IHT.com Discussions: immig-reform

• Comment by: Melissa
  Pretty nice site, wants to see much more on it! :)D
• Comment by: L.Vivian Hollos, SJC,CA
  NO NO NO NO NO NO NO ON AMNESTY LOVE AMERICA MORE
• Comment by: no name, Oakland, CA
  While I am certainly not in favor of a temporary worker program that encourages people of other countries to join a highly exploitable group of low-wage workers, I think it's important to look at who benefits from the "illegalization" of immigrants in this country. Those workers do, to a limited extent, but the vast majority of the benefit is to the middle and upper classes in the form of: low cost food (we'd all hear the complaints if strawberries were $8 a pound), lower cost childcare, lower construction costs, lower social security payments (oh, yeah, many illegal immigrants pay in through payroll tax deductions, but they can't exactly recoup their investment), and higher profit margins for corporations who can pay workers at the lowest levels incredibly low amounts (yes, those stocks are funding your retirement). The major corporations are happy to employ workers without rights (Someone's trying to unionize? An anonymous call to the INS will take care of that). Unless you're a Native American, your families were immigrants here too. And if they were Irish, Eastern European, Japanese, or any number of other ethnicities, please know, that if the voice of so many at that time was the basis for immigration decisions, none of you (none of US) would be here today. Instead, we would continue to be a small and inbred colony.
• Comment by: wayne mcmanus Norwell ma.
  I vote in all elections. I will contribute money to the opponents of any politician who supports anything resembling amnesty! Thank you
• Comment by: forrest erickson Burlington vermont
  I support a policy of attrition through aggressive enforcement through existing federal immigratiion law.....we don't need any more immigration reform legislation.....we defiitely don't need any type of amnesty legislatiion
• Comment by: Maxine, Kansas City/Jackson
  I can understand people wanting to come here for a better life, to give their children a chance to advance, but to say that American citizens are not motivated or have no ambition is wrong. My husband has worked in IT all his life, loves everything about it, continues to educate himself in his field. When he started in this field his annual salary was $54,000 a year, $26.00 an hour; when his job starting bring in the H1B workers, Technicians were laid off and wages were dropped to $13 - $19 an hour base on experience. My Nephew use to make anywhere between $17- $20 an hour in construction, and now it's between $8 - $12 an hour. When your use to living a certain lifestyle you want to continue, these people had mortgages, car loans, children in college, something had to go and guess who loss out. I am for immigration as long as everyone benefit from it, I don't see anyone benefiting from this but big business and the US Government. The price of gas is outrageous, food prices are going up, interest rates are high. There use to be a time when you could afford to take care of your family without working two jobs, now you and your spouse have to have two jobs and who suffer from that, our children. So before you give me all the reasons that immigration is good for America, you need to show me how it is benefiting the legal citizens of America.
• Comment by: mary rose
  If we only need 400,000 seasonal workers why are we giving amnesty to 12 million people? In every rally held in Los Angeles every single Mexican calling for us to give them more (that is why they risked their life to break the law to get here, as if we owe them something) they all readily admit to be working here. NOW whose job do you think they are doing? If not yours now- then if/when this bill passes it certainly will be. Especially since this will be the group whose needs be that must be met. And whom do you think will step up for that work? Plus who is going to enforce the rules? We have very good laws on the books, but they are ignored not enforced. How would this spur enforcement? Processing the features of the new bill is projected to bankrupt social security and Medicare in just less than 15 years. Why even bother to give them an expensive free pass? Once we offer amnesty they will simply storm the borders again. After all the illegal aggression (illegally crossing our borders is an act of aggression, if I broke into your home to steal food, even though I am a nice sweet person I would still be tried and sent to jail) why should such nice peasant folk stop there. They are just looking for work - yeah, right. Hello, they admit they are here to TAKE your job! Wake up people I'm as liberal as they come with one big difference, I'm not stupid. This mass border crossing (now and over the years) has been the boon of their existence here so far. They brought in more people to make it seem urgent and as if there is no other way. WHAT HOGWASH! Of course there is another way but no one seems to be looking for it. So really the only thing that would change is that 12 million is only the beginning. These people don’t live in the shadows they collect food stamps and stand on every corner selling something. If I did that I would be shut down and fined for no permits. The only change will be more people coming to finagle your job. Then why do we even bother to pay all that money we should just open the floodgate? It's at least cheaper and less hypocritical. I'll tell you why because then we would be overrun exactly as we are now. Yet again the same system will promote the same bad circumstances, but worse. This time the poverty of their country will become a permanent fixture in ours. That’s what happens when you reward nice people for bad behavior; more show up for a reward. People who want to give away citizenship to illegals are taking something from ordinary law abiding citizens that we can never get back. Once we ink this deal our rights to say nay is also gone. There is no turning back. So be really sure that you would give up EVERYTHING you now OWN to a large group of hungry, ambitious neighbors willing to do anything to get it and keep it. That is what it amounts to.
• Comment by: Mark
  My wife came here 42 years ago. She learned English, she went to school, and obeyed the laws. It was difficult for her when she came here, she is asian and from Japan. Many people still had memories of the war. But she has become very American and assimulated into the country. She pays her taxes and pays into soc.sec. What I don't understand someone who doesn't pay into soc. sec, hasn't paid there taxes in many cases, doesn't seem to try to assimulate into the country or learn English, that we can just give them everything. The cost would be enormous. Soc. Sec. would deffintly go bust. A large quantity of hispanics don't have insurance, so they use the E.R. at tax payers expense. They send a large portion of the income out of the country. They have a large crime rate. Why would they claim there income if they were legal, if they don't now If this bill passes a large portion of the people will vote out a number of politicians, both Republican and Democrate!!!
• Comment by: Linda
  If our deciderer Bush has incorporated his ideas in the immigration bill, IT MUST BE BAD!!!!!!!!!!! Besides, he dosen't have any "original ideas" except to sell out America. I sure hope the idiots in congress don't vote for this immigration bill. Remember, these idiots voted for the surveillance program!!!!! Sure hope Bush is listening to congress's phone calls since congress voted for the spying on the american people. What a bunch of IDIOT'S we have running our country!!!!!
• Comment by: USA
  I would like to see a bill that would authorize persons such as my French lady companion to live full-time in the USA with or without a green card. She is 65 years old and of completely independent means. She would spend her investments and pension Euros here. Lord knows the USA could use the cash. Purchase a home if she could stay full time without having to exit the country every six months. Not looking for employment or social services. She cannot and this bill does not address the desires of many like her. A lawyer friend said , "The law is an ass." I think he was quoting the Bard.
• Comment by: Joe Yull, Healdsburg, USA
  Dear IHT: I live in the midst of the problem here in the wine growing area of Northern California. I see the issue of illegal immigration first hand. One issue I see as a major one is the role of the Catholic church in this debate. Its obvious desire to have more parishioners to fill empty pews is disappointing in the least. To me it is greed and is disgusting. If the Church was really interested in the well being of Latin Americans, it would put pressure on the elites of those countries who hoard the wealth of their respective countries. The Church is looking out for its own self interest, not the peoples'. Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Kennedy, as Catholics with connections to the American Council of Bishops, most likely have a hand in supporting the Church in this. Shame on the Catholic Church. Joe Yull
• Comment by: Dennis Clifford. Eaton,CO. USA
  I live in a town next to Greeley, Colorado (where one of the Swift Plant raids occurred), We have a 30 percent Hispanic population mostly because big business like Swift and Kodak want the cheapest labor possible. This i