SteveM44: No Way, Jose.

thought: Unless we are Native to these lands, which few of us are, our families most likely came from abroad to North America seeking a new chance at life. Most of these people are doing just that. They, contrary to popular opinion, work hard to improve their position. A common complaint is that these illegals are taking jobs from US citizens. I cannot agree with that 100% because most illegals begin and usually spend their stay in the US working field jobs and other labor positions that normally could not be filled as cheaply. Is it unjust to pay these people so little? Are their employers, apart from doing something illegal, taking advantage of them? perhaps, but nonetheless they are living, (usually), a higher standard of living than they were in their native nation. As far as depriving them of education...well...that is just immoral and anti-progress...Granted, US citizens are paying taxes for schools, and a lack of funding for education is always an issue, but, how much do we spend on Aid programs for lazy citizens? How much do we spend on bombs? On the space program?

WStarksMD: I think that illegal immigrants should not get all the same benefits as American citizens. I do believe that anyone that has a medical emergency should be treated because the right to keep living supercedes all other political rights. I don't think they should be eligible for welfare and public education because these are the rights and PRIVILEGE of being an American citizen. Many of us have ancestors that fought,bled and died for this country. Some of us are children of slaves who were forced to come here but endured the terrible treatments from our American brothers and have earned the right to the privileges of this country. There are still some of us that decided to leave their native land, come to America, leave their family, traditions and part of their identity behind and apply for American citizenship the proper way. They paid the moneys, took the tests, met all the legal requirements and pledge their allegiance to America. Most of us, work and pay taxes so that if we are ever in need for assistance those funds and programs will be there for those who help to support this country with their labor and money. For someone to illegally come to this country and decide they don't want to participate in giving to "the fund" should not be able to dip into the fund. When was the last time you walk into a membership club of any type and stated to them that you have a right to use the benefits that they have in their club just because you were there. Sounds a little ludicrous doesn't it. Well I feel the same way about benefits for illegal immigrants. You want the privileges, be willing to pay the "dues" of citizenship. Your children and family members should be eligible for the draft just like the rest of our children. I couldn't imagine knowing someone who was living here and paying no taxes and reaping the benefits of our country and their child stays home while mine was shipped off to war and died. Plain and simple, you want the benefits, then pay the price.

AlMiller: Our present welfare system caters to illegal immigrants. We have an open invitation for people to cross the border It's even printed in the native tongue!

Bi-lingualism enables the problem by making illegal immigration convenient. I also object to the anti-immigration fanatacism fueled by Pat Buchanan's racist bullshit. Immigration is great -- but only for those who want to make a contribution to American society and learn to speak English! After all, most U.S. citizens have ancestry who immigrated to the USA in the last two centuries.

The bottom line answer is that money should not be spent on welfare or health care of illegal aliens, except for preservation of life. Also, money should not be spent to provide this information in languages other than English. We are not the world's caretaker.

djthomas: Illegal immigrants are just that -- illegally in America. Why should we support them when they flee their homeland? Often the point is made that we are a nation of immigrants but those immigrants came to the country legally and worked hard to build this country today. The comment at the top of this page mentions that unless a person is a native American we shouldn't complain about illegal immigration. I am not a Native American but my ancestors arrived on this continent in the early 1700s -- almost 300 years ago. I am not an immigrant to America I am an American and as long as there exists laws regulating immigration those that violate them are illegal and ought to be sent home.

buch1: Sure, Illegal immigrants should get aid, we give it to the governments of the countries they are fleeing.

grok: With the exception of people that are fleeing political persecution, why should we support people that are not even willing to follow the rules that LEGAL immigrants follow?

Do we REALLY want people in our country that know from the first moment they enter the country they are breaking our laws? How much respect will they give to our other laws? At what point do we start calling a criminal a criminal?

We need a constitutional amendment that will only allow children of LEGAL immigrants to become citizens of our country. We don't allow other criminals of our country to keep their gains from breaking our laws (or at not SUPPOSED to), and we shouldn't allow these people to recieve any benefits from their crimes either.

As to special language allowances to immigrants (legal or otherwise), what makes TODAY'S immigrants more special than any that have come before them? People from all over the world - Poland, Italy, Germany, Korea, Vietnam, etc., etc., have come to this country, learned the language, started businesses, worked and become successful and valuable members of our society with hard work and dedication to learning the language and fitting in as a new citizen in their new country.

Are we now claiming that our newest citizens (or potential citizens) are dumber, lazier, or otherwise unable to do what millions before them HAVE done?

skinhead88: What's all the money sent to their home countries for then?????!!!!!

morrism: Stop all benefits to illegals. Don't give me the crap that we all came from abroad, it doesn't wash. Of course we are all imigrants or descendents of immigrants, but the big difference is THAT WE CAME HERE LEGALLY!!!

Hector Carreon: Impacto 2000 has launched a new web site to inform the Mexican-American community on issues that affect us. Hope you can visit and sign our guestbook.

-Hector

formicacid: There are ways to arrive in this country legally. Anyone who does not follow these methods is illegal and should only have basic human rights (no cop abuse, health care in dire situations, etc) but not all those available to citizens (education, unemployment services, etc). We should instead spend the money on preventing illegal entry in a safe manner.

SOksavik: By coming to the US in the first place, illegals are breaking that country's laws. While I agree with WStarksMD that everyone, including illegals, should have some basic privileges such as the right to emergency medical treatment (and let me add the right to a trial by jury - we all remember a recent incident in California too well,) I do not feel that illegals should be extended the privileges that they are today. Apart from costing taxpayers money, supporting illegals sends a message that the United States government condones the violation of immigration laws that the very presence of illegal immigrants in the US represents. What's more, illegals generate a negative attitude towards immigrants that hurts legal immigrants as well. (Recently, Senator Alan Simpson tried passing an immigration law reform that, in addition to hurting illegal immigration, contained provisions to drastically cut down legal immigration. For example, the Simpson bill would have required employers to pay immigrants as much as 25% MORE than US citizens, effectively eliminating employment-based immigration. I am a prospective legal immigrant myself; moving to the United States in August to embark on a 4-year Bachelor program at the University of Texas at Austin. If I manage to get a work permit and a job after completing my degree, I'm not too sure I'll want to go back home (to Norway.) My experience is that a lot of Americans are opposed to allowing more immigrants at all, and my personal belief is that illegal immigrants are responsible, at least to an extent, for creating that attitude in the United States today.

I'd just like to add that as a prospective *legal* immigrant, I am prepared to do my part of the bargain. That includes speaking English, it includes getting a job and paying taxes, it includes paying filing fees to the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service.) Eventually becoming a US citizen, it includes pledging alliance to the United States of America, and it includes registering for the US Army draft.

If one wanted to immigrate to the United States, this used to be enough. Nowadays it's a little bit harder. Employment-based immigration, for the most part, requires at least a Bachelor degree. One needs a valid job offer, and to receive an immigrant visa one must prove (through a process called Labor Certification) that one is being paid nominal wage for the job and that no qualified US citizens are available. It's also a gigantic (and slow) papermill; I'm moving to Texas (on a non-immigrant student visa) in less than three weeks, and by my calculations I won't be eligible for citizenship until at least 2007.

Still, I'm willing to do this for the chance to live in the US, and I would not like to see the process becoming even harder because of illegals who won't play by the rules.

-Stian

Sandozkat: Illegal immigrants are, strangely enough, very similar to many of us, in the way that they are pursuing the American Dream. They're looking for freedom in their lives. Many are coming from places where they have none at all, to a land where everyone is free. It's truly an amazing thing to some foreigners, how we live in peace and freedom in the American Way. I say this as a knowledgable individual, who has travelled and studied enough to form an adequate view of the situation. The question of support or deport, however, is difficult to decide. All of us here are searching for the American Dream, and if any or all of us think the immigrants are a hindrance to that, we'll try to make it impossible to live successfully for all of them. In the same way, we may also consider that they are only searching as we are, and try and help them make this a better place for everyone. I opt for the latter, for in that way, there will be more peace and happiness in this country, where a little bit of each could be of great use.

Jaynee: Did you really ask this question? It's a no brainer. If you don't come into this country legally, then you are not entitled to the things made available for legal citizens of the United States. 'Nuff said.

qneedle: Send them home. No benefits.

FT24: Wow. I can't believe all the anger that I just read in the passages below. While I agree that illegal immigrants can be a drain on the country's resources, I think it is wrong to equate the cost of providing services to illegal immigrants with the gains of witholding these services. It is not that simple a formula, but that seems to be the perspective that a lot of responses are coming from. This is especially not true in the case of education. The resources that the state of California, for example, might save from prohibiting illegal enrollment in public schools could very well need to go toward preventing crime. With the rise in teenage and gang violence in recent years, it is regressive and shortsighted to propose that illegal immigrants' children be denied education. When proposals like that have been put forth, the first people to complain have generally been police chiefs, and with good reason.

jmd: The xenophobia here is so thick you could cut it with a chainsaw.

How many people know an immigrant - I mean someone who came to this country recently - and talked to them about why they arrived and what they hoped to find, or to get, from the U.S.?

Let me tell you a short story: I know a man who married an American woman in order to come to the U.S. He had no plans for becoming an American citizen - he just wanted a job in a large mutual fund company and was willing to work under going wage. The couple kept their marriage a secret, even from friends, as it was the vehicle for getting him stateside, "legally".

No one debated his right to be here. Why? Well, seems as though you wouldn't know by looking at him that he wasn't a 3rd or 4th generation citizen. And when he spoke, he had the most charming accent - a brogue.

Thousands like him, Irish immigrants like my ancestors, live in east coast cities in relative anonymity, pay no taxes, are clearly not political refugees. Yet, legislation passes to increase the quotas for legal Irish immigration (in spite of the constant overruns). You never read about these folks, and yet, if you are a different color, or speak something other than an accented English as a first language, you're assumed to be a freeloader.

Many immigrants and their families come to this country with the hope of knowing something other than true abject poverty.

And please, I'd love to know how many of the "send'em back" readers understand the dollar value of benefits received by these families. It's the sensationalist picture of welfare all over again, and it is fueled by racist, sweeping generalizations. It does not take into account the fact that many "illegals" come here to take the under min. wage job of harvesting food to be shipped to your local safeway, or for TCBY strawberry toppings. That many citizens wouldn't dream of taking such jobs, but they woulnd't dream of Whoppers without tomatoes, either. Some get tired of hearing those old saws; just imagine what it's like to live it.

Some rebuttals to the more unbelievable comments:
Buch1, since when is giving money to a government giving money to the people of a nation? If we have so many political refugees, where's their gov't money going? Hmmmmm...
morrism, speaking of crap, you're making a dangerous presumption. Some came in chains, some snuck in. Our immigrant history isn't as pristine as you assume.

Besides, can you imagine what would happen had our govt. told the Irish-catholic fam's that they couldn't get care for additional children? That children born in the US of immigrant parents weren't citizens? Those ideas aren't part of my rabid brain - they came from rabid GOP congressional rep brains, for real.

if we have a program that encourages working for citizenship for illegals, if we stop detaining genuine political refugees for 18-24 months at a time (read the NYT on paper or online to learn more), and if we adopt color-blind laws on immigration (wouldn't you prefer a non-english speaker who wants to become an American than an english speaker looking to work under the table for cash?) along with sane administrators and INS staff, a better solution may come along. There is a merciful middle ground. We should all work together to find it.

BrianB32: I think the key word here is "illegal". One of the largest hidden problems facing this country today is the lack of respect for the laws of the land. This nation became great as a result of the people's ability to change what they saw as injust. This change however must be organized and done at the will of the majority. If your personal opinion does not meet with these simple standards, it does not give you the right to break the law. Without rules we have nothing. Illegal imigrants to this country are a terrible insult to those people who have toiled to become legal citizens of this country. All of those who follow the rules are in respect "punished". If we as a nation do not deter all illegal acts, we will find ourselves in anarchy without the simplest of protections. If you cannot work within our system, then don't bother to come. There should be no rewards for those who break the rules.

(P.S. This country is also great for another reason, if you can't deal with the rules, it lets you leave.)

lobster: "Legal" is a definition which changes with changes in the law. For instance, the 1988 Act redefined who a legal and an illegal immigrant is. As a human community, people have the right to move; as many of us on this network can attest, we were not originals to America. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that farmworkers and other agricultural workers from other countries, (read Latin and Central America) are allowed in "legally" to work the fields during certain periods of time during agricultural cycles; then after the cycle is over these workers are considered "illegal." Hmm....something is up here? Don't you think? I believe that getting "rid" of illegals is a misplaced conversation. What we need to talk about is just global policies for human rights, economic investment in other countries which help families stay together in their country of origin, and more hospitable policies toward those trying to make a new life in our land. Forcing children into greater poverty, and treating teachers and health care practioners like adjuncts to the INS seems a bit outside of the mission of our schools and health care centers.

ZenPhil: I believe that no illegal immigrant or any other able-bodied, able-minded individual should receive government welfare. I also think that illegal immigration should be stopped. However, I think that the best way to stop illegal immigration is to make it extremely easy to enter the country legally. Let anyone come here that wants to. Let them become citizens and let them work to make the United States a better place to live. All of our ancestors came to this land as immigrants even the ancestors of "Native Americans" Did the European colonists come here legally? They certainly believed so, but the people who were already here might have disagreed.

JackM: No.

grok: Oh Jeeze! Now people are saying that because we don't want CRIMINALS to be allowed to have the same services CITIZENS, we're "xenophobic" or "racist." Give me a break! Did ANY person claim that LEGAL immigrants of ANY race or nationality should NOT be allowed to enter this country????

Another claims that if we don't provide free support to these criminals and their families, the children will become members of gangs and other types of criminals.... Well, what is the CURRENT situation? Any numbers on Western or Southwestern criminals of these types and where they come from? Should we look into this and find out if we ALREADY have the problem?

Another suggests that we are being "mean" to children, because we should be the caretaker of the globe and it's economy. Well, that'd be wonderful if the rest of the planet did what we told them, but so far, it's the United States of America, and not the United States of Earth. Until then, we have to let the people of other countries do what is necessary to make themselves happy and free, just as we did 200 years ago. Perhaps we can help out at times, but perhaps not others. Either way, we have our own children to worry about, don't we?

Someone else suggested that our produce costs will go up slightly if we actually have to pay law-abiding citizens the minimum wage for their jobs... What a 'hard' choice - pay criminals and support them through services, or pay people that obey the laws and support THEM.... a REAL no-brainer....

As to the person relating the story about a criminal (illegal immigrant)that was breaking our laws.... A quick test of what kind of citizen you are... when did YOU report him to INS??? If not, what crime WOULD you have considered reporting him for???

kewl1: I think that they should stay here, but they should not take our jobs or tax dollars. I heard that people retire over here in the US and get their green card and start getting social security. They have never paid US income taxes, but get money from our government. I don't care if you are legally here, it's stealing. Now if you've been here for a while and have paid taxes than I see no problem. If you Mexicans and Cubans keep stealing our money, we will end up like Mexico.

TBlackmore: Illegal immigrants should be treated the same way as other people who break the law in the US. Give them free room and board a color tv and all the free legal services they want.

Tearlach: Illegal immigramts should NOT be given the same benefits as legal immigrants and citizens. To simply be here does not entail a person of the rights and privilidges of citizenship. Illegal is illegal, there should be no benefits for being illegal. If we want to give these benefits to those that are illegally here, shall we give them the same benefits as other illegal doers in this society? Imprisonment, loss of free movement in society, etc. are some of the "benefits " we give to others who behave illegally in this society. This should be the benefit to be illegally in America. I am an immigrant to America. I applied for and waited out the process to attain a visa. After the required time here as a resident alien, I became a citizen. I came here to escape social and economic presecution and still went by the rules. These rules and laws apply to everyone, not just those who decide to comply. If people are here illegally, I feel they deserve nothing and should be sent back home as so.

mvernon: I am a nursing major. And to me if you cannot enter this country in the legal manner which has been established you should not receive anything but the most basic of services. To me that would be emergency medical services. I don't think that they should be allowed to have access to any social security programs or any other types of services. I can understand that people have different reasons for what they do, and can understand that situations in other countries prompt them to flee. However that still doesn't change the fact that they are "illegal" in this country.

lasojo: The real question in this debate is something like : "Do birth accidents imply differential rights ?" If you are someone who believes in equal opportunity (which of course may not be the case), and you agree that we are born "accidentaly", that is, we do not actually "deserve" to be born white or male, then I find it very difficult to support the argument that being born 100 miles further to the north makes you ellegible for different benefits than if not. It is irrelevant whether you ancestor fought a war for the U.S. ; you were not born to him because of your merit. Immigrants should be treated as any other resident of the U.S., which obviously implies he should be punished in the same way as any random person is for breaking the law.

LWB: I don't see why people think that they should have rights to a country in which they do not belong. I mean look at the fact that immagration is bad enough and it wastes tax payers money. Granted people shouldn't be punished according to what nation, or country they live in, but we shouldn't be punished because they are. That's called 'life'. Republicans, and democrats alike agree on one thing and that is that immagration should be illegal. We have to draw the line somewhere and if we don't the free country that we enjoy will slowly be the free country that everyone who feels like walking across a border, that doesn't pay taxes, can enjoy.

rjames: What part of illegal don't they understand? I realize that most of these people are fleeing political and economic disaster areas, and I wish there was a way to change all of that. This, however, is becoming a matter of our survival. I believe that they should be extended emergency care, but that is all. You don't see people sneaking into China illegally. They would end up in a dank, dark cell somewhere. If we are going to offer them free food, money and housing, why shouldn't they sneak into the US, the worst that happens to them is they are deported back so they can sneak in again. If they have no respect for our immigration laws, what makes us think they will respect any of our laws?

Moneyman: Illegal immigrants do not deserve any benefits since they broke the laws of this country. By entering this country illegally, they show a contempt for the laws of this country. I feel that even if their children are born here they should not get citizenship. If you break the laws of a country their should be no benefit for this. People might say this is harsh if you punish the children of illegals. I say one of the major benefits for illegals is that their children get citizenship and a free education here. If you remove these benefits illegal entry into this country will drastically decrease. Anyone who says otherwise I CAN PROVE THIS! In last several years in the New York-New Jersey area, There has been a large influx of Mexicans into the areas. Over a ten year period Mexican immigranted illegally into the tristate area. At first, it was only the males, no females at all However, they not having their wives or girlfriend used prostitues. This brought an increase in crime and a decrease in the quality of life in the city. They brought their wives and girlfriends. They then brought or had children here which increased the population of the schools. This resulted in the playgrounds having been used for classroom space. This took away funds needed for rehab of the school buildings. So do not say this does not hurt the American people. It does and when it affects your communities since the cities are a microcosm of the country. You will then know what I what I am talking about. Remember, It only took ten years for the areas to be affected.

-Moneyman-

ecrab: absolutely not!

electricralph: I lived in Calif. for several years after being discharged from the military . As illegal im- migration grew I watched crime and it's victims increase . I saw residents try to get jobs in different occupations only to be told that " wetbacks will work for less " . People who make a joke of our country's borders and right to set limits to who lives here as so many people seem to do seem to me to be criminals . WHERE DO WE DRAW A LINE ?

Kimmy: I haven't heard/read such greed in a long time. Why do you people hate these immigrants so much? Have you no concept of just how lucky you are to have been born in the United States? I can't believe that you are so greedy and unwilling to share your good fortune with the rest of the world. People are born and grow up in conditions that YOU cannot even imagine, so I guess that's your excuse for being so insensitive. Sorry, this may sound harsh, but I think Americans are OBSESSED with the idea of being American citizens. Stop thinking about borders and rules and start thinking about human beings.

jmd: I'm compelled to post again, as grok had some interesting questions that were directed towards my post.

grok, a xenophobe is someone who has a fear or hatred of people from other places. An objective reading of the survey results would lead one to believe that we've got some xenophobic- type responses (i.e. send'em all back, immigration should be illegal, they bring all the crime to our area, etc.) These same arguments followed the immigrant waves at the end of the last century, too.

Depending on when you land on the shore or cross the border, who's controlling Congress, what bill got passed, there are rotating definitions for illegal immigrants. We need to conduct sane discussions on immigration, ones that consider the resources of communities and a commitment to the ethical contracts set forth by the Bill of Rights, the Constitution (and its amendments), the Declaration of Independence, etc. What's an illegal immigrant this week anyway?

Depriving children is ethically wrong, regardless of their parents. And it costs less to bring up young, healthy citizens who contribute to the wonder of our nation than it does to do many other things. Like creating a flat tax. Or building prisons.

As for "testing" and implicitly impugning my citizenship: well, all I can say is that according to the immigration laws of the time, he was a legal immigrant. They were manipulating the system. My word against his ('n hers) about the legitimacy of the marriage. Wouldn't hold a drop of water in court. You see, it's a good idea to study the material before taking a test.

I am a citizen of this country: I vote in every local, state and federal election, work for political candidates, and support the right for anyone who wants to come to this country, work to become a citizen and make a better life for her/himself to do so. The Statue of Liberty does not call for "your privileged, your english-speakers, your pale, underquota and legal for the moment." There are people who risk their lives everyday to come to this country and know more than welfare - they want to know freedom, a better life, and to become an American, possibly like me and you.

Now here's a test for you, grok: How much does an immigrant family of four on public assistance really receive in dollar amounts, in a year? What percentage of immigrants become citizens in 10-15 years? Of those who don't, how many stay on the dole?

Ironeyes: The key word here is ILLEGAL-of course they should be deported.

Ironeyes: After reading several of the comments sent in by others, I can't resist telling you all, as a Cherokee Indian, I feel that anyone who is here from any other nation is on our land illegally. We do not believe that a man can own the land, he is only permitted to use it for his needs. As for others who come to this land and come not obeying the rules, they are not entitled to stay, neither are they entitled to what I work out for my family. Many years ago the Red man opened his arms to a few white settlers. You see where the Red Man is now, for the most part pushed into small groups in the worst parts of the country. Many of us have moved from the reservations and only a few still keep the old ways. A lesson to be learned is in a look at the past. The government of this country has taken everything from the Red Man, but I do not complain of what was taken from my Father's Father. I complain of what he takes from me now.

bill54494: This is a far better way to spend our money than using it for weapons of destruction! Didn't I read somewhere, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"? If I were a stranger in a foreign land, I would be most grateful for those who would be compassionate toward me and who would share with me from their bounty.

RBLANOUE: I live in Austin,TX where there is a construction boom in progress. Every Friday afternoon, I see lines at the Post Office w/aliens (apparently illegal) sending cash in envelopes to addresses in Mexico. There are literally millions of dollars in cash crossing the border courtesy our US Postal Service. Make it illegal to send cash out of country. Make it mandatory for postal workers to inspect the contents of any foreign addressed mail. I must admit though that these workers are paid in cash. Some cash leaves the country, the rest goes into our lottery.

grok: To those who addressed my post: first of all, I recognize that laws change over time, and with the exception of laws that violate the rights given to us by our constitution, they probable SHOULD evolve.

As to reporting a person violating the law, suspicions of violations are not the same (obviously) as factual evidence... Of course, if you could testify to knowledge of a crime, and your "facts" could be verified from other sources or information, then you let a criminal knowingly get away with their action(s).

If you don't like that illegal parents are put in jail, then deport the entire family as a group so that they don't have to seperate. I'm willing to be reasonable in spite of the fact that we'd be letting a criminal(s) off WAY too easy...

jmd wrote: "Depriving children is ethically wrong, regardless of their parents. And it costs less to bring up young, healthy citizens who contribute to the wonder of our nation than it does to do many other things. Like creating a flat tax. Or building prisons."

This seems to imply that the children of existing citizens or legal immigrants cannot do as well equally to contribute to that same sense of 'wonder?' Or do we not already have enough children that need help yet in this country? The implication that they will become criminals without our country spending even more debt on their benefit just ignores the numbers of crime cost vs cost of keeping a criminal in jail.... The last numbers I heard were something like $200,000+ per year for an active criminal vs $25,000 per year to keep that same criminal in jail. Not a tough choice for society.... The threat isn't really there and isn't valid.

And PLEASE... don't quote the Statue of Liberty without even acknowledging that the thing is from another country in the FIRST place....!!! (I'm beginning to think that a big "SUCKER" should have been embossed in the forehead....)

And it seems that we're back to the welfare argument again... well, in my state, the last numbers I saw said that it worked out to about $14.50 per hour based on a 40 hour week.... As to immigrants eventually becomming legal and productive citizens, I can't give you numbers, but IMHO, every single one that is allowed to become "legal" after breaking our laws insults and denegrades all the people that DID obey our laws and made the sacrifices necessary to become citizens....

To Ironeyes: I see some conflict in your posts, and can sympathize. For example, if the US Gov't, and Creek and Cherokee nations recognized paternal instead of maternal lineage, then I would also be considered a "Native American", but guess what, I STILL consider myself to be a native American - I was born here, and so were my parents and those before them, etc., etc. Hell, if we go back far enough, even Indians immigrated here at one time... As you said, (I paraphrase), we have to deal with the here and now laws, not what happened in the past... Of course, now, we're talking about criminals under the laws that we all live under, aren't we?

KNTPUT: I think "illegal" immigrants should have the same rights as someone who breaks into a store illegally, for food, shelter, or money. Jail time.

daleiden: Illegal immigrants need to get a life. I guess that is why they come here, to get a life. I am tired of paying, paying, paying. The only thing worse than the illegals are those who live on welfare and won't get off. If people want to live in America they need to speak English in additIon to a first language learned in another home and they must contribute to the economy and society. Yes, America is still the great melting pot. Let's hope that the pot itself doesn't melt down. America is a nation of immigrants and it should continue that tradition. But we have to have a tradition left to preserve. Paying for illegals does not help preserve any tradition.

LowKeyCat: I can perfectly understand why someone from a third-world country would come to the U.S. and attempt to make a better life for themselves. I really don't have any objection to it. BUT, until they become citizens they have ABSOLUTELY no right to any privilege of being a U.S. citizen. If living in the U.S. as an *illegal* alien, risking deportation, and working in poor conditions for sub-minimum wage is a better life than their home country, how could I criticize? It should be a deportation offense, with NO constitutional rights, including welfare, education, voting, etc. If that is better than someone's home country, welcome to America! I'm sure I could find work for them that will work to both of our advantage. (Capitolism at it's finest!)

markr: Well, if illegal immigrants would get the same benefits as legal immigrants, then why differentiate between 'legal' and 'illegal' immigrants ? Definitely NOT !!!

Neighbours: Hell no!!! They are ruining the Southern states, they don't pay taxes, but they live in this country for free and get benefits. We need a good leader in D.C., support Pat Buchanan. Go to his site: Buchanan For President

JennieK: You can make all the laws and give all the sweeping statements you like about illegal immigrants, but when you get poor, when you don't have a roof over your head or enough to eat (and believe me, I've been there, despite living in the UK all my life) then you _will_ do _whatever_ is necessary to survive. While that may be impracticable politically, no-one should be condemned for it on a human level. And if you think you wouldn't act that way yourself, consider what it's like when you have a family to support, and you watch them suffer, and plenty of other people have plenty of money, but charity is irrelevant really, because in most cases, no-one ever helps you. Face it. Most people don't give a shit if you starve - and that goes for _you_,as well as for people entering your country illegally. If you want those fundamental attitudes to change before it's too late for _you_, the only place to start is by changing your own attitudes.

DennisH: I don't think anyone has a 'right' to the fruits of someone else's labor. I don't believe someone that's here illegally is entitled to anything except arrest and deportation. The federal government has no right to 'redistribute' the private wealth of the citizens. There are charity organizations that can help those in need, and they will have donations up the gazoo if the various levels of government would not tax away over 45 percent of a person's earnings. Americans are very generous people, if you leave them something to be generous with. -DennisH

gustavo: What a lot of xenophobe people. It is disgusting, nauseating, filthy ... and, of course, stupid.