Political Crossfire Forums

Obligatory news article.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-wp-bl ... story.html

I don't really understand why people are so opposed to immigration reform. Sure, I get the "oppose on principle" part - in principle, I want jobs to go to American citizens, and not foreigners. And, I want people who utilize a system (HC, roads, etc.) to pay for it (through taxes).

But, the reality just doesn't make those stances workable.

There are between 7 and 20 million illegals in the US, with most saying around 11 million. How would you even go about forcing the migration of 1/10 of these? Do you just drop them at the border? What if Mexico refuses to accept them?

Then there is the issue of children. Millions of children are legal citizens of the US, being born here, while their parents are illegal. Do you deport US citizens? Do you split up families and force kids into the foster system?

What about all those "jobs"? I'm sure that the stereotype of illegals working for less-than-minimum wage in some crappy job (picking crops, factory, maids, etc.) is somewhat overstated. But, like many stereotypes, I'm sure that there is truth underneath. Who will be doing those jobs? There are only 16.2 million unemployed people in the US over the age of 18 right now. I think it's a stretch to say that 68% of them will take those 11 million abandoned jobs. Therefore, many of those jobs will go unfilled.

I really see no logical solution other than amnesty for the vast majority.

Amnesty doesn't solve the problem. Just ask Reagan.

Close the loophole on anchor babies. Grandfather everyone applicable in and then shut it down.

Problem solved.

no, people born here should be citizens. however, what they should do is change it back from the 60s legislation that caused this that allowed people to bring family which encouraged this, and back to a quota system. revise it from what the quota system was previous to that (before the 60s it heavily favored north/western europeans) to something new

Almost to late for reform, the tide is already in. Same as letting your house burn for 2-3 hours before calling the fire dept. BTW, America is NOT a bottomless pit of opportunity for all who come here, legal or otherwise.

Non's rules of immigration reform:
-put a 100,000 in a US bank account, you're in.
-have a PHD from a real university, you're in .
-serve in the US military, your immediate family is in.
-Come from; Mexico or an English speaking nation, have no felonies, you're in.
-marry a US citizen, you're in.
-be the child of a US citizen, you're in.

everybody else? you can get in, but it takes a bit longer.

i'm kind of for shutting down the border. there are enough people here. in 100 years i don't want to us to be looking at our 600+ million population and going "where did it go wrong?"

What about making the XL pipeline a 2-way pipeline? We open it up to oil coming from Canada, and immigrants going straight from Mexico up to Canada?