Illegal aliens

[musicalmomma 1]

The word to not forget is ILLEGAL!!!!! The point being, if they're going to come here to work and better their lives...we welcome them when they follow the proper channels. I don't think it's racist to get sick of my husbands LEGAL tax dollars going higher and higher to pay for ILLEGALS to benefit from them. It's not fair, it's not right and there's just no way around it.

Oh and for the record, I've been to third world countries...the most third world I've been to was in Peru, on the banks of the Manatee Tributary of the Amazon River. Mexico looks like paradise in comaprison! These people have n-o-t-h-i-n-g! I watched three little children share a three inch peice of bread...I saw children with very little clothing and watched them wander off into the jungle to find yucca root so they could eat that day. So, my opinion is NOT a short-sighted one. I welcome, as do most of the people on this tread, anyone that comes here through legal channels.

Now, it's NOT easy to get a visa and legal alien card. You have to have a skill that can not be found in the area you're coming to and thus be sponsored by a company to obtain a visa OR you have to marry a citizen...and THAT is no cake walk either, I speak from personal experience. NOTHING is private...they want PROOF that you're residing together as man and wife! Pictures, bills, affidavits from friends and neighbors! Still, if you come illegally, if you won't adapt to the culture, you need to get legal and adapt or else go back. If they feel this country is so much better and are dying to live here, then they should want to adapt.

To our Canadians: I heard that you have to pay BIG money to immigrate there...like $100k is this true? Just wondering :grouphug: I already live in Wisconsin and wouldn't DREAM of moving further north, much less pay big money to do it. It's too cooooooold for me

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Good on ya Lucy! Mate America is a bloody affluent country. Gd forbid others wanting to live a life free from poverty, persecution, disease and early death.

Susannah

Oh for goodness sakes. What a comment.

Tell you what, you have a home and food. Why don't you guys take in 50,000,000+ illegals, support them, give them medical care, educate them, fill your prisons, stretch your social services to the max, and refuse your own children an education in their native language so your illegals who don't pay taxes can educate their children. BTW, just what would this do to your economy?

I have to laugh, people from outside the US point and giggle at our educational system yet they don't have a clue what the US is really about. You guys apparently believe everything your media tells you.

People who really don't get it need a dose of their own medicine. Perhaps we should just pack up all the illegals and send them to you. Then the US can sit back and insist that you just suck it up and become a 3rd world country.

[green 6]

No, Musicalmomma, you don't need that much money to immigrate to Canada. I have heard that you might need $10,000 but I got this figure from a blog of an American couple who decided to immigrate to Canada and I guess this money would have covered the pair of them at that.

From what I understand our government has a point system and such things as knowledge of English/French, level of education, career, and the amount of cash you have in order to support yourself when you first arrive all count as points. The candidate also has to pass a medical test. This is one way to be considered for immigrant status. The process takes a couple of years, I hear, and must be done while the candidate is living outside of Canada.

Another way to get immigrant status is to get work here as a nanny and this is how many Phillipinas and Carribean women get into the country. They are hired by Canadians as live-in nannies, and arrive here on work visas. After working here for the requisite number of years they can then apply for immigrant status which is equivalent to the American green card.

We also accept refugees. These are people who land here first and then claim that they cannot go home because they will be persecuted. These individuals are housed, fed, and clothed by the government while they wait to have their cases reviewed and a decision made. They are not allowed to work at this point.

We also have our illegals but most of our troublesome ones - in Toronto at least - seem to come from the Carribean Islands. The ones who make the media are young black males who form part of the gang activity that we are now seeing in this city. These gangs appear to have an almost exclusively black membership and they hit the media whenever a young male is gunned down. Life up here is very, very safe if you are not a young black male.

We have a very large Portuguese community in Toronto and many of them work in the construction industry. Not so long ago it seemed as though the Canadian government was going to promise amnesty to our illegals. This had the surprising result of flushing a lot of Portuguese illegals out of the woodwork, so to speak. It was discovered that these men and their families had been peacefully living and working here for a long, long time. They were good citizens and the backbone of the construction industry. Unfortunately for them, once they had made themselves known they were deported despite the outcry made by the Portuguese community on their behalf.

[BJean 16]

I'm back for a quickie and just wanted to say that my comments earlier were not meant to condone people coming into this country illegally. I was only observing that for many of them, their living conditions are so substandard compared to what they can establish in the U.S. On top of that, we don't enforce our laws and the government has turned it's head because of the impact on private businesses by illegal workers who are willing to work for less than minimum wage. For years it was a system that seemed to work for everybody (except maybe us taxpayers) but now it is a problem that must be solved.

Someone also took issue with my comment about how the terrorists came into this country. Am I wrong? Did the media print and preach lies about it? Does Timothy McVeigh and other Americans who are/were terrorists change anything about how the 9/11 perps entered and infiltrated this country? I will agree with one thing that was said in this vein and that is that I wholeheartedly agree that terrorism is practiced by this adminstration. If you're not afraid of what they might do next, you should be.

You may have heard of a town in Texas that decided to pass an ordinance that no one will be permitted to lease living quarters to illegal aliens. There has been a public outcry and a lot of bad publicity has been generated because of the "unfairness" and "inhumanity" of it all. Maybe Bubble is right; this thing is going to wind up in some kind of civil war with people taking sides.

I'm on the side of the law. I feel that way about all of the laws of our country. If they're broke - fix 'em. Otherwise... enforce 'em!

[mrspruett 0]

I suggest people who feel strongly about people from "third world countries" should sponsor a family who is trying to LEGALLY obtain citizenship. This is one way to help others escape the poverty and persecution of these other countries and no one is committing a crime. As for the illegals, I am tired of supporting them. I should have the right to know that the tax dollars I pay to the U.S. government are not being used to sustain criminals( unless it is in a prison).

[leatha_g 4]

I'm back for a quickie and just wanted to say that my comments earlier were not meant to condone people coming into this country illegally. I was only observing that for many of them, their living conditions are so substandard compared to what they can establish in the U.S. On top of that, we don't enforce our laws and the government has turned it's head because of the impact on private businesses by illegal workers who are willing to work for less than minimum wage. For years it was a system that seemed to work for everybody (except maybe us taxpayers) but now it is a problem that must be solved.

Someone also took issue with my comment about how the terrorists came into this country. Am I wrong? Did the media print and preach lies about it? Does Timothy McVeigh and other Americans who are/were terrorists change anything about how the 9/11 perps entered and infiltrated this country? I will agree with one thing that was said in this vein and that is that I wholeheartedly agree that terrorism is practiced by this adminstration. If you're not afraid of what they might do next, you should be.

You may have heard of a town in Texas that decided to pass an ordinance that no one will be permitted to lease living quarters to illegal aliens. There has been a public outcry and a lot of bad publicity has been generated because of the "unfairness" and "inhumanity" of it all. Maybe Bubble is right; this thing is going to wind up in some kind of civil war with people taking sides.

I'm on the side of the law. I feel that way about all of the laws of our country. If they're broke - fix 'em. Otherwise... enforce 'em!

I'm seriously considering moving to this town in support of their decision to stand up for what is right. They're really being made to look like the bad guys, but I absolutely think all towns should follow suit in order to encourage enforcement of the laws.

[BJean 16]

I know what you mean lethea! I can understand the government intervening if they were excluding some legitimate members of society because of government funding for roads, etc., but how does banning illegals make them the bad guys?

[marjon9 6]

I just want to weigh in here by saying that I agree we should enforce our immigration laws and we need to strengthen them as well. We need to protect ourselves and we can't take care of all the world's poor. We already allow many to enter legally.

But, I also have to be honest and say, if I saw my family suffering I would cross the border illegally, and do it over and over again if that's what it took. And I feel confident that everyone on this forum would do the same if they were faced with that situation and had a way.

So, I think it is very important here not to lay the blame at the feet of people who are trying to find a decent life. It's fine to call them illegal and all that. But the truth is, every one of us would do the same if our child was hungry. I think it is important to remember that.

[Carlene 12]

I'm seriously considering moving to this town in support of their decision to stand up for what is right. They're really being made to look like the bad guys, but I absolutely think all towns should follow suit in order to encourage enforcement of the laws.

It's Farmers Branch, TX and the legislation, though passed by a huge margin in the local elections, has been challenged and reversed, awaiting appeal. It will likely be tied up in court for years.

[faithmd 14]

Farmer's Branch? Basically Dallas? Wow, kewl! I LOOOOOVE Dallas. Hmmmm....

[JeninCO 0]

I'm frustrated because here in Colorado everyone is crying and weeping and moaning over illegal immigration and how stronger laws need to be passed, but no one's enforcing the laws we have now.

State troopers stopped a truck coming in to Colorado carrying a load of undocumented Mexicans. The state trooper ticketed the driver and let everyone go. He was at the end of his shift and didn't want the hassle.

One of my clients is a 20-year old whose boyfriend and father of her child is an illegal and has an extensive arrest record, including assaulting a police officer. He chased her and her baby with a meat cleaver, breaking down a door and smashing a window. He was arrested and released on bail when he should have been deported.

No new laws are going to make a bit of difference while the current laws aren't even taken seriously.

[*JASMINE* 1]

My parents were both born in Mexico. They both came here LEGALLY. I sometimes find myself conflicted on this issue. I agree that the "elligals" shoud come here legaly. I empathize with them because I have been to Mexico and have seen first hand what they have to go through. Every year, I send all of my used clothing so that MY FAMILY can use them, for they really need these items.

I am conflicted because I see logically how most people feel about them. It is hard emotionally not to see the bigotry in some people's statements. I just think that SOME people use this issue to further the inner bigots in them.

But again, I must reiterate that I am conflicted. I see both sides. I pay a lot in taxes. I think that there are three entities at fault. First, the elligals. Second, the Mexican goverment for making it such a horrible enviroment to live in and making it so easy to escape it. And third, the US goverment for allowing them to use our hard earned tax dollars to provide them with health care and benefits.

You know what is funny though, that since this issue has intensified, I can't help but feel that people look at me and feel that I might be "elligal". Imagine walking around like this worrying that because you are of hispanic descent, people automatically feel contempt and resentment towards you. I never imagined I would come to feel this way...

I try not to feel this way, but it's kind of hard sometimes.

[FunnyDuddies 6]

Jasmine, I hear ya. It is hard to look at the families in the countries that they are trying to escape and not suffer with them and all they go through. But at the same time it is their govts issue to deal with, not ours.

If a poor family broke into a rich family's home, and squatted there because it was so hard to live on the street many would be outraged, while still have compassion for their plight. It does not mean they can stay though. Yet in America's situation, the cops are not removing this poor family from the rich family's home. Instead they are setting up the basement so they have everything they need to live, while forcing the rich family to pay for it and telling them that they will take care of it eventually.

Its rough. People have hard lives. But you cannot expect those who are paying taxes and living a legal life in the US to front the bill for those who decide to cut corners and not do the right thing. Its not fair to those who work so hard to provide the life they want to for their family.

As to the challenge of sponsoring a legal entrance family, we have done this three times. 2 times for families that were leaving hong kong before the change over. 1 time for a family that came in from indonesia. We were glad to support families that chose to come in legally. We are in constant contact with those families today. And they are all owning family businesses and their kids are doing great in school (all of whom learned english, not forcing others to learn their language.) We are in contact with another family from china that we will possibly be sponsoring. They are in the early stages of their application right now. We are excited to see what comes of it.

[leatha_g 4]

My friend from South Africa has much better English than I do. She is moving into my home this next week in hopes of attaining a local sponsor for 2 more years in America, teaching, helping to educate OUR children with a dedication I rarely see in American teachers anymore. I have never met a more dedicated, determined, grateful person in my life. She is willing to do janitor work if only some employer would sponsor her for 2 more years until she can attain full citizenship. This, from a person who has a been a school principal in South Africa for 15 years and taught in America at base level pay as an exchange teacher now for 6 years. Conditions are no better in her third world country, but she doesn't feel it is just okay to move in and expect us to speak Afrikaans and change our school rules to suit her most comfortably. She isn't interested in just having a child in America so she can stay, or marrying whoever might be willing in order to get her Green card. This person is an author, a gifted teacher who raises disadvantaged kids test scores by 123% in a school year, yet her chances of staying here are far less than those who might bring 12 people to live in a 2 bdrm house illegally, sitting in what our medical facilities call the 'welfare clinic' for free services. Sad, I agree.. but true.

[BJean 16]

Mark once again, you have spoken what I feel. I wish I were as eloquent as you! Lord knows I try, but I think I just get way too emotionally invested.