[Jim727]

I think it's important to make sure the focus is correct here. This isn't about immigrant-bashing. With very few exceptions we're all immigrants or descendants of immigrants, and the vast majority of us understand this.

The problem arises when the people in question are not immigrants (a term I believe should be reserved as a term of respect for legal entrants) but illegal entrants. The secondary problem arises when those entrants are not here to become part of this society, but have no desire to assimilate and are conducting a de facto form of conquest where portions of our country are being annexed to another society through sheer numbers.

Whether an illegal entrant is hard-working or nice or doesn't cause "problems" is irrelevant. Being here for some time is irrelevant. What is relevant is that they were willing to break the law to get here and think that by yelling loud enough (a collective tantrum) they should be given a free pass for their transgression. Being an illegal brings with it all kinds of other problems, such as the need to use stolen social security numbers, fraudulent drivers licenses, predatory employer practices, etc, and creates an underground culture that can only survive on continued illegal/dishonest practices. Not good for this society, and I'm not buying it.

My neighbors are German; they entered legally and are model citizens, but I have no doubt that had they entered illegally the INS would be all over them. They incurred substantial expense and expended great effort to get here - are we going to tell them that it would have been better to sneak in? Are we going to repay them for their substantial expenses because we "really didn't mean that there are immigration rules"? Are we going to have one set of rules for "south of the border" and another set of rules for the rest of the world? To treat them differently than entrants from Mexico is, put simply, racism.

Governments have not only the right to control entry into a country, but also the responsibility to do so. Our government has abdicated that responsibility and they should be held accountable for that negligence. We desperately need a guest-worker program; one with enforcement teeth and a ticket home at the end of the visa. We desperately need to start enforcing our laws consistently, not just the ones that are convenient today. We desperately need to get control of our borders. And we desperately need to stop this idiotic talk of amnesty for current illegal entrants.

Be legal or Be Gone.
Hire an illegal, go to jail.
Shelter an illegal, go to jail.