Immigration Reform: We Can Do Better

In the last few weeks, a lot has been happening in the great American conversation around immigration. A federal court struck down SB 1070, Arizona's "get-tough-on-immigration-because-the-Obama-administration-won't-do-diddily" law. Several prominent Republicans have started campaigning against the 14th amendment to the United States' constitution, which, among other things, grants citizenship to any person born in the Unites States. Then, in the second week of August, both the House and Senate passed an emergency spending bill that will send 600 million dollars to the US border. The money will pay for 1500 border enforcement personnel, it will support the overburdened court system, and it will provide for the monitoring of the border by unmanned aircraft.

Count mine among the Americans who wish to see Washington do something about undocumented migration across our southwest border -- not because undocumented persons are harming our nation (they're not; in fact the United States benefits from illegal immigration), but because each year hundreds of good people die trying to cross our borders. People have been migrating across the landscape now bisected with an international border since long before either the United States or Mexico existed, and they're not going to stop now. The poverty in Mexico is too extreme, and the economic opportunities north of the border are too alluring.

Rather than laws that will encourage increasingly dangerous (and fatal) border crossings, we need measures that will keep people safe, will promote economic vitality on both sides of the border, and will enable those who work in America to move freely back and forth across the border.

To that end, I have identified five elements that I feel must be included in any morally responsible immigration reform bill. I came up with these elements after spending a lot of time studying the issues, visiting the US/Mexico border, and interviewing dozens of people from many different walks of life for my soon-to-be-released book, Neighbor: Christian Encounters with "Illegal" Immigration.

1. The United States Government must provide visas for seasonal work, particularly for people working in the agriculture sector. Issuing visas for seasonal work would likely have the effect of decreasing the number of immigrants from Mexico living permanently in the United States because with visas, workers could return to Mexico at the end of each season and not feel compelled to move their families north. While writing my book, I found I shared this conviction with liberals and conservatives, Mexicans and Americans, nearly everyone I met who is knowledgeable and wise about immigration matters.
2. Families should be kept together. Current laws that separate mixed-status spouses or that deport parents, separating them from their children, should be changed. When parents are deported, leaving citizen children without a mother or a father, no one benefits.
3. Children brought across the border by their parents should be treated differently from adults who immigrated alone, even after those children are adults. Under current immigration law, adults who came to the United States as children are treated exactly as if they themselves had made the decision to immigrate. If they lack documentation, they live under the constant threat of deportation, and in many states they are denied drivers' licenses, seriously hampering their chances of finding meaningful work. Even if they are legal residents, they face the possibility of deportation even for relatively minor offenses.
4. The border fence should be left to rust in the desert, or, better yet, uprooted and sold for scrap. If it would do any good, I'd stand by the fence that now runs along the border from the Pacific Ocean to the Rio Grande, and I'd declare with every possible ounce of conviction "Mr. Obama, tear down this wall!" The fence is not necessary -- our nation's southern border already runs through a mountainous desert which provides excellent border protection and national security, and makes the fence redundant. Also, at a cost of more than a billion dollars, the border fence is a ridiculous waste of money and, often, a tragic waste of human life. The wall doesn't keep people out of the United States; it just encourages people to cross the border in increasingly dangerous places. Besides, as expensive as walls and fences are to build and maintain, ladders are cheap. So are shovels and hacksaws. The only people who benefit from the wall are politicians whose constituents like easy answers to complex issues.
5. I firmly believe that the movement of goods and services across the border should be controlled. Duty fees must be collected and contraband must be stopped, but the best way to control the flow of people is with economic development south of the border and with enforcement north of the border that targets not the migrants themselves but businesses that hire undocumented persons.

My opinions are not unique to the progressive community in the United States, nor are they original to me. I heard variations on these themes everywhere I went in the United States and Mexico researching my book. This is not to say that everyone in the United States and Mexico agrees with me -- not even close -- but when discussions around immigration are educated, thoughtful, and are separated from fear, prejudice and xenophobia, consensus starts to appear and that consensus looks an awful lot like the five points I've made above.

It's time for our leaders to pass comprehensive immigration reform and to do so in a way that fuels the economy, protects families and children, saves lives, and is rational and enforceable. I believe America is good enough, strong enough, and creative enough to make an immigration policy that works for all of us.

 

 

 

Comments

[traveller77]

01:13 AM on 09/06/2010

Many political opinion-makers have learned that discussion is the hardest way to make a point. It is much easier to ignore what you say and then attack you for what they wish you had said. If they pile up enough confusion on your head; they win.

This thread is a good example. This is a fair statement of a problem, and a fair proposal for a policy change that might resolve that problem. Critics simply refuse to deal with the easiest and most obvious points this blogger made. They have chosen to just demonize immigrants as evil, and those who look more closely at them, as dupes. It's so easy.

I am sorry that political vandals like this are so new to so many progressive bloggers like Mr. Daniel.

tt77

[Agent of Chaos]

05:25 PM on 08/19/2010

You really can't be that clueless, can you?

[ugly american]

04:34 PM on 08/19/2010

Since the author is involved;
Father, there are many problems with immigration that need to be fixed. Personally I believe GLBT partners shold be able to sponsor their spouses. Agricultural workers are a small part of the problem. 12 to 20 million people are not here illegally to pick lettuce.
That fence you want to see rust needs to be there or something done to stop the traffic. 239,000 Mexicans became citizens last year. We issued nearly 500,000 visas to that nation. Meanwhile at least 500,000 more of their citizens came across illegally. And they tell them they have a right to.
Until the situation of people and drugs coming illegally is controled, it will be near impossible to affect any changes to our system coherently.
Securing the border is the logical first step. Our neighbor vehemenantly opposes that.
While it is easy to sympathize with a family, it is far harder to feel for millions of families and people who knew they were not supposed to come here and did so anyway.
As generous as America may be, we cannot reasonably take in all those that would like to have a better life. Other nations trying to force us to accept thier people is still no reason we should be forced solve their problems.

[elfmachine]

02:52 PM on 08/19/2010

In a country where ambition and determination are supposed to be seen as virtues, it's really depressing to see that people still seem hung up on racial and cultural divisions... enough to think they should have the right to force certain people out until they crawl through a decade's worth of red tape.

[Norski]

05:21 PM on 08/19/2010

Bernie Madoff and top management at Enron were equally determined. Do you praise them as well?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics we have over 20 million Americans looking for work versus 7.5 million working Illegal Immigrants. Unemployment rates in the jobs where Illegal Immigrants compete directly with Americans have reached 12.3% for Production, Transportation, and Material Moving occupations, 15.9% for Natural Resources, Construction, and Maintenance occupations, 10.9% for Farming, Fishing, and Forestry occupations, and 10.3% for Service occupations. Meanwhile, Management and Professional occupations have an unemployment rate of only 5.0%.

According to Pew Center research 78% of Illegal Immigrants are considered Hispanic. I want to understand you position properly. Are you saying that it is more important to protect Illegal Immigrants because of their predominant national derivation, regardless of the illegal acts that they have committed, than it is important to fix the devastation wrought by illegal immigration on American workers of all races? I believe they call that the Tyranny of the Minority, do they not?

[elfmachine]

12:01 PM on 08/20/2010

There is no "devastation".... these people don't normally end up with "careers" and portfolios, haha. All this work you're complaining that was stolen from American citizens, wasn't due to Mexicans (in America), companies have been outsourcing for years in an attempt to keep their production levels and profits up. They shot themselves in the foot. People don't buy American, they don't even think about it. They get everything from Wal-Mart and don't see the problem. Day laborers or people who get paid under the table are still less at fault than the dicks who employ them. People in the U.S. always want to blame some foreign entity.

"It are us."

[Norski]

08:26 PM on 08/22/2010

elfmachine - I was wondering if someone might bring up the universal bogeyman that is "outsourcing". The contention that "outsourcing" is a reason to turn a blind eye to illegal immigration is nothing more than a phantom scare tactic.

The best top level proof that outsourcing is NOT a justification for Illegal Immigration is to look at the jobs where Illegal Immigrant Workers are most prevalent. They are Farming, Construction, Transportation and Material Moving, Food Service, and Cleaning occupations. Because of the nature of this work NONE of these occupations can be out-sourced to places like China or India.

For example, try out-sourcing the construction of buildings to China. Buildings are really hard to air or ocean ship once they are built. Imagine shipping a fourteen story apartment building by boat, driving it through the streets to its destination, then lifting it into place, basement and all. Or try harvesting American crops, mining American ore, preparing American food, cleaning American buildings, or moving goods in America with workers living in China or India or even Mexico. It cannot be done. The Worker’s arms are not long enough to reach across our borders and do the jobs. Illegal Immigration purely and simply is replacing USA Workers on USA soil doing jobs that can NEVER be exported somewhere else via outsourcing.

The devastation is real and really due to illegal Immigration. No amount of trying to confuse work done by Illegal Immigrants with work moved off shore will change that.

[GregHooper]

08:56 AM on 08/20/2010

Just checking to see if you read this post

I for one am sick of all the excuses being handed out by people who want to show how understanding and compassionate they are while completely ignoring the wreckage caused to citizens of this country this is not the civil rights movement

They have no rights they are not citizens they have only the right to go home

Then you bring in race and culture

Understand this Illegal is not a race its a crime punishable by deportation

All cultures are here and accepted There will always be friction your idea of a perfect world is what then

I'm sick of you racists thinking that illegals have a right to break the law and any person with white skin who doesn't agree with you is making this determination due to skin color

That would be you hypocrite

As far as decades long red tape how does it feel to want We are supposed to allow people to have a residency visa just because they want one

The system is not broken its slow

[elfmachine]

12:03 PM on 08/20/2010

lol

[Robert Emery]

12:31 PM on 08/19/2010

I live along the border and tired of all these bleeding heart Activists who don't know what there are talking about. California spends 10-22 billion dollars/year on social services. When the housing industry tanked many Illegals lost their jobs. Note Construction work is not Ag work. So we should just stiff our poor cirizens for the Illegals who have the propensity for violating our laws. Over 50% of those deported have Criminal records. Note there isn't a proposal to secure the border.

What really irritates me are these so-called Christians Religious Leaders who support Amnesty behind the backs of their congregations.

[Ben Daniel]

01:41 PM on 08/19/2010

I confess, I'm getting a little bit tired of people calling me a "so-called-religious leader" and saying I don't know what I'm talking about. I actually did my homework when I wrote my book (which I hope you will read). The fact that you and I reach different conclusions does not give us an excuse to resort to ad hominem nastiness.

Its especially frustrating when responders seem to have paid so little attention to what I actually have written.

Reread my post. I don't advocate for amnesty (before or behind my congregation). I do deal with the issue of border security (I don't like the wall and I think illegal immigration should be enforced at he worksite). I support temporary visas for ag workers not for construction workers. You and I are likely to disagree with my conclusions, but that's what's beautiful about America. We can disagree, and then we can vote. Please try to avoid the kneejerk reactions. Open you mind, read with respect--not for me but for the democratic process that makes America great, and which is at risk when, motivated by fear, we talk past each other instead of with each other.

[GregHooper]

02:48 PM on 08/19/2010

Hello again Father you have your work cut out for you here

The reason you're getting so much grief is due to the fact that we are so used to the small grains of sand piling up until it becomes 10-15 million excuses that are all now part of the discussion and what we are now doing is cleaning house

The Ag worker scenario is well explained in the 2nd post by Norski I have to say I'm not as familiar with the Ag problem as I am with the construction problem and have a hard enough time dealing with these issues

But Ag workers are a very small part of the illegals and some are here on permits tweaking the system outside of general reform has been discussed so its a small part of a huge problem

As far as price spikes go thats a red herring field labor is such a small of cost the wage could doulbe and should

People always lead with Ag workers as if to say just fool with this a little when we all know once the door opens everything else come behind it

Although your bringing up 20 million dead from the cultural revolution as a likely scenario makes you suspect as to how you form your logic

I believe you are a good man mean well and have done your research I might also read your book I read a huge amount and am always open to a new idea

[GregHooper]

03:20 PM on 08/19/2010

Page II

Nothing is ever simple is it

The problem I have with the churches is that they are locked into the mindset of how to help illegals and because both the church and the illegals are here The church wants to help them here So in order for that to happen the illegals must stay

That is where the pretzle logic comes undone and becomes nonsense

The Church should be helping them leave and looking for reform in their own counties not helping them break the law here

Sorry Father you are wearing the collar and advocating for reform

I understand you never used the word amnesty so what do you prefer Pathway to Citizenship You bring up separation of families but what does that mean you have a family here so you stay

Personaly I feel that if a kid has been here for such time (8 years) as to be incapable of understanding their parents homeland and in High school the culture shock of returning at that age would be devastating But the parents who did that to their child should not be rewarded for their irresponsibility a classic Hobsens choice

And it will hurt I in no way feel that back door loopholes should be left open Pain is part of life and making special exceptions just leads to more which is how we got here in the first place

Let them finish their schooling let them have a visa to stay Just not their parents

[Norski]

09:37 AM on 08/19/2010

If an American Child breaks the law that Child faces the possibility of Juvenile Court and Dentition. If a Foreign Child breaks the law we reward them with citizenship? That makes no sense.

Leviticus 19:15 – “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.”

If the Border Fence does not work how come "it just encourages people to cross the border in increasingly dangerous places"? If something is altering behavior then it obviously does work.

Mexico is the source of 56% of our Illegal Immigrants. Yet of all nations of the world Mexico has the 12th largest economy. Larger even than Canada. I agree that duty fees for goods crossing the border could help pay for universal inspection. But the solution to Mexico's problem lies in her people, not in her economics. You should be searching for a Mexican Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi, not ways to excuse Illegal Immigration.

[Contact1972]

11:37 AM on 08/19/2010

If a Foreign Child breaks the law we reward them with citizenship?
******************************************************************************
How is a child in utero or a baby being born breaking the law?

[Norski]

02:39 PM on 08/19/2010

Apparently you did not read point three in the opion piece on which we are commenting.

[Norski]

09:21 AM on 08/19/2010

I hate to bring the real world into this exercise in philosophical blue sky but I would remind the author that by far and away the most common form of determining citizenship for the countries of the world is jus sanguinis. This is the technical term for Citizenship bestowed from parent to child. The list of jus sanguinis countries includes Mexico which, according to the Pew Center is responsible for 56% of Illegal Immigrants living in the USA. Only one in six countries in the world practice some form of jus soli, which is citizenship bestowed by place of birth. And using jus soli as the primary determinant of citizenship like the USA does is the practice of only a couple of countries.

As a result, each and every child that is born to Illegal Immigrants here is the USA is also automatically the Citizen of the country from which their Mother and in many cases Father came. The Child is fully entitled to exercise their jus sanguinis citizenship in their Parent’s home country and move to live with their parents if their parents are forced to leave the USA due to their illegal status. To automatically assume that the Child would always be better off in the USA is simply national arrogance. And I always thought that being a good parent was encouraged by the Church. So why is it considered good parenting for Parents who illegally entered the USA to leave their children behind when deported?

[Contact1972]

11:49 AM on 08/19/2010

But that child is still a US citizen. If we send them back to who knows where with their parents isn't that trampling on that US citizen's child's rights? What happens if for example the parents are from a war torn country. Do we then send the American citizen back to that country as well?

Look I know this is a issue that brings out a lot of emotion(myself included) but we honestly need to find the best solution for this issue. I firmly believe that comprehensive immigration reform is the answer. I'm NOT talking amnesty but a system that helps legal immigrants who are stuck in a process bogged down in red tape, a system that deports violent criminals, a system that gives legal status(NOT citizenship or a Green Card) to the majority of the undocumented here and a system that is modernized and reflects the society we live in. An example of that is my family and thousands like mine......I am a gay, tax paying American citizen and I have no way to sponsor my partner of 10 years. There is simply no way. When we are out of options we will either have to break up or move to a third country which we can't do at the moment. Humane, logical immigration reform is needed....blaming children isn't the solution.

[Norski]

03:04 PM on 08/19/2010

Are you not aware that we have a refugee status that an Illegal Immigrant can attempt to convert too if there is a danger of violence in returning to their home country? This has been around for years and many people are currently taking advantage if it.

The national arrogance of the idea that children can only do well in the USA is unbelievable. I am sure that every country outside of the USA is now suitably offended by the idea that America is the only place where children can be a success.

[Norski]

09:07 AM on 08/19/2010

Funny how resorts on the North Shore of Lake Superior can make effective used of the H2A Temporary Worker Visa but Farmers cannot. The plight of our American Farm Workers illustrates how refusing to end Illegal Immigration devastates wages to no substantial end.

Farm Workers top the Pew Center list of occupations most affected by Illegal Immigration. There are a quarter million people who do this back breaking job with as much as 25% of the workforce made up of Illegal Immigrants. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Farm Workers earn a median wage of $8.64 per hour. Construction Laborers who work equally hard with comparable skills but they earn median wages between $11.23 and $13.19 per hour. The lowest skilled Loggers earn a median wage of $14.66 per hour. Even Parking Lot Attendants have higher median wages than Farm Laborers at $9.04 per hour.

This is a great example of the devastation Illegal Immigration has wrought on wages. The sad part is even if farm wages were to increase to the level of Laborers and Loggers, to a median wage of $13.50 per hour, the cost of farm labor is only 7% of the cost of food. The result would be a 4.5% increase in food prices. Inflation is often greater.

The problem with current Seasonal Worker programs is Growers are actually expected to pay market wages and not exploit the workers.

[Ben Daniel]

01:18 AM on 08/19/2010

Well. I'm glad my post has caused some good discussion, but holy cow--I'm at a loss of words. I'm not really sure how to address what, quite frankly, feels more like venting and less like honest wrestling with serious issues. But I'll try. Regarding jobs, my recommendation is that seasonal visas be given for temporary workers--particularly agricultural workers. I'm not advocating that unlimited visas be given for skilled work or for any other jobs that Americans will do. Here's something that is true: migrant workers have always done the bulk of America's agricultural work. Sometimes those migrants were African Americans, sometimes they were Dust Bowl refugees, some times they were Filipino, or Japanese, but usually they have been Mexicans. Mexican immigrants have been doing the bulk of American agricultural work for more than a century, so I'm not asking that anything new happen, I'm asking that we regulate what's already going on, and has been going on for a really long time.

If we discontinue the practice of hiring undocumented field workers, it will cause a food crisis in America, in part because the price of food will spike and in part because we won't be able to move people out of the cities and into the farms fast enough to avoid loosing a season's worth of crops. Besides, Mao tried moving city folk out onto the farms, and it didn't work. 20 million people starved. We don't need to repeat that mistake!

[GregHooper]

02:32 AM on 08/19/2010

This is spot on Ceasar Chavez was correct in advocating for the rights of migrant workers

As far as venting goes i see it as a listing of personal expieriences that have wrecked our ability to survive forget get ahead

I have lost tens of thousands of dollars to illegals undercutting my jobs and then wrecking what they had no business attempting in the first place

I have first hand expierience with what they deal with as I spent a number of years working in Europe under the same circumstances No papers I just showed up and went for a job on the building sites

I used to work on tall ships and crossed the Atlantic several times by sail with international crews This was before the wall came down and then after when eastern Europe flooded in and wrecked their way of life blue collar that is the money guys loved it

Starving people will do anything work under any condition for a a paycheck or even the promise of a meal Sleeping on the building site is normal at times

We fought in this country for labor rights only to see it vanish under a series of amnestys that then only created a larger one the next time

The whole lie of jobs we don't want means for that pay and under those conditions foot on the neck and slave to a not quite living wage

I'll tell you a story....

[Contact1972]

11:33 AM on 08/19/2010

I don't think you want a solution that would work. You're too angry about this.

[GregHooper]

03:38 AM on 08/19/2010

Give a six or nine month agricultural visa and if they overstay it's revoked for life

Repeal NAFTA so agriculture in Mexico is not wrecked by our farm subsidy system

Leagalize Marijauna to take away the cash cow for the cartels

Tell Fellipe Calderone to give speeches to his own congress on peoples rights

Mexico is a mess and it can't be fixed by exporting their people as a relief valve and our money as a subsidy

When parents are deported they can take their kids its irresponsible of them to leave them here

If one spouse or parent is a citizen they should all be citizens as fast as possible one year wait while in the country to proccess the papers should be resonable but 6 years like now is absurd

Its a family they should be together if one parent is a citizen they should all be under that umbrella not show up pregnant have a baby on our expense and we get the rest of the family as well

Or cross the border then get pregnant

A one time exemption for kids who are to much an American to know anything else To just drop off a teenager in a foriegn country after years here with no clue would be inhuman But the irresponsible parents go and don't return you want to see your kids they can visit you

After that enforce the laws no special treatment

Finish the fence and move the Korean DMZ here

[GregHooper]

12:21 AM on 08/19/2010

Looks like the open border amnesty first crowd went to a place where they can find others who live in their fantasy land

I personally hope Father Ben comes back and continues this discussion maybe I can tell him some stories of my time fighting this issue and how it has ruined the blue collar worker

We get beat on a lot of fronts but this one has the most direct and daily effect

Get back to me Ben I got some things you need to hear

[Ben Daniel]

01:23 AM on 08/19/2010

The Reverend Pastor here. Greg, this is one of the things that frustrates me as I write about this issue. Reread my piece. You will not find me advocating for an amnesty. You and I may dislike amnesties for different reasons (I'm not a fan of one-off solutions--I think we need sustainable reform), but I'm not advocating for amnesty, yet I assume you're talking about me when you talk about an "open border amnesty first crowd."

Help me out here. You invite dialogue but I don't want to be having a discussion in which I'm defending ideas that aren't even mine to begin with.

[GregHooper]

02:14 AM on 08/19/2010

Sorry for lumping you in with the rest of the "they just want a better life" so give them mine

You seem to keep an open mind and I appriciate that

First off Illegal is not a race it is a crime and they broke the law by coming here and that is the foundation for everything that follows

It's not racist it appllies to anyone here without permission regardless as to place of origin I hope you agree with that much

The rest is a tragedy

It infuriates me when outright racists call me one becuase I am white the sheer hypo~cricy is just mind numbing HP censors posts with that word go figure

I fully understand people crossing the border the way they do They come for the American dream and have created an American nightmare and are now stuck in it

I'll stop now assuming you have read my other posts just letting you know you have my attention

now i will go go read your other post here and allow you to respond

[GregHooper]

03:08 AM on 08/19/2010

A girl I grew up with was a manager at a call center smart sharp hard working the whole lot she never made it to college because the money just never came together

Her husband owned a lawn cutting service with contracts on Corporate campuses

You can see where this is going right?

She suffered the indignation of having to train her replacement Then the jobs moved to India

The biggest contract her husband had laid off a huge amount of people The grass still needed to be cut so he should have been fine

Two executives took their year severerance and their business acumen undercut his prices by a large margin by hiring Mexicans for less than the minimum wage no taxes and a minimal workcomp policy one person Just enough to be legit

Illegals paying into the system is a lie

No matter It's done all the time thats where our pricing structure is now if you don't rip off the system you don't compete but when you do it in volume with loads of illegals you can make a killing

Forget quality just get a coat of paint on it and out the door

last I heard they had lost their house and were living in their parents basement

Three kids

This was in 03 before it got real bad

I'm 50 so that would make a family of 5 parents at 48 technically homeless

That is grinding poverty American style because this was in snow county

[Ruben40]

12:16 AM on 08/19/2010

WHO GIVES AMERICAN JOBS TO ILLEGALS ? AMERICANS !

[Ruben40]

12:15 AM on 08/19/2010

Thank you Greedy American businessman for hiring this poor and illegal man form Mexico. I have a friend in you even if it raises taxes on your fellow Americans for more border security and even if it causes problems with your fellow Americans complaining about my illegal countrymen crossing through your fellow Americans property and even if it causes problems with the local law and now more than ever law suits will be filed and very large settlements will be handed out like candy paid with the taxes by your fellow Americans you continue to hire us and provide jobs to my people even if you know it is illegal and you yourself break your own American laws just to hire us you risk the shut down and audit of your company or business you risk all of that just to hire my hard working people I thank you. If I can ask you for one more favor, can you lend me your American women to give birth to your future worker and my anchor baby? Anchors away! Thank you greedy American Businessman and God bless the greediest place on earth The U.S.A.

[GregHooper]

12:25 AM on 08/19/2010

I love it finally honesty from a tresspasser

I may not like you being here but I flag this as a favorite

Oh and by the way

Reconquista this ..!.

[GregHooper]

12:29 AM on 08/19/2010

You see this guy Father Ben heres your true immigrant Benefit to our community

Had to fan him for his honesty

[EdnaTN]

10:28 PM on 08/18/2010

None of your comments consider the American worker and some will only encourage more illegal immigration. If illegal parents who have children are protected from deportation that will only encourage more people to come here and have children. To think that those in allowed in as temporary workers will not try to stay here permanently and bring their children is naive. Most know that they will get better benefits and education for their families. Mexico has the problems they have because that government protects the wealthy in that country and there is not adequate redistribution of wealth. Every dollar Americans spend for the benefit of illegal immigrants is a dollar to support the elite of Mexico. I am a former liberal. I have changed my politics primarily because of this issue.

[GregHooper]

11:02 PM on 08/18/2010

I have the honor of being your first fan

Your still a liberal in the sense you keep an open mind to what new information comes up

Liberal is not a ideology it is a thought process

Thw word has been bastardised check the dictionary the older editions if you can find them say nothing of political affiliation

The new ones you have to look to the bottom to find the meaning devoid of politics but its still there

Fanned and Faved

[EdnaTN]

08:04 AM on 08/19/2010

Greg, I became a fan of yours this mornng.

[Fernando Espuelas]

11:26 PM on 08/18/2010

Edna- where is the empirical evidence to support your assertion: "If illegal parents who have children are protected from deportation that will only encourage more people to come here and have children"?

And by the way, these people are not "illegal parents", they are undocumented workers that make your lettuce and chicken and myriad services you take for granted cheaper.

[GregHooper]

11:53 PM on 08/18/2010

How many babies are born to illegals yearly in this country Hospitals shutting down Obstetrics due to overburdened maternity wards from illegals who don't pay for delivery

If you have any common sense you would not make the assertation they wouldn't come here for that reason I was 12 when I first spotted that loophole for what it was

If they are here illegaly and are parents they are illegal parents you seem to think that because they are here they will remain here They just happen to not have any way to prove who they are You call it undocumented I call it irresponsible

You say they work cheaper as if thats a good thing I say they have gutted our ability to earn a living wage

Day labor used to be a way for the uneducated to make a living and now they are on the streets panhandling like the guy under the bridge who I asked why don't you go to Home Depot and he replied "The mexicans run me off"

Every raid has opened jobs that were inmmediatly filled by unemployed American citizens who then forced the employers to follow workplace rules and regs

The Tyson plant in Misssippi comes to mind

I'm a carpenter with 30 years in the trades and I can barely stay employed and every one of us says the same thing

Thank God I don't have children I can barely feed my dog at times

But people like you won't listen

[EdnaTN]

12:01 AM on 08/19/2010

I was associated with a carpet mill in Georgia that hired at least 100 illegal immigrants as contract workers. Of course no taxes were ever paid on those wages. When it was discovered that the illegals were stealing from the warehouse all of them were dismissed. When I went back the next year all of the jobs were filled by employees on the books. A substantial number of them were African Americans. I think your problem is that you think that facts written by others are just prejudices and are not based upon knowledge.

[Contact1972]

02:11 PM on 08/18/2010

Mr. Daniel....I support your points but I hope when you mean keeping families together you also mean GLBT families who are unable under the current immigration system, to sponsor their foreign spouses. Because of this inequality within the immigration system, thousands of GLBT familes are ripped apart for no good reason or part of their familes are forced to live underground simply because they don't wish to be away from their partner, children and home.

[Ben Daniel]

02:33 PM on 08/18/2010

Absolutely. I pray for a day when GLBT families will be recognized under US immigration law.

[Contact1972]

04:14 PM on 08/18/2010

I'm glad you feel that way! I hope you blog about the Uniting American Families Act(UAFA).

[GregHooper]

11:24 PM on 08/18/2010

How does it split a family if they are responsible parents and take their children with them

We need a secure border because its our border

Illegals crossing there are not the only problem

I pray for the day when the priests take into account the economic devistation caused by illegals who come on our jobs and then cut off our source of work most of which is word of mouth

Destroying our families and livelyhood

I have never been given a job lead or or earned dollar one through illegals although I have lost tens of thousands of dollars due to their hatred of Americans on jobs they feel belong to them

I worked in LA and the company had to hire a second generation citizen to translate for me what a nightmare

He translated more than just the instructions I also got the comtempteous comments they would say about me my country and my fellow citizens

The sheer insult handed out on a daily basis made me lose any compassion I may have felt Its where I leaned the word Reconquista

Illegal is not a race but now I'm called a racist by outright racists because I want the law enforced

Irresponsible parents who cross the border with their children should be ashamed not me and I resent that people put this up You were not invited you came looking to beat the lottery and that is supposed to be the responsible new citizens we want??

Your'e wrong