Immigration Reform in the US

[PaleRider]

That's not what 'illegal immigration' means.

And if it did, who the hell would object to it?

That's not what 'illegal immigration' means.

And if it did, who the hell would object to it?

Probably most of this forum.

Most people on this forum oppose ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, the one where you flout the laws of the country you are trying to go to and demand to be taken care of. No. That's not how this works. If you want to come to my country and become a member of my country then use the legal system. I'm probably the most "anti-immigrant" member on this Forum and even I support reforming the legal immigration system (with a cap of about 200,000 people per year authorized to immigrate, not including exceptional circumstances; i.e refugees etc). We can't open the flood gates and let every hoo hah in that wants in. It helps no one and only inflames domestic political tensions and economic strains on an already weak economy.

[MarkWill]

Of course the most obvious step to reforming the immigration system is to build some sort of fence along the southern boarder and to increase funding for Customs. I also think that we should have a way of identifying illegal immigrants (but I guess that would just be whether they have ID or not, which is fine I guess), and ensuring that they pay a fine to compensate for taxes they would've paid had they been legal immigrants. They shouldn't receive citizenship until they pay fines. This sort of ties into voting, of which I support ID requirements.

[MichaelReilly]

That's not what 'illegal immigration' means.

And if it did, who the hell would object to it?

Probably most of this forum.

They're not THAT evil.

I hope.

[Afrocentric]

Screw reform, build a 20 foot tall wall and electrify that bitch so it will kill anything that touches it. These people need to stay in Central America and Mexico if they're just going to come here illegally, use OUR stuff (that we pay for), have lots of children and then send all of the money they earn back home. You want to live here? Follow the process like the Africans, Asians and Europeans do and apply for citizenship; it's not that hard at all.

[soysauce]

Screw reform, build a 20 foot tall wall and electrify that bitch so it will kill anything that touches it. These people need to stay in Central America and Mexico if they're just going to come here illegally, use OUR stuff (that we pay for), have lots of children and then send all of the money they earn back home. You want to live here? Follow the process like the Africans, Asians and Europeans do and apply for citizenship; it's not that hard at all.

Forgetting the fact that your electricity bill would bankrupt the nation within a few weeks, trapping 300 million Americans inside their own rapidly decaying country.

Now that's what I call a plan...

[CanadianEh]

That's not what 'illegal immigration' means.

And if it did, who the hell would object to it?

That's not what 'illegal immigration' means.

And if it did, who the hell would object to it?

Probably most of this forum.

Most people on this forum oppose ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, the one where you flout the laws of the country you are trying to go to and demand to be taken care of. No. That's not how this works. If you want to come to my country and become a member of my country then use the legal system. I'm probably the most "anti-immigrant" member on this Forum and even I support reforming the legal immigration system (with a cap of about 200,000 people per year authorized to immigrate, not including exceptional circumstances; i.e refugees etc). We can't open the flood gates and let every hoo hah in that wants in. It helps no one and only inflames domestic political tensions and economic strains on an already weak economy.

See I don't support I cap on immigrants, if you allow economic immigrants to come freely you will have more economic growth and prosperity.

[CanadianEh]

Screw reform, build a 20 foot tall wall and electrify that bitch so it will kill anything that touches it. These people need to stay in Central America and Mexico if they're just going to come here illegally, use OUR stuff (that we pay for), have lots of children and then send all of the money they earn back home. You want to live here? Follow the process like the Africans, Asians and Europeans do and apply for citizenship; it's not that hard at all.

Forgetting the fact that your electricity bill would bankrupt the nation within a few weeks, trapping 300 million Americans inside their own rapidly decaying country.

Now that's what I call a plan...

That's actually a really good point, and it's funny

[CanadianEh]

That's not what 'illegal immigration' means.

And if it did, who the hell would object to it?

I'm not talking about illegal immigrants I'm talking about refugees.

[Afrocentric]

Screw reform, build a 20 foot tall wall and electrify that bitch so it will kill anything that touches it. These people need to stay in Central America and Mexico if they're just going to come here illegally, use OUR stuff (that we pay for), have lots of children and then send all of the money they earn back home. You want to live here? Follow the process like the Africans, Asians and Europeans do and apply for citizenship; it's not that hard at all.

Forgetting the fact that your electricity bill would bankrupt the nation within a few weeks, trapping 300 million Americans inside their own rapidly decaying country.

Now that's what I call a plan...

Well it should say "fence" instead of "wall", but my point still stands. Build it along the Mexican border and use solar panels to generate the electricity.

[Zongxian]

Screw reform, build a 20 foot tall wall and electrify that bitch so it will kill anything that touches it. These people need to stay in Central America and Mexico if they're just going to come here illegally, use OUR stuff (that we pay for), have lots of children and then send all of the money they earn back home. You want to live here? Follow the process like the Africans, Asians and Europeans do and apply for citizenship; it's not that hard at all.

Only about 28% of immigrants are estimated to be illegal. The majority are Mexican and overall the numbers are stable; there's not some flood of people trying to cross the border. (refer to http://www.pewhispanic.org/ for more numbers)

And those who are here illegally are hardly 'stealing' anything. Their presence is no different from foreign tourists or non-citizen residents living here impermanently (foreign businessmen and families, etc). Admittedly, I do take issue with things like providing in-state tuition to illegals, but this has nothing to do with immigration reform and addressing the overall issue of illegal immigration. The only thing we need to worry about with illegal immigrants is criminal elements, which compose a small fraction. That aside, illegal immigrants are not a detriment, they contribute the larger economy and its functioning. And if anything, there'd be an even greater contribution towards the economy-at-large if they were legalized, since then they would be able to further integrate into society.

And anyways, the large majority of Latino immigrants are coming here legally, just like 'the Africans, Asians and Europeans.' And we don't see the illegal numbers for those other three groups for obvious reasons (hint: lots of water).

Build it along the Mexican border and use solar panels to generate the electricity.

I had no idea you were such an environmentalist.