I don't think we should send them back. That seems to be inhuman but I do disagree with the view that they do the work no one else wants to do. It's the case that no one wants to do those jobs for the same amount of money that illegal immigrants are willing to work for. Companies don't want to pay real wages and want a cheap labor supply. Hence, politicians won't solve the issue of illegal immigration because business doesn't want them to.

I don't understand the seeming casualness of your perspective. Let's have them here to do our shitty work for a pittance? That seems a bit immoral and degrading to me. We should not exploit other peoples' misery by doing them a favor and letting them work our shitty jobs for wages that we are unwilling to do those same jobs for.

It does not make sense to attempt to round up all of the illegal immigrants currently living in the country. Particularly because the number that come into the country each day would likely outnumber the number that the government rounds up and deports. It makes more sense to try to properly secure the borders and assimilate the current illegal immigrant population into the general population.

I am for the bill linked below which would deport illegal immigrants in jail.

All the arguments for "no" state the reasoning for keeping them is so they can do the crappy jobs. Well who made them so high and mighty that they can't do a crappy job? Second do you understand that as an immigrant they don't have to pay taxes thus working the crappy jobs yet making more thay you who has the good job. They are also getting our free aid that you feel the need to pay for with your high paying jobs. Don't you think you could make more if you didn't have to put all your hard earned money into taxes, and higher health insurance costs because we need to support those immigrats? I myself feel I work hard for my money and someone who's only worth in this country is to do the crappy jobs we refuse to do then I don't want them I am not above doing a crappy job if it means I make and keep most of my money.

If they are illegal how do they pay taxes? We can't collect on someone who is not in the system. Illegal means they are in this country with out proper documentation. So tell me how they pay taxes.

How can you not understand? How can an illegal immigrant pay taxes there is no documentation they are in this country. Now I may have misintruputed the question but why would we send a legal immigrant back?

Borme is correct.

American society and culture is and always has been a constantly changing system that is based on the principles of accepting all peoples. Immigrants coming from Europe started out as low as current immigrants, but they have clearly assimilated into our society. The economic stimulus the immigrants provide is enough reason to accept them. They will soon adapt to American society, just as Europeans and so many others did before them.

Good point randomguy. I agree with you in that we need to formalize the process of accepting all immigrants to the country and get them in the primary economy to pay taxes, have a path to citizenship, learn English, etc like our ancestors did.

I am not prejudice against anyone or race. But i am against all these americans out of jobs until we can get on our own feet stay away its makes things worse ppl coming here.....

Next!

If I illegally stayed in some other country, I'd be sent home. Doesn't matter whether I'm a saint or a thief. Unless the law changes to state that anyone can stick around on US soil, it's a crime and should be punished appropriately.

Immigration? Or Illegal Immigration. Those are two different topics. If it is illegal (which is what I think you meant) then it is called illegal for a reason. It's against the law.

Our medical and our social services are bogged down due to drastic amounts of illegals taking advantage of services paid for (barely) by our tax payers.

Send them back, close the schools to them, close down social services to them. Come here legally, and we welcome you with open arms.

Can you back up your assertion, "90% of the unemployed in the US are unemployed because they are just lazy, or refuse to take a job they feel is 'beneath' them"? I was unemployed for nine months, not because I wasn't willing to flip burgers, but because I was "overqualified" and no one wanted to hire a disabled veteran.

I guess you were part of the 10%. And I could have backed it up, but can't find the stoopid article. You know, bookmarking helps...

So, I rescind my 90% and just say, "In my experience most people who....." :-)

Wow that is an old fall back excuse.

How can you be over qualified and not hired yet not be hired because you are a disabled vet?

What makes you disabled?

I was overqualified because I had a Bachelors degree but there were no jobs in my field. The only jobs were ones like the Post Office but you have to be able to lift 40 lbs. At the time, I was hardly able to walk around the block due to injuries to left hip, both knees, and spine. After five years of rehabilitation (including yoga and bellydance), I'm finally able to do the things that most people can, just slower and less frequently (like climbing stairs). If I hadn't been injured to such a degree, do you think the military would have let go of me in a time of war? Nevermind, you probably are misinformed about that, too.

Quite simply; they do so under stolen or falsified Social Security numbers.

To make the statement that illegal immigrants have no documentation that they are in the country is specious; illegals routinely acquire such documentation. There is a major black market for such paperwork, which includes driver's licenses, Social Security cards, "green cards" and the like. The average cost for such is well over $500 per person, but if that's the difference between work and no work, that's what gets paid. A relatively small percentage of illegals (roughly 10-12% according to the American Council for Immigration Reform) are paid in cash "under the counter;" these, and these alone do not pay income tax.

However, no documentation is needed to collect property tax (through the landlord in the case of rentals), sales tax (collected at and by the store), or gross receipts tax (collected at and by service organizations). As these taxes form the bulk of many states taxes, the populations of illegals fundamentally contributres to this tax base.

Even illegal immigrants pay sales tax. Often times they have a fake SSN, so they pay taxes like everybody else.

I'm an immigrant as well, albeit a legal one, and I pay a shitload of taxes in the US (most of which are not used the way I like).

It's against our laws. Why should we keep people in our nation who don't belong here? They have no right to stay here.

I say send them back, but only the ones that came here illegally. It's disrespectful to our country and our laws that they think they can just waltz over here and take over. Besides doing any work for cheap money (which is pretty downgrading to oneself, don't you think?) they don't really offer our country anything else. They breed too much, they use our taxes on excessive healthcare bills and lower income benefits, and the money we lose to send them home and/or imprison them (or whatever they do) when caught, is probably ridiculous too.

Send them back . Let them ruin their own country. The companies, banks, insurance companies, and government here don't need any help ruining this country.

This seems a bit of a biazzare arguement bordering on innane national front level. Personally I can't see a reason why we should 'send them back'. The fact of the matter is that immigrants are only wanted whilst they do the jobs that no-one else wishes to do. We see that here in the UK and when i was over in the US a few months ago i noticed the sheer number of black, hispanic, foreign nationals working in what would be coined the 'worst jobs'. Here in the UK historically immigration was encouraged, whether that be the coming of the Jews under William the Conqueror to become money lenders and bankers or the Italians a matter of decades ago to work in the less rewarding professions, as soon as anyone not obviously and inherrently Anglo-Saxon begins to become good at their job and advance however out attitude totally changes to one of a threatened cub.

No, we should not 'send them back'. First of all, America was founded on the notion of free borders. Everyone here is the descendant of an immigrant (unless you're a Native American). Second, the logistics of this would be near impossible. Third, immigrants contribute to the economy and there is no evidence that immigrants cause harm to society as some people claim.

I think we need to figure out a way to move all of these immigrants in to the primary economy instead of allowing them to exist under the radar and receive all of the benefits of living in the US without having to pay taxes like the rest of us. But simply rounding them up and shipping them back home is unreasonable and unrealistic.

Although there are many immigrants who work for less than others, one must also realize the explosion of the recent, so called 'gold collar workers' immigration. In western society, it has become increasingly evident that many of the professionals within society, are indeed immigrants trained overseas but are attracted to the living standards and lifestyles of the west. Even universities report that children from immigrant families, tend to gravitate more strongly towards professions such as medicine and engineering, while many more anglosaxons prefer entering telecommunications and corporate based careers. Such preferences clearly indicates that in the west, the supply of immigrant workers, especially gold collar immigrants, provide a vital and important role in maintaining living standards and lifestyles.

History has shown that the problems created initialy from imigration are easily eclipsed by the long term benefits.

Ignore the fact that our founding fathers, Adams, Jeffferson, Washington, et al, were immigrants.

Given time immigrants tend to be very productive members of American society. They are very appreciative and tend not to take this country for granted. They have to work so much harder and have so many more barriers language, culture, prejudice, to name a few, that if they overcome they tend to excell. Talk about survival of the fittest.

Plus I like all the different foods and excuses to drink cheap beer. Can you say Cinco De Mayo...St. Patties...don't the Vietnamese have a Holiday we can celebrate?

Second do you understand that as an immigrant they don't have to pay taxes...

No I don't understand. Where's the proof? If this is true then change the law.

More curious then concerned but I'm just wondering how the vote for this thread is 3 to 6 when only one person is opposed to immigration.

Many illegal immigrants DO pay taxes, they pay into Social Security if they are working under a false SS number (and living in Arizona I can tell you a good percentage do just that)

They also pay sales tax, housing tax, etc. Only the undocumented cash workers dont pay income tax, and Id wager that an equal number of non-immigrants do exactly the same. Everyone pays the government in the end, one way or another.

FYI, you can read all about how the point scoring system works in the FAQ section of CD under the "About" Tab.

I've already argued that we should not try to send all the illegals back to wherever they came from but I disagree with the notion that this country was the founded on accepting all immigrants. That is simply not correct. The majority of our ancestors came to the US from Europe and had to be processed at Ellis Island. Once they arrived at Ellis Island there was a thorough process of evaluating the potential immigrants for disease and then getting them their proper paperwork. It was not an open port that allowed any and all to come in without scrutiny or documentation. The problem with the illegal immigrants that come in through the southern border is that they are not properly documented and are not following the immigrant guidelines set forth by the government. The immigration guidelines were put in place to allow for equal oppurtunity for immigrants from throughout the world to access the US, not just those that can sneak across the texas border. Its despicable that we are forced to punish the people trying to migrate here through the proper methods, ie people from Asia, Africa and Europe that apply for Visa's, because so many immigrants are coming into this country illegally from south and central america.

Totally disagree - the more people, the more jobs. Also, I've discovered that 90% of the unemployed in the US are unemployed because they are just lazy, or refuse to take a job they feel is 'beneath' them. Any work is good work. The only problem right now with jobs is outsourcing our jobs to cheaper countries. So, needless to say, IMHO, jobs is not a legit argument. :-)

Sending them back is to mexico is like sending the blacks back to africa. Let's be reasonable here.

Hrm somehow my argument got submitted twice. Is there a moderator in the room? Please delete this one. Thanks.

A recent Red Tape Chronicle entry explains what I'm talking about in my earlier post.

Unless they have criminal records in their original countries, I believe that the illegal immigrants already here should be allowed to remain. If anyone has the right to kick anyone else out of the USA it's the Native Americans we have forced onto tiny reservations.

I'm sorry, do all illegal immigrants come from Mexico?

people came here on a dream to be free.

Sure! Let's shatter their dreams for our own selfish reasons!

Pure Logic!

doesn't really make sense to send the people who do the jobs that no one else wants to do and for less money than they deserve back to their country. why can't you all be grateful that they're working their asses off for a small amount of money to put food on YOUR table?

it's also hypocritical, didn't europeans come and live on land that wasn't their's? then the americans with the westward expansion, kicking native americans and the mexicans who owned part of southern cali to southern texas off their land then claiming it as their own.

to all you who think they should be sent back, "fuck you and learn to appreciate what you have."

I don't beleive that we (America) should send them back. My reason for this is that they are people. Also because of what the Statue of Liberty has inscribed in her.

I dont think they should get sent back, they should do their time and then decide what to do with them. it can break up many families and cause a smaller population,and people that arent happy tend to also create a crime and then theres another chunk of money and it adds up to alot,my father is an immigrant in prison,and if he gets sent to mexico(where hes from)it will be harder for me to see him,and not only will people be unhappy but anyways how can americans live with themselves knowing they are breaking up families

also if you realize,well me being mexican,how many times do you see americans on corners begging for change well many!and how many times do you see latinos doing that well its rare,more than that they do the jobs you dont want to

Despite popular misconceptions, most illegal immigrants are here for one common cause; to start a better life for their families and themselves. Although many Americans are so quick to label them "free loaders," illegal immigrants want better than they can achieve in their current living situations. Tax payers would not be in favor of illegal immigrant children in our nations public schools. But according to Steven A. Camarota from the Center of Immigration Studies, "In 2002, there were 9.7 million school age children from immigrant families in the US." However, that number is only a small fraction compared to the 75.5 million people enrolled in preschool through college in the US in 2006 (US Census Bureau).

"Second do you understand that as an immigrant they don't have to pay taxes thus working the crappy jobs yet making more thay you who has the good job. They are also getting our free aid that you feel the need to pay for with your high paying jobs. Don't you think you could make more if you didn't have to put all your hard earned money into taxes, and higher health insurance costs because we need to support those immigrats?"

Isn't a better solution, amnesty for illegal immigrants then?

generally speaking, estimated to be 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants. they account for what 5 % of population? so... kicking them out will right off the top reduce the economy by an equivalent amount. heritage foundation estimates at least 1% drop in economy (that's $100 billion in output) in addition, study indicates that immigrants in general start small businesses at double the rate of native whites. going back to population illegals account for 9-12 percent of our population growth and they are overwhelmingly young meaning that they will account for a substantial portion of paying for medicare in the future, since native population is barely reproducing itself (average family has 1.2 kids?) in the 15th century, spain and portugal ruled the world. during the inquisition, they decided to kick out all the jews. result...they fell off the map in terms of power, economy, empire, innovation, from which they have never fully recovered. we need and benefit from an ever replacing immigrating population. yes, there are costs, but they are fully recovered in maintaining our country as the greatest country in the world (if we could just fix our politics, but that's another debate)