.
I wonder what changed their minds, especially in such a short time frame.
What a far cry from merely a decade ago when Republicans proposed changing the Constitution to allow Arnold Schwarzenegger to run for and win the US presidency.
I wonder what changed their minds, especially in such a short time frame.
12
It's "illegal" not "legal" immigrants they're against. Naturally, liberal media and press now for some reason use the terms interchangeably. Legal immigrants have permission to enter America, filled out all required paperwork, and paid all necessary dues. Illegals stream across the border or overstay their visas and do not have permission to be here.
2
Here is the bottom line gang..It is not rocket science..
1-An agreed upon immigration reform is the way to go. Drop the 20 yrs it takes to get here legal on average and cut it down to say a 2-5 yr wait. Nobody wants to wait 20 yrs even if it is America. Then screen for terrorists and criminals and let the free market system take over. First come first served. If the jobs are there they will come if not they will not. Give first preference to Americans who want the jobs (they usually don't want them). Then we can take a longer period to get US citizenship...say 10 -20 yrs.
2-The above will never likely happen since both the left, right and central love to demagogue the issue so the next best thing is the broken system we have now ie illegals come in and then every 30 yrs or so we come up with some type of amnesty program.
3-What not to do is a extreme anti immigrant program like what the Trump extremists want to do ie expelling 10-20 million illegals. America would head into a severe recession/depression in a nano second since the economy would be destroyed.
1-An agreed upon immigration reform is the way to go. Drop the 20 yrs it takes to get here legal on average and cut it down to say a 2-5 yr wait. Nobody wants to wait 20 yrs even if it is America. Then screen for terrorists and criminals and let the free market system take over. First come first served. If the jobs are there they will come if not they will not. Give first preference to Americans who want the jobs (they usually don't want them). Then we can take a longer period to get US citizenship...say 10 -20 yrs.
2-The above will never likely happen since both the left, right and central love to demagogue the issue so the next best thing is the broken system we have now ie illegals come in and then every 30 yrs or so we come up with some type of amnesty program.
3-What not to do is a extreme anti immigrant program like what the Trump extremists want to do ie expelling 10-20 million illegals. America would head into a severe recession/depression in a nano second since the economy would be destroyed.
1
This country has done fine and will be fine with just citizens and legal immigrants. What ever did we do before the illegal immigrant tide happened?
There are plenty of jobs that immigrants take from Americans. Just ask the IT workers who were fired so that cheaper workers from overseas could replace them.
There are plenty of jobs that immigrants take from Americans. Just ask the IT workers who were fired so that cheaper workers from overseas could replace them.
6
Let's be clear: Since Republicans long ago could have changed things as they see fit to do now, they would have. Moreover, and particularly if this were simply about following the law as they claim, they'd just as aggressively be going after the tens of thousands of undocumented Irish currently in the Northeast. But they aren't.
And they choose not to, because this is invaluable red meat that plays to birthers' collective conviction that President Obama is not American by birth, and instead is a Kenyan (the horror!) with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood (double horror!).
As such, going after "illegals" and so-called anchor babies - while ignoring the fact that Obama deported more "illegals" than has any president in US history - ensures, in the minds of birthers, no chance for an "illegal" to usurp the presidency, as they claim Obama did. The birthers' hatred for him is so deep and so entrenched it has become a metaphor for protecting the US against a similar, future "invasion."
You really kind of have to hand it to the Republican elite for its unmatched finesse in riding waves of unfounded anger. Just mention "Free stuff," and the birthers go ballistic. It's just that easy; no evidence for the claim required.
Even Trump* privately marvels at the treasure trove of reactionary gullibility he has at his disposal.
And they choose not to, because this is invaluable red meat that plays to birthers' collective conviction that President Obama is not American by birth, and instead is a Kenyan (the horror!) with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood (double horror!).
As such, going after "illegals" and so-called anchor babies - while ignoring the fact that Obama deported more "illegals" than has any president in US history - ensures, in the minds of birthers, no chance for an "illegal" to usurp the presidency, as they claim Obama did. The birthers' hatred for him is so deep and so entrenched it has become a metaphor for protecting the US against a similar, future "invasion."
You really kind of have to hand it to the Republican elite for its unmatched finesse in riding waves of unfounded anger. Just mention "Free stuff," and the birthers go ballistic. It's just that easy; no evidence for the claim required.
Even Trump* privately marvels at the treasure trove of reactionary gullibility he has at his disposal.
15
"- while ignoring the fact that Obama deported more "illegals" than has any president in US history - "
Correct, only when you recognize that Obama changed the definition of "deported" to include those caught at the border and immediately turned. Not an honest number at all when compared to previous administrations.
Correct, only when you recognize that Obama changed the definition of "deported" to include those caught at the border and immediately turned. Not an honest number at all when compared to previous administrations.
10
"If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?"
- Abraham Lincoln
"...Stephen Miller, worked tirelessly to defeat immigration reform as a staff member for Senator Jeff Sessions, now the attorney general. Gene P. Hamilton, who worked on illegal immigration as Mr. Sessions’s counsel on the Judiciary Committee, is now a senior counselor at the Department of Homeland Security...
Julie Kirchner, [former] Exec Dir. of FAIR, is now working as an adviser to the Commissioner of Customs [and] Border Protection. Kellyanne Conway ... worked regularly as a pollster for FAIR..."
__
As to ‘The Wall,’ given the projected expense, those areas where the fence already exists AND Mr. Trump’s desire to renegotiate NAFTA, wouldn’t BILATERAL support between the U.S. and Mexico to construct/better enforce Mexico’s southern border be a better use of dollars spent?
Through virtual technology and increased border security, a physical wall mayn’t be necessary along the southern U.S. border IF ONLY patrolling for immigrants from ONE Country attempting to cross unlawfully rather than many should the southern border of Mexico [again] be fortified.
- Abraham Lincoln
"...Stephen Miller, worked tirelessly to defeat immigration reform as a staff member for Senator Jeff Sessions, now the attorney general. Gene P. Hamilton, who worked on illegal immigration as Mr. Sessions’s counsel on the Judiciary Committee, is now a senior counselor at the Department of Homeland Security...
Julie Kirchner, [former] Exec Dir. of FAIR, is now working as an adviser to the Commissioner of Customs [and] Border Protection. Kellyanne Conway ... worked regularly as a pollster for FAIR..."
__
As to ‘The Wall,’ given the projected expense, those areas where the fence already exists AND Mr. Trump’s desire to renegotiate NAFTA, wouldn’t BILATERAL support between the U.S. and Mexico to construct/better enforce Mexico’s southern border be a better use of dollars spent?
Through virtual technology and increased border security, a physical wall mayn’t be necessary along the southern U.S. border IF ONLY patrolling for immigrants from ONE Country attempting to cross unlawfully rather than many should the southern border of Mexico [again] be fortified.
The point is the presidency has a vast amount of power, much gained in the last decades, and that imbalance between the branches of government that so powerful a presidency represents needs to be re-examined.
1
The title of this article as linked from the front page of the NY Times' Web site:
"Anti-Immigration Activists Gain Power to Enact Agenda"
Seriously? "Anti-immigration activists"? Since when is it "anti-immigration" to believe that our country's laws should be enforced and that people who break them should suffer the consequences of doing so and be treated as the lawbreakers that they are?
This is exactly the kind of misleading headline that garners such opprobrium by those who see the NY Times as a so-called "fake news" outlet. The headline alone makes clear the bias at work in the reporting and the paper delivering such "news."
I hate the term "fake news." This isn't "fake news"; it is purposely misleading reporting meant to skew the argument. It is propaganda with a political agenda being passed off as "news."
There is nothing un-American about wanting to preserve one's country's borders. Every country on Earth does it, or they cease to be a country.
I don't understand why there are people in this country who apparently hate it so much that they are willing to support any policy that they think will speed its end. Because, supporting lawlessness will do that faster than just about anything short of a nuclear attack.
The people who support illegal immigration are literally working to damage their country. They think they're acting humanely or charitably, but in fact they are behaving suicidally. What in the name of logic could possibly lead to such short-sightedness?
"Anti-Immigration Activists Gain Power to Enact Agenda"
Seriously? "Anti-immigration activists"? Since when is it "anti-immigration" to believe that our country's laws should be enforced and that people who break them should suffer the consequences of doing so and be treated as the lawbreakers that they are?
This is exactly the kind of misleading headline that garners such opprobrium by those who see the NY Times as a so-called "fake news" outlet. The headline alone makes clear the bias at work in the reporting and the paper delivering such "news."
I hate the term "fake news." This isn't "fake news"; it is purposely misleading reporting meant to skew the argument. It is propaganda with a political agenda being passed off as "news."
There is nothing un-American about wanting to preserve one's country's borders. Every country on Earth does it, or they cease to be a country.
I don't understand why there are people in this country who apparently hate it so much that they are willing to support any policy that they think will speed its end. Because, supporting lawlessness will do that faster than just about anything short of a nuclear attack.
The people who support illegal immigration are literally working to damage their country. They think they're acting humanely or charitably, but in fact they are behaving suicidally. What in the name of logic could possibly lead to such short-sightedness?
58
Good thing our own relatives got here before we decided to pull up the ladder, eh, elfego?
8
@Michelle Shabowski I don't know about your relatives, but mine came through Ellis Island legally. It might have been a different process, but my relatives at least didn't sneak across the border under cover of night or overstay a legally-obtained visa. They followed the rules, as the rules existed at the time.
If you don't like the rules, work to change them. Don't lionize those who break them and then lay claim to some sort of perverse victimhood.
Anyone who supports normalizing of illegal immigration to this country does not have the best interests of the country or its future at heart. Their beliefs and actions will actively damage this country and the people who rightfully live here.
You may think I'm heartless. I promise you, I'm not. But, the difficulty faced by so many who came here without permission or authorization to stay is of their own making. And, treating them as victims harms all of us, not just them.
Sorry for the harsh dose of reality. But, that's how things work in the real world.
Want proof? Illegally emigrate to Mexico and see how you're treated there. I assure you, you will not be welcomed or accommodated in any way, shape, or form. You'll be treated as the lawbreaker that you are.
Are you saying the US should be any less secure than our southern neighbor? Because that's the inalterable outcome of the position you advocate.
If you don't like the rules, work to change them. Don't lionize those who break them and then lay claim to some sort of perverse victimhood.
Anyone who supports normalizing of illegal immigration to this country does not have the best interests of the country or its future at heart. Their beliefs and actions will actively damage this country and the people who rightfully live here.
You may think I'm heartless. I promise you, I'm not. But, the difficulty faced by so many who came here without permission or authorization to stay is of their own making. And, treating them as victims harms all of us, not just them.
Sorry for the harsh dose of reality. But, that's how things work in the real world.
Want proof? Illegally emigrate to Mexico and see how you're treated there. I assure you, you will not be welcomed or accommodated in any way, shape, or form. You'll be treated as the lawbreaker that you are.
Are you saying the US should be any less secure than our southern neighbor? Because that's the inalterable outcome of the position you advocate.
35
Agree 100%. The Times needs to simply report the news, not shape the story. Poor journalism, poor product for $15 per month.
8
Congress lacks the political will to enact any kind of meaningful reform. I have yet to read about any stories about Democrats crafting new legislation or some kind of bipartisan efforts to address immigration reform. Many businesses profit greatly from the cheap labor that undocumented people provide and probably would like to see things stay as they are. Why not increase the Visa system for all these workers and make it easier for them to live and work and pay taxes in the United States? Why not offer them a path to citizenship?
3
Until Trump and Sessions start to deport the thousands of Irish, English and White European illegal immigrants who are in the USofA, i will not support their 'new, we're just upholding the law' immigration tactics. Until Trump and Sessions go after the employers of illegal immigrants for breaking the law, I will not support their immigration stance.
When they decide to get honest, then we can talk.
Until then if it looks like a duck, etc.
When they decide to get honest, then we can talk.
Until then if it looks like a duck, etc.
20
E-verify cost upgrades are included in President Trump's proposed budget.
1
"cracking down on “sanctuary cities”"
"Cracking down"? Wouldn't it be more accurate to say "take revenge on"?
"Cracking down"? Wouldn't it be more accurate to say "take revenge on"?
22
No, it would be more accurate to say "forcing sanctuary cities to choose between support for illegal immigrants and receipt of federal money."
There is nothing "hard line" or "extremist" about enforcing our immigration laws in the same efficient manner as all the other laws in this nation are enforced regardless of whether they are convenient or "break up" citizen families. Quit simply what is happening now is that our federal government is finally obeying the will of the over whelming majority, in this alleged democracy, who have said in polls for 40 years (80%) that they want our immigration laws enforced and that our legal immigration quotas are too high. As opposed to our supposed "representatives" doing the bidding of our 1-10% nobility that wants evermore 10's of millions of low wage slaves to kill wages, get 'compliant' maids, nannies, gardeners, and jam evermore billions into their offshore accounts. And also do mass immigration and refugee floods and allow many millions of illegals to remain so the democratic party the brand of welfare can cheaply buy votes from a growing population of desperate exploited people with the tax revenues extracted from what is left of the middle class who can't hid their income from taxation like the 1-10% that already have 69% of America's total wealth.
35
Unless you are lacking in both color and accent, the truth of the matter is that the loudest voices in the MAGA group will detest you and want you out regardless of your immigration status. It just makes it a tad more inconvenient for them. "We are a nation of laws" is a common refrain. Flies right out of the window when it comes to hiring illegal immigrants. Name one case where an employer had to do serious time.
8
Another Democratic divisive ploy to deflect from the real issue- illegal aliens break the immigration law. It would be more constructive to research and suggest how illegal aliens can get legal paperwork.
1
Since when to oppose illegal entry and illegal living has become being anti-immigrant?
(Putting aside progressive narrative, of course)
(Putting aside progressive narrative, of course)
30
The open borders, everyone here illegally is simply undocumented, NYT's vision is one of the biggest reasons Trump is President. I didn't vote for Trump, but specifically didn't vote for Clinton because she never addressed illegal immigration from Central America or the destruction of middle class American jobs by the abuse of the H1B Visa program.
58
And automation and robotics have nothing to do with the erosion of middle class manufacturing jobs, a destructive force neither candidate addressed.
1
These ideologues do not want to restrict immigrants to raise the pay of poor Americans "competing for the same jobs". The GOP doesn't support the federal minimum wage, or any assistance to the working poor. On the contrary, they know immigrants, rich or poor, are less susceptible to the racist dog whistles and white supremacy propaganda crusaders the of GOP.
11
most people here illegally are those who overstay their visas, not those who swam the Rio Grande.
The whole picture stinks to high heaven. The hate, the bigotry, the ignorance is simply incredible. Most of Trump supporters live in small towns and have never seen anyone other than themselves, change is scary.....evil, and too stupid to know it.
The hate is destroying this country.....
If you overstayed your Visa, have been here for decades working, then there should be an arrangement for you to stay and obtain legal status
This focus on "laws" is crazy, the Republicans have in the past refused to assist with any kind of immigration reform......and have set the stage to physically remove millions from the country....evil
The whole picture stinks to high heaven. The hate, the bigotry, the ignorance is simply incredible. Most of Trump supporters live in small towns and have never seen anyone other than themselves, change is scary.....evil, and too stupid to know it.
The hate is destroying this country.....
If you overstayed your Visa, have been here for decades working, then there should be an arrangement for you to stay and obtain legal status
This focus on "laws" is crazy, the Republicans have in the past refused to assist with any kind of immigration reform......and have set the stage to physically remove millions from the country....evil
27
I wonder if you would say that "this focus on laws is crazy" when it comes to federal gun laws? Is your rule that if you don't agree the law then the law doesn't count and needn't be followed or enforced? How convenient.
11
America's immigration policy should be based on what is best for the American public, not what is allegedly best for the impoverished Latinos of the world. The Dems should be on the side of natives but they prefer to pander instead. Calling people hardliners simply because we believe that Americans should make our immigration laws not foreigners is inaccurate.
30
Who arenatives? The native American who were here first. Does the cat included those brought here in slavery. How about the Irish fleeing hunger?
Why are they different from Lations flees poverty and crime? I guess the cat in the hat wants everyone to look and think like him or her
Why are they different from Lations flees poverty and crime? I guess the cat in the hat wants everyone to look and think like him or her
8
The Irish fleeing the Potato Famine were legal immigrants who came through legal ports of entry. Today, the United States accepts about one million legal immigrants per year. Most legal immigrants as well as illegal immigrants are Latino.
5
Ok I supported Bernie and then Hillary and oppose Trump like a plague on this nation.
I support Legal immigration but I do not support Illegal Immigration.
Most women report sexual assault ie rape etc on their way through traffickers and there are children sent through these smugglers by themselves.
It also brings exploitation of workers and so many other things.
If you truly support migrant workers then make it easy for them to come and work in low wage jobs but so that their rights are protected. Illegal immigration creates slavery conditions and exploitation for those migrants.
I support Legal immigration but I do not support Illegal Immigration.
Most women report sexual assault ie rape etc on their way through traffickers and there are children sent through these smugglers by themselves.
It also brings exploitation of workers and so many other things.
If you truly support migrant workers then make it easy for them to come and work in low wage jobs but so that their rights are protected. Illegal immigration creates slavery conditions and exploitation for those migrants.
27
If you truly support migrant workers then make it easy for them to come and work in low wage jobs but so that their rights are protected. Illegal immigration creates slavery conditions and exploitation for those migrants.
I hate Trump!
I hate Trump!
15
To be anti-immigrant is to be anti-American. We are ALL immigrants or the children of immigrants unless we are Native Americans. To be anti-immigrant is to deny progress--immigrants boost our economy, not the opposite--it is statistically proven. To be anti-immigrant is to be short sighted. International students will stay away from our universities, the global market will shun us, and immigrants who are involved in start up businesses and the tech industries will take their ideas elsewhere. It's not entirely a matter of compassion but also of good common economic sense.
34
Legal immigrants. Not unskilled Latinos who break our laws, refuse to learn English and come here solely in search of a quick buck and nothing else. We don't need their labor or want their ungrateful anchors. The Dems should join us.
20
I am anti-obfuscation and repeatedly using the term anti-immigrant is purposefully misleading when what you really mean is anti-illegal immigrant. Illegal immigration and the left's refusal to draw a distinction between legal immigrants and illegal immigrants is one of the main reasons for Trump's victory.
35
@Katie
Anne is absolutely correct. No obfuscation from her.
A lot of the organizations mentioned in this article are also against LEGAL immigration. Two Republican Congressmen (with support from many of the same folks heavily involved in aforementioned groups) introduced a bill to reduce legal immigration in February (despite it being lower than early 20th century, when the ancestors of many modern native-born Americans immigrated.) The top recommended comment here specifically attacks legal immigration.
Do not help bigots hide their actual agenda by helping them sell their propaganda.
Anne is absolutely correct. No obfuscation from her.
A lot of the organizations mentioned in this article are also against LEGAL immigration. Two Republican Congressmen (with support from many of the same folks heavily involved in aforementioned groups) introduced a bill to reduce legal immigration in February (despite it being lower than early 20th century, when the ancestors of many modern native-born Americans immigrated.) The top recommended comment here specifically attacks legal immigration.
Do not help bigots hide their actual agenda by helping them sell their propaganda.
5
Recently PBS series on WW1 pointed out that the Great War and Wilson forced the assimilation of a great number of immigrants. The vast majority all wanted to be American not Irish or polish or Russian or German. Those immigrants also faced opposition when they immigrated- Legally. I do not see assimilation in the current immigrants. Probably because they are here illegally and working illegally. As in the drug trade, it takes two to tango. The dealer and the user. With illegals it's the employers who have become the dealers. As for trump, and his crusade, why not stop pushing all the wrong buttons and begin a dialogue with the American public. There are probably plenty who have issues with it, but would listen to sound leadership. Stop pandering to the base, start talking to all of America.
6
Speaking of the drug user/dealer analogy, an interesting piece aired on CNN about small manufacturing businesses in Pennsylvania and Kentucky. They have been hiring Syrian and Iraqi refugees to work in their plants because the local, American workers are unable to reliably pass drug tests that are required by insurers and the larger companies that these small manufacturers supply. The unhappy truth is that many of
Our fellow citizens with little education are unable to compete with "aliens" not because wages have been driven down by these replacement workers, but because many of these folks are suffering from multiple social pathologies. I
This class of low-wage Americans who are supposedly the victims of immigrant labor- be it illegal or legal- is a ruse used by nativist xenophobes.
Our fellow citizens with little education are unable to compete with "aliens" not because wages have been driven down by these replacement workers, but because many of these folks are suffering from multiple social pathologies. I
This class of low-wage Americans who are supposedly the victims of immigrant labor- be it illegal or legal- is a ruse used by nativist xenophobes.
15
There is a fundamental undeniable difference between LEGAL immigrants who worked through our system of immigration laws and regulations to come here and build lives and the ILLEGAL immigrants. One group followed the appropriate laws while the other group broke those laws. The "undocumented worker" label is just nonsense - we are a nation of laws and we must respect those laws even if we believe them to be wrong. The voting booth is the place to change the lawmakers and the laws on our books.
103
Agree with you, GTM, but we are no longer a country of laws. We are a country filled with guilty millennials (not sure why, but know where it comes from) that do not believe in laws that they don't like. Just consider yesterday's article that promoted that free speech should only be allowed from 'humane people that agree with your ideas).
The top recommended comment right now is actually one targeting LEGAL immigrants. These "anti-immigration advocates" have been selling themselves merely as people who "wanted to see our immigration laws enforced."
But, surprise, surprise, now that they have their border crackdowns and stopping Muslims at airports, they are going after legal immigrants now.
But, surprise, surprise, now that they have their border crackdowns and stopping Muslims at airports, they are going after legal immigrants now.
12
As opposed to the Dems who have literally never met anyone they didn't think had the right to come here, no matter how medically ill or old or badly educated or indigent or how many crimes they've committed? The Dems are completely and utterly irrational on this issue.
15
My tax dollars are paying for preschool, school, free lunches, and healthcare of the children of illegal immigrants who often have 2-3 children. Meanwhile I can't afford to buy an apartment in this city because I'm paying so much of my wages in taxes to provide free services to people in this country illegally. When will craziness end?
95
"My tax dollars are paying for preschool, school, free lunches, and healthcare of the children of illegal immigrants"
How do you know this?
Where is the evidence for your claim?
How do you know this?
Where is the evidence for your claim?
6
Bingo!!
4
Actually in CA, the Office of the Budget does show how much state funding goes to schools,non-profits,and other agencies who handle the children of illegal immigrants. Also in CA, the state website had information on how much property taxes,city taxes,etc. go to fund these programs, since the federal government does not. Maybe there are resources in other states to find that information?
7
1.get rid of anchor baby amendment. it is ridiculous that a child of an illegal born in the US is automatically an american citizen. it was intended for preventing newly freed black slaves from being disenfranchised not for foreigners.
under obama american embassy officials were not allowed to visa applicants if they were pregnant.
2. get rid of family reunification visas unless the family posts a bond that the newly arrived will not be on welfare, or on food stamps or on medicaid/medicare.
3.
on the positive sideI Iwould allow for more visas for low skilled workers particular maids, child take car takers and adult care takers. more maids means more educated middle class women can contribute and join the labor force.
under obama american embassy officials were not allowed to visa applicants if they were pregnant.
2. get rid of family reunification visas unless the family posts a bond that the newly arrived will not be on welfare, or on food stamps or on medicaid/medicare.
3.
on the positive sideI Iwould allow for more visas for low skilled workers particular maids, child take car takers and adult care takers. more maids means more educated middle class women can contribute and join the labor force.
43
This was Trump "policy" from day one of the escalator ride. To say these late haters are affecting anything is preposterous. They are mere foot soldiers acting out their mental illnesses. Ugly tools.
4
It is not hatred or mental illness to advocate for immigration laws.
18
Tho people favoring the illegal immigrants offer sympathetic individuals, or selected factoids for individuals, but they don't suggest solutions to the problem. From my view point that leaves the people calling for a guest worker program and enforcing, or changing, the laws as moderate and constructive.
Can the left do better?
Can the left do better?
10
The Republicans' wholesale assault on environmental protection laws and the science that informs them is an atrocity. It is worth noting, however, that an ever increasing human population underlies all environmental issues, and that immigration, mostly illegal, is the only reason the US population continues to grow.
For decades, every administration has promised to beef up border security and enforce immigration laws but none have come through. For all its other horrors, this one seems to finally take those promises seriously, and in that (and only that) environmentalists should support it.
For decades, every administration has promised to beef up border security and enforce immigration laws but none have come through. For all its other horrors, this one seems to finally take those promises seriously, and in that (and only that) environmentalists should support it.
22
The hypocrisy of Donald Trump, himself the child and grandchild of immigrants, who is married to a person whose own immigration status was questionable at best before the marriage leaves me wondering again how anyone could have voted for him.
23
"The hypocrisy of Donald Trump, himself the child and grandchild of immigrants, who is married to a person whose own immigration status was questionable at best"
We are talking about people who brazenly broke our laws and crossed the borders. There is no comparison.
We are talking about people who brazenly broke our laws and crossed the borders. There is no comparison.
55
Right before World War I, a third of Americans or their parents were immigrants. We welcomed the labor and industry and service sector workers and their music and restaurants and culture. And we loved stories from "the old country." And they went off to fight WWII together, as Americana.
Today, descendants of those same people pretend they were always here and worse, that they can pull up the ladder behind them.
I miss the Old Country.
Today, descendants of those same people pretend they were always here and worse, that they can pull up the ladder behind them.
I miss the Old Country.
71
In other words, "Return to your 'old country.'"
This. After I read in today's WaPo about American kids of Hispanic heritage who won a science competition and had to face chants of "Go back to Mexico!" from the kids who lost and grumblings of he same from the losers' - pun intended - parents.
Both responses are equally vulgar, with the one above a complete and utter slap in the face to American soldiers who don't happen to be of Caucasian heritage. Nauseating.
Meanwhile, you are exactly right, Occupy. Good call.
This. After I read in today's WaPo about American kids of Hispanic heritage who won a science competition and had to face chants of "Go back to Mexico!" from the kids who lost and grumblings of he same from the losers' - pun intended - parents.
Both responses are equally vulgar, with the one above a complete and utter slap in the face to American soldiers who don't happen to be of Caucasian heritage. Nauseating.
Meanwhile, you are exactly right, Occupy. Good call.
13
it's being occupied by white supremacists and nationalists.
you're going to have to be quicker than that to do business here.
you're going to have to be quicker than that to do business here.
4
Those same people didn't get welfare, didn't expect the president to learn Polish or Italian, didn't whine that the schools were teaching their kids English and didn't break our immigration laws.
9
What is seldom mentioned about these immigration restriction groups (FAIR, CIS and NumbersUSA) is that they were founded by John Tanton as environmental protection groups. By restrictiong immigration, the growth of our population is restricted and so is the growth of our impact to the environment. This was the prevailing view of environmentalists during the 60's and 70's and is just as valid today.
The effects on our environment and long term sustainability of immigration are completely lacking in today's immigration debate. The left ignores this because immigrants vote Democrat. The right ignores this because environmental and sustainability issues have never been a concern to them.
The effects on our environment and long term sustainability of immigration are completely lacking in today's immigration debate. The left ignores this because immigrants vote Democrat. The right ignores this because environmental and sustainability issues have never been a concern to them.
12
Specious argument at best.
Environmental issues are planetary issues. Any country contributing to messing up the environment messes it up for all. Air and water know no boundaries. Net population of the world remains the same regardless of immigration.
Environmental issues are planetary issues. Any country contributing to messing up the environment messes it up for all. Air and water know no boundaries. Net population of the world remains the same regardless of immigration.
4
Those were crack pot ideas. Environmental issues do not obey national borders.
5
Arv, not correct. Our per capita resource and energy consumption as Americans is among the highest in the world. Most new immigrants to our country come from much poorer countries that have far lower per capita resource and energy consumption rates. Thus, immigration to the US means higher consumption and therefore greater environmental impact in a global context.
3
America has one of the most generous immigration policies, in the world. My wife and her immediate family all immigrated here legally, and became proud naturalized US citizens. The key word omitted in the story head line is: illegal immigration. I find it insulting when we are lumped in with people who crossed the border with no regard for this country's laws.
79
“The average American basically likes the idea of immigration, maybe loves the concept.....but would be perfectly fine if we didn’t have another immigrant for 50 years."
-Dan Stein
I've always considered myself an average American. But never thought I "didn't" want another immigrant for another 50 years. What does go through mind daily though is, how can we find a container big enough to put people like Stein in.
Our Incurious Nationalist President has promised to drain the swamp. But all he really did was to enlarge it for the likes of Stein and company.
It really is sad though that those 11 million immigrants have to suffer the consequences of some swing states and an outdated Electoral College. Very tragic indeed when HRC received 3 million more votes.
-Dan Stein
I've always considered myself an average American. But never thought I "didn't" want another immigrant for another 50 years. What does go through mind daily though is, how can we find a container big enough to put people like Stein in.
Our Incurious Nationalist President has promised to drain the swamp. But all he really did was to enlarge it for the likes of Stein and company.
It really is sad though that those 11 million immigrants have to suffer the consequences of some swing states and an outdated Electoral College. Very tragic indeed when HRC received 3 million more votes.
21
You really should read up on your history, maybe even in your own family. There were millions upon millions of illegal immigrants over that last 300 years that have migrated here. My great-grandparents, grandparents, and father all crossed the northern border in 1917, all illegal and did not receive their citizenship until the 1930's. No one said boo! They assimilated and their descendants are doing just fine. Most are well educated and add much value to our country.
Final thought. There are 11 million illegals right now. What happens if they all leave? Answer, country shuts down. Why, because they do all the crappy jobs no else wants to. Oh, and how to you envision relocating these 11 million spread all over the 50 states. That's enough folks to fill well over 200 football stadiums!
Final thought. There are 11 million illegals right now. What happens if they all leave? Answer, country shuts down. Why, because they do all the crappy jobs no else wants to. Oh, and how to you envision relocating these 11 million spread all over the 50 states. That's enough folks to fill well over 200 football stadiums!
3
@cherrylog: totally false. Illegals do the SAME JOBS as Americans do -- could do -- would do -- DID DO -- before illegals came. The most common job for an illegal alien is in CONSTRUCTION WORK.
3
Agriculture is number one, then construction, then leisure/hospitality. See NYTimes article below. Might shed some light on the subject.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/us/immigrants-arent-taking-americans-...
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/us/immigrants-arent-taking-americans-...
2
By far the most interesting thing about Trump's immigration policy is that he demonstrated all you need to do is say a few mean things about illegal aliens and they mostly stay home. Think of how many decades politicians lauded immigrants - and illegal aliens - doing "jobs American's won't do (or are no longer physically capable of doing). All that had to do was instead say mean things and go along with a few high profile deportations. Ridiculous.
5
Lack of respect for the law to taxpayers is the issue. Supreme court allowed anyone who comes to USA from a foreign country gets a free education. Who pays? Taxpayers strapped with healthcare, property, state, city, income, school, sales, out-of-state-death taxes. How much can an American take? When the middle class finally is gone, who is going to pay? Not the rich.
38
The majority of influential Democrats sincerely believe that white people are the cause of most ills in the world and actively push for more immigrants, legal or illegal, to reduce the percentage of white people who make up the population of the USA. For them and the NYT to call opponents to immigration racists and xenophobes while pursuing such a transparently race-motivated agenda is hypocritical in the extreme
25
White "people" cause most ills in the world? Or white supremacy? White racism?
8
The Dems don't believe there's any kind of racism other than white racism.
11
The current administration is staffed by immigration hypocrites. When they start deporting the 50,000 plus Irish and northern Europeans in New England who are here in this country illegally, then we will see the beginning of a true immigration reform. But what we have now is a bunch of bigots pushing their agenda.
When will they start going after the businesses and individuals who knowingly hire illegal immigrants? This administration is staffed by bigoted hypocrites.
When will they start going after the businesses and individuals who knowingly hire illegal immigrants? This administration is staffed by bigoted hypocrites.
42
There are that many illegal Europeans in New England?
3
5
These are the people who would shut the door to Jews fleeing the Holocaust. Let's not pretend otherwise. If they renamed themselves: Keep Brown Non-Christian People Out of the USA it would much more accurately reflect their policies and goals.
113
Absolutely.
5
I agree. It's just the same old song, but in a different key. They're not fooling anyone.
4
Most illegals are Christian. Many Latinos are white. Mexico is not Nazi, Germany and neither is Honduras or El Salvador. Stop with the over the top hyperbole that makes it impossible to have rational discussions with liberals on this issue.
11
What's wrong with insisting on compliance with the law; i.e. all law including immigration law?
108
BD, I have no issues with your position. The problem that I have with Trump on this is issue is using it to suggest that if you're out of work or the victim of a crime, it's because of an immigrant and that's simply not the case.
2
Can't wait to see the millions of speeding tickets handed out. How about prosecuting people for taking pencils home from work? How about jailing all teenagers who drink? Let's face it, we have a lot of stupid laws because legislators are political animals trying to win the next election by pandering to splinter groups. You want to enforce compliance with all laws? Why not start by prosecuting companies that employ undocumented workers? That might put the pressure on to reform immigration laws and destroy a lot fewer families.
2
Generally speaking, when something is broken or not working the common sense thing to do is fix it.
There was a bipartisan immigration reform bill that passed the Senate a few years ago but was not even allowed on the floor of the House for debate.
Seems to me the first step necessary to resolve the immigration problem is to fix the House.
There was a bipartisan immigration reform bill that passed the Senate a few years ago but was not even allowed on the floor of the House for debate.
Seems to me the first step necessary to resolve the immigration problem is to fix the House.
At the turn of the century, immagrants had to have sponsors, jobs waiting for them. Stop the welfare, food stamps, section 8 housing, free health care and free lawyers, you will see immigration dry up. If they want to immigrate get sponsors. The U. S. cannot afford this. The lifeboat is full. If you are pro-immigration put up an immigrant in your home. Put your money where your mouth is.
75
Turn of which century? If we are talking about 2000, then mostly yes. Most immigration applicants needed a close family who is a US citizen or an employer sponsor. But 1900. Absolute not. 13.2% of the US population was foreign in 1900 (higher than now). In the era before even telephones and DHL, you really think everyone had a sponsor? You have any evidence to back up any of what you said? Or are we in the realm of alternative facts?
10
>Stop the welfare, food stamps, section 8 housing, free health care and free lawyers...
---------------------------
Such nonsense my comment wouldn't make it through if I called it what it really is.
This latest frenzy is simply about hating the other, and that's all it is about. Not following the law, not proper steps to citizenship, or anything else pragmatic. Nope. Just convenient cover to lash out for the sake of lashing out. How is this? Because not a single related data set shows causation or correlation between the nation's problems and immigrants, legal and undocumented. Not. a. single. one.
I want my country back from the mob frenzy that is too lazy to provide evidence of its claims.
---------------------------
Such nonsense my comment wouldn't make it through if I called it what it really is.
This latest frenzy is simply about hating the other, and that's all it is about. Not following the law, not proper steps to citizenship, or anything else pragmatic. Nope. Just convenient cover to lash out for the sake of lashing out. How is this? Because not a single related data set shows causation or correlation between the nation's problems and immigrants, legal and undocumented. Not. a. single. one.
I want my country back from the mob frenzy that is too lazy to provide evidence of its claims.
14
Most of what you mention are things that illegals don't get. They DO pay sales and real estate taxes, and indeed put more into the income tax and SS systems than they get back. Based on economics and other demographics, they are about the same "cost to society" as everyone.
2
I like the accompanying photo: 7 or 8 people having a hateful little protest. I wonder if they know what it says on the Statue of Liberty? Or where their ancestors came from? Time to start teaching real history in public schools!
12
Corbin, time to live in the now. Long ago Lady Liberty stopped assuming immigrants were following the laws. Now it's sneak across the border, have a baby, suck us dry. It's an industry..
24
My relatives came here legally. The Statue of liberty is about legal immigration not illegal migrants convincing Dems to support their racist demands for special Latino migration laws.
9
The Statue of Liberty has NOTHING TO DO WITH IMMIGRATION -- nothing.
She was erected 130 years ago, a gift from the people of France. She is an engineering marvel.
But nothing to do with immigration whatsoever. She is the visual depiction of Justice and Freedom.
The poem (written by a left wing poet) was ADDED decades later. It was not written at the time the Statue was being constructed. It is totally an add-on. It also describes the world of 1880 or so -- when the US was a vast, open frontier that desperately needed more warm bodies.
That was over a century ago; today we are FULL UP. Our cities are overcrowded! our environment is polluted. We are running out of energy, clean water, etc. We are $19 TRILLION in debt. We can't find jobs for 10% of our workers.
We can no longer afford immigration -- barely any legally, and definitely NOT ONE illegal immigrant. NOT ONE.
She was erected 130 years ago, a gift from the people of France. She is an engineering marvel.
But nothing to do with immigration whatsoever. She is the visual depiction of Justice and Freedom.
The poem (written by a left wing poet) was ADDED decades later. It was not written at the time the Statue was being constructed. It is totally an add-on. It also describes the world of 1880 or so -- when the US was a vast, open frontier that desperately needed more warm bodies.
That was over a century ago; today we are FULL UP. Our cities are overcrowded! our environment is polluted. We are running out of energy, clean water, etc. We are $19 TRILLION in debt. We can't find jobs for 10% of our workers.
We can no longer afford immigration -- barely any legally, and definitely NOT ONE illegal immigrant. NOT ONE.
8
Wish we had a time machine.....
It's unfortunate that these same people weren't around during the time of The Great War when anti-German sentiment was at a fever pitch. That way, Frederick Trump and Fred Trump, both draft dodgers and bloodsucking landlords, would have been deported, and Donald Trump would have never been born. And, as they say, "That would be a shame."
It's unfortunate that these same people weren't around during the time of The Great War when anti-German sentiment was at a fever pitch. That way, Frederick Trump and Fred Trump, both draft dodgers and bloodsucking landlords, would have been deported, and Donald Trump would have never been born. And, as they say, "That would be a shame."
20
Anti-non-white immigration. Let's not pretend it's anything else.
90
so what even if it may be true. in the UK they are opposed to white immigration from eastern europe because they feel that skilled and semi-skilled Easterners are taking jobs from White Brits.
5
Unless you have tons of money. The rich simply buy their way in; like with everything else; Rupert Murdoch a good example.
5
Paul - It is something else because it's certainly NOT racist! The United States welcomes over one million foreign nationals to reside permanently in this country each and every year. The vast majority of those over one million foreign nationals are people of color. We welcome ALL non-white immigration as long as it's LEGAL!
The US needs a short-term guest worker program, and for humanitarian and practical reasons, many long-established illegal immigrants should be enabled to stay under a longer-term guest-worker arrangement. But the idea that people who are from outside the US can have an inherent right to migrate to the US is untenable. The US has 300 million people, but on the order of a billion people would move to the US if they could just step on a plane or bus and arrive legally. Most of them are not highly educated, not highly English fluent, and would, if given voting rights, for large subsidies for themselves at the expense of the existing residents. The right to migrate permanently to the US must be limited to those who are highly skilled or financially self-supporting.
62
s a short-term guest worker program, a
canada has one
but then canada seems to have so many policies that are better than ammerica
is america canadas slow cousin ?
canada has one
but then canada seems to have so many policies that are better than ammerica
is america canadas slow cousin ?
9
Amanda - Where do you get your information on immigration? Many groups who immigrate to the US end up being quite successful. Others who arrive penniless as refugees may, in fact, be highly educated in their home countries but those degrees don't translate in the US. Example: Many African refugees in Maine who are DOCTORS, but cannot practice in the US and since they arrive as refugees with nothing to their name the idea of going to medical school (again) probably seems pretty daunting. Maine is coming up with some creative ways to leverage these potential talent pools by having them work as EMT's etc so they can be successfully employed and self sufficient.
It's deeply concerning just how uneducated a large portion of the US population is about immigration to the US. It's not as easy as many would think. (Also, I would argue student visa program should be tightened up first. There is a gaping hole there.)
It's deeply concerning just how uneducated a large portion of the US population is about immigration to the US. It's not as easy as many would think. (Also, I would argue student visa program should be tightened up first. There is a gaping hole there.)
29
One billion eager to come here is an underestimate. Most of the developing world would come to Europe or North America if it were easier. As population growth and rapid environmental degradation in Africa, the Middle East and Central America make life ever more difficult, the global north will be overwhelmed if it continues to allow massive immigration. We will eventually be forced to choose between being nice to everyone and protecting a semblance of liveability in our own countries. As with most problems, the longer we ignore it, the worse it will become. Must life become intolerable here, too, before we face reality?
7
Don't underestimate how much weight issues like Muslim ban or immigration crackdowns carry with Trump supporters. Opponents focused on issues like healthcare where Trump has stumbled might think there is no way Trump can retain support. But to his hardcore supporters, every Muslim detained at an airport is a victory, and every "illegal" deported is an achievement. Look at Trump's approval rating among those who voted for him in 2016. It remains very high. These are people who will turn out to vote and canvass in 2020.
9
Roughly 25% of the total US population...Not enough to win an election if there is any candidates worth voting for on the other side.
5
"Not enough to win an election if there is any candidates worth voting for on the other side."
Trump's opponents do not seem able to agree on which candidates are worth voting for. No reason to think 2016 won't repeat itself.
Trump's opponents do not seem able to agree on which candidates are worth voting for. No reason to think 2016 won't repeat itself.
1
Don't believe for one nano-second that this or any administration or politician is serious about solving the "immigration" problem unless and until there are laws enacted that make hiring illegal or improperly documented people a crime punishable via a 5-year minimum prison sentence. The immigration problem would end over night.
Oh, one more thing: issue every legal citizen an identity card at no cost. This way we would know exactly who does or does not belong in the country. This would also end voting suppression because when you turn 18, you're legally entitled to vote!
Oh, one more thing: issue every legal citizen an identity card at no cost. This way we would know exactly who does or does not belong in the country. This would also end voting suppression because when you turn 18, you're legally entitled to vote!
87
"This would also end voting suppression because when you turn 18, you're legally entitled to vote!"
Unless your national ID card also gave your town and state or there was a national voting register there would be nothing to stop a person from voting in two or more places. There have been numerous reports of the democrats bussing "homeless" blacks from Camden, NJ to Philadelphia, PA and visa versa so that they could vote for president in two different states.
Unless your national ID card also gave your town and state or there was a national voting register there would be nothing to stop a person from voting in two or more places. There have been numerous reports of the democrats bussing "homeless" blacks from Camden, NJ to Philadelphia, PA and visa versa so that they could vote for president in two different states.
European countries have national identity cards, which must be carried at all times and which must be shown in order to vote.
3
Here in Italy (in Europe actually) everyone has an identity card that shows place of birth, citizenship status and address. Exactly what Americans need.
There's a trade-off of course: If you all want to know who belongs "legally" in the country, have a concise way to document it. Same with voting. You can either continue to complain about fraud and illegal immigration or do something about it.
There's a trade-off of course: If you all want to know who belongs "legally" in the country, have a concise way to document it. Same with voting. You can either continue to complain about fraud and illegal immigration or do something about it.
The left's definition of immigration hardliner is anyone who believes in any immigration laws at all.
101
History repeats itself. The new "Know-Nothings" have the same objectives, but on different subjects.
7
@Jorge:
Most so-called "Know-Nothings" were anti-Catholic, or "anti-Papist". But they particularly hated Irish Catholic immigrants because they took jobs for less money than native-born Americans would accept; lowered prevailing wages. So "Know-Nothingism" actually was grounded in economic competition in an age when exploitation of labor was the norm and acute. That most Irish immigrants actually were political refugees thanks to deliberate British government policy went largely unnoticed.
Fundamentally, it was a xenophobic reaction to the arrival of a long-oppressed people driven out by invaders. We tend to think of the Irish and British as the same race. But, culturally, they weren't. Celts vs. Anglo-Saxons and Normans, actually Vikings. Norman sovereigns started invading and occupying parts of Ireland and Scotland as early as the 13th century to secure their thrones. They continued the practice around the same time that they began chartering crown colonies in the Americas, for the same reasons.
Ireland officially became part of the United Kingdom through the Act of Union only in 1801. Longstanding British government policy starting with Henry VII had been to subjugate politically restive anti-Protestant south, or "Catholic", Ireland to prevent Catholic France and Catholic Spain from landing armies there. The British government used the Potato Famine (1845-1852) to further their depopulation goal by allowing the Irish to starve, to encourage migration.
Most so-called "Know-Nothings" were anti-Catholic, or "anti-Papist". But they particularly hated Irish Catholic immigrants because they took jobs for less money than native-born Americans would accept; lowered prevailing wages. So "Know-Nothingism" actually was grounded in economic competition in an age when exploitation of labor was the norm and acute. That most Irish immigrants actually were political refugees thanks to deliberate British government policy went largely unnoticed.
Fundamentally, it was a xenophobic reaction to the arrival of a long-oppressed people driven out by invaders. We tend to think of the Irish and British as the same race. But, culturally, they weren't. Celts vs. Anglo-Saxons and Normans, actually Vikings. Norman sovereigns started invading and occupying parts of Ireland and Scotland as early as the 13th century to secure their thrones. They continued the practice around the same time that they began chartering crown colonies in the Americas, for the same reasons.
Ireland officially became part of the United Kingdom through the Act of Union only in 1801. Longstanding British government policy starting with Henry VII had been to subjugate politically restive anti-Protestant south, or "Catholic", Ireland to prevent Catholic France and Catholic Spain from landing armies there. The British government used the Potato Famine (1845-1852) to further their depopulation goal by allowing the Irish to starve, to encourage migration.
5
It's about time the law was enforced. This former Democrat left the party for good because of Democrat's insane infatuation with illegal immigrant rights and sanctuary cities.
114
Same for this elderly lifelong Dem. Today's progressives are so obsessed with being nice that they cannot recognize an existential threat at their front door. I blame it on Barney the Purple Dinosaur.
9
I doubt either one of you were ever Democrats.
If you were, you would know that the Democrats do not court an "insane infatuation with illegal immigrant rights," nor are they "obsessed with being nice."
Besides, claiming party affiliation and subsequent abandonment of a political party is anecdotal and unverifiable. Better to argue with verifiable numbers and variables, i.e. "x" number of Democrats are leaving the party because of ______.
See? That's how Democrats roll. Evidence. Evidence, evidence, evidence. I highly recommend you Republicans try it.
If you were, you would know that the Democrats do not court an "insane infatuation with illegal immigrant rights," nor are they "obsessed with being nice."
Besides, claiming party affiliation and subsequent abandonment of a political party is anecdotal and unverifiable. Better to argue with verifiable numbers and variables, i.e. "x" number of Democrats are leaving the party because of ______.
See? That's how Democrats roll. Evidence. Evidence, evidence, evidence. I highly recommend you Republicans try it.
6
Thank you for correcting me on my 50 year voting history. How could I be so wrong about my own life and political leanings?
7
The fundamental position of groups like FAIR is that it would be in the interests of most Americans if laws against illegal immigration were enforced, if total immigration (including legal immigration) were lower, and if we selected the immigrants we did admit more carefully. They might be right or wrong about this, but their position is certainly plausible, and has the support of a major portion of the American public.
So it is interesting to see how heavily the response from immigration enthusiasts -- such as those at the Times -- relies on accusations of bigotry and racism, accusations that often come from highly partisan left-wing political organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center, which have agendas of their own. One would almost think that the Times is trying to use emotion to win an argument that it would rather not try to win on the merits!
So it is interesting to see how heavily the response from immigration enthusiasts -- such as those at the Times -- relies on accusations of bigotry and racism, accusations that often come from highly partisan left-wing political organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center, which have agendas of their own. One would almost think that the Times is trying to use emotion to win an argument that it would rather not try to win on the merits!
76
Let's see, your argument has consisted of one concession that the position of FAIR might be "right or wrong," and two ad hominem attacks: SPLC for supposed secret agendas and NYT for trying to sway people with emotions. I think NYT has a better argument than you, particularly if one took five minutes to look at NYT's other articles.
More to the point, NYT backs its accusations of bigotry with racism with evidence, which usually comes from the very mouths of anti-immigration activists in question.
More to the point, NYT backs its accusations of bigotry with racism with evidence, which usually comes from the very mouths of anti-immigration activists in question.
17
No, the position is really Let The Market Work. If you are not a socialist, I suppose you will believe in free market for goods. Well this is about free market for labor. And after that if they are good people - admit them into civic life by giving them residency and citizenship. From my experience (and me too a legal immigrant), immigrants are more hard-working, better savers and more law abiding - because they can not afford to be other way - there is no nanny-government for them.
2
The US should be halving 'legal' immigration right now.
The cities along the coasts are saturated with immigrants as it is.
Today 25% of the population of Boston are recently landed immigrants.
Give it time and a chance for things and them to settle.
Most Americans have immigration indigestion.
How does the average citizen benefit from the continuous flow of millions of immigrants into our country? The truth is that we do not.
The cities along the coasts are saturated with immigrants as it is.
Today 25% of the population of Boston are recently landed immigrants.
Give it time and a chance for things and them to settle.
Most Americans have immigration indigestion.
How does the average citizen benefit from the continuous flow of millions of immigrants into our country? The truth is that we do not.
97
Gee, I thought this was only about "enforcing existing immigration laws." Surprise, surprise, we now go to the next logical step where bigots go after LEGAL immigrants. And why is "legal" in quotation marks in your comment? Those immigrants followed the law to get here, but that's not okay either now?
FYI, 25% is less than many points of early 20th century. And the real truth is immigrants drive economic growth. Those high-immigration coastal cities you appear so disgusted with are also the most economically vibrant parts of the country. It's no accident so much economic activity is centered on those areas. And before you talk about "stealing jobs" and what have you, that activity includes increased economic consumption that benefits rest of the country (whether Amazon warehouse in Nevada or Iowa corn.) Immigrants also pay taxes and are consumers.
FYI, 25% is less than many points of early 20th century. And the real truth is immigrants drive economic growth. Those high-immigration coastal cities you appear so disgusted with are also the most economically vibrant parts of the country. It's no accident so much economic activity is centered on those areas. And before you talk about "stealing jobs" and what have you, that activity includes increased economic consumption that benefits rest of the country (whether Amazon warehouse in Nevada or Iowa corn.) Immigrants also pay taxes and are consumers.
9
"Today 25% of the population of Boston are recently landed immigrants."
Well, of course! Boston is home to hundreds of thousands of college students, many of which are international. They are here legally and represent some of the world's brightest people. We should be grateful to have them.
Well, of course! Boston is home to hundreds of thousands of college students, many of which are international. They are here legally and represent some of the world's brightest people. We should be grateful to have them.
14
MJ - I live in Massachusetts, as it appears you do, and where did you get the information that the population of Boston is"25%....recently landed immigrants?"
If that number is fact, well I'm glad for it. Since those 25% are probably staffing our world class hospitals, working in our state of the art research facilities, coming up with new and innovative ideas in our tech sector, contributing wonderful ideas at our universities.
MA was just voted #1 State in the US, so we must be doing something right.
If that number is fact, well I'm glad for it. Since those 25% are probably staffing our world class hospitals, working in our state of the art research facilities, coming up with new and innovative ideas in our tech sector, contributing wonderful ideas at our universities.
MA was just voted #1 State in the US, so we must be doing something right.
14
"Although his proposed budget slashed $1 billion from the Justice Department, Mr. Trump included $80 million to hire new judges to accelerate deportation proceedings. Mr. Sessions said at an event at the border in Arizona this month that 50 would be added to the bench this year and 75 more next year."
Now, if any of these so-called "judges" in hearing a case, rule for the defendant (viz, the illegal immigrant) will the judges be shot, or just fired?
In Nazi Germany, judges who refused to toady to their masters were put in concentration camps.
e to send
Now, if any of these so-called "judges" in hearing a case, rule for the defendant (viz, the illegal immigrant) will the judges be shot, or just fired?
In Nazi Germany, judges who refused to toady to their masters were put in concentration camps.
e to send
16
It's not Nazism to send Mexicans home to Mexico.
60
It's akin to abetting Nazism if you send German Jews back to Hitler's Germany. If your position is to deny asylum claims on principle rather than based on the asylee's experience, it is the same thing.
9
If much of Latin America is Nazi Germany then perhaps it's the leaders of such places that truly need to be condemned rather than Trump.
6
Just like the 1920's, we've returned to punishing immigrants - whether they're "legal or illegal" is irrelevant. the Know-Nothing xenophobic, race-biased nature of America is on full display in the Trump admin. As for the citizens on his side, i don't believe for a moment they don't harbor any racism; it's too deeply entrenched in our psyche and history.
78
The only real racism is the assertion that Americans should have no say in our own immigration laws. Those who break them have no moral ground to stay on. The world is not entitled to come here simply because doing so might benefit them personally.
83
The illegals who are here and who wind up staying here are the ones who find jobs. How do they find the jobs? Who gives them the jobs? They get jobs by taking on work where others do not compete and from employers who look the other way in order to staff they companies and reduce labor costs. Is it illegal to knowingly give a job to a non-permanent resident who does not have the right to work here? Damn right it is. You want the immigration laws enforced? Then enforce all of the immigration laws. Let us see how many industries begin to raise prices because of the lack of labor. Make E-verify mandatory for all jobs. You hire someone without checking E-verify you are liable if they prove to be an illegal worker.You hire without E-verify you pay a fine and you go to jail.
17
Jebbie's contempt is precisely why we have Trump, Brexit, and le Pen. Ignoring and demonizing the citizenry only works so long in a democracy.
And if there is no difference between legal and illegal, why should anyone pay any attention to any laws?
And if there is no difference between legal and illegal, why should anyone pay any attention to any laws?
12
Further, if this alt-logic holds, it can be applied to other issues like marijuana 'sanctuary states'. Federal incarceration cost-per-day runs around $84 per person, plus the costs of arrest and processing, all unfunded mandates. If Congress demands this, pay for it! Don't raise my state and local taxes.
SCOTUS reaffirmed in 2012 that 'removal' (deportation) is a civil administrative matter, not a criminal proceeding, but reserved to federal authorities the keeping of lists of aliens, and by extension the detaining of people guilty of no state or local offense. Any other interpretation takes us back to the Fugitive Slave Act, wherein state and local authorities were commanded to enforce federal law in non-slave states. That law helped split the union and led to our bloodiest war.