IT *is* a felony to be an illegal alien - in MEXICO how ironic. so, the same people (the mexican govt) that are facilitating illegal aliens entering our country (against our sovereignty) and criticizing us for daring to want to protect our borders, have no such compunction about their heavily guarded southern border, their laws restricting even legal immigrants from having ANY say in public discourse whatsoever (let alone ever running for office, or working in the police, etc.)... i could cut the irony with a ladle http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/...ngmigrants.html
Well, sadly, I guess you could expect such irony here in the US, along with all the militant racism from the protected "brown" minority. And of course, our President is too busy serving as the Vice President of Mexico to be bothered with such ironies.
So? Maybe we should degrade our human rights records to Mexico's level too... well, we aren't too far off from that target with Abu Ghraib, Gitmo etc... Maybe we should emulate Mexico's legal system.
It is absurd. The masses of people marching and protesting against enforcement of immigration laws struck me as completely absurd, but I knew this day was coming. We've waited too long to deal with this problem. Now we can only hope it isn't going to be lethal to our democracy. Time will tell. bt
But look how discriminatory the immigration laws are: unless you're Cuban, if you enter this country 'illegally' you're thrown in jail and deported. And let's face it ... when the Europeans first landed, they didn't exactly consult with the local tribal elders in order to conform to THEIR immigration laws. Those to our South deserve the same breaks as our neighbors to our North. Our leaders have for centuries blown opportunities to educate the governments to our South in ways to develop economic stability in their countries due to our interest in exploitation. Instead of making these people criminals, we have an opportunity to make them a bunch of contributing, tax-paying mf's like the rest of us.
"So? Maybe we should degrade our human rights records to Mexico's level too... " no, we shouldn't the ISSUE is the hypocrisy. vicente fox et al have FACILITATED mexicans in illegally entering our country AND have criticized any of our attempts to quell illegal immigration that is absurd. it's the hypocrisy of it. they do one thing and expect US to do another, and then criticize us for (minimally) protecting our borders, when our border protection is about 1/10 theirs
"But look how discriminatory the immigration laws are:" immigration laws discriminate against illegal immigration duh. that's what laws DO. "discriminate" against illegal behavior "unless you're Cuban, if you enter this country 'illegally' you're thrown in jail and deported. And let's face it ... when the Europeans first landed, they didn't exactly consult with the local tribal elders in order to conform to THEIR immigration laws." spare me this silly, sophist tangent. i am not aware of any immigration policies amongst the native tribes at the time. if u are aware of any, let me know. "Those to our South deserve the same breaks as our neighbors to our North." what breaks are our neighbors to the north given? one of my best friends is a canadian doctor who came here to escape their system. she is on a work visa, and jumps through TONS of hoops. she also pays significant US (and canajun) taxes, and is gainfully employed in professional status. she is here LEGALLY. she has been given no breaks. she busted her butt to get her medical license and went through all the paperwork an waiting that is required. if u are aware of canadian special preference, please edumacate me how it exists. " Our leaders have for centuries blown opportunities to educate the governments to our South in ways to develop economic stability in their countries due to our interest in exploitation. " spare me this tangent. this blame america tangent. mexico isn't screwed up because we exploited them. they are a country with an immensely corrupt, and almost feudal govt and a political system that is just plain terrible. hey, i feel bad for illegals. if i was mexican, i would hope i would be smart enough to realize that there are better opportunities up north. i don't blame the individual illegal, but no country can survive if it surrenders it's sovereignty. we have the right to protect our border. "Instead of making these people criminals, we have an opportunity to make them a bunch of contributing, tax-paying mf's like the rest of us." they made themselves criminals when they violated their laws. if i crossed the border illegally into mexico, i would be equally at fault and i wouldn't expect the govt. of mexico to give me free medical care, govt. services, educate my children, provide services to me in english, etc. our national sovereignty, our borders - are fundamental to our survival. stop blaming the victim here.
"Makes sense. The wealthy elite there have all the poor, home-grown slaves they need, more than enough from most accounts, so they reject their poor immigrants and encourage their poor emigrants. Meanwhile, our wealthy elite don't have quite enough poor slaves, so they quietly lobby government to allow them in. For those wealthy who don't need them, they'll quietly ignore the problem. After all, they don't see the poor, and they sup and golf with the first group."