AAA, do you really think it matters that much whether immigrants come legally or not? As if thirty million Mexican immigrants would have been all swell if only they had come legally. Please. It's immigration that's the problem, not simply illegal immigration. And vast majority of mainstream Republican pundits that I've read show no awareness at all of this distinction. Similary, I doubt the vast-I-mean-vast majority of Republican voters do, either. (Well, maybe they do, but they don't know how to voice opposition to legal immigration, because when you get down to the nitty-gritty that opposition is about race, and no one wants to admit it.)
Just check this out, from today's Canada's Globe and Mail: I was certain the writer was parodying someone but it turns out he actually believes this. This is so stunningly ignorant it beggars the imagination. With Canada's insane immigration levels, I really wonder which country, the US or Canada, will implode sooner. Simply outrageous.
Supposedly, there are limits on legal immigration. They are meaningless, since the illegal side of the equation overwhelms the legal. I do agree with you that it is the total amount of immigration and the source that is significant. While opponents are quick to label that position as racism, I think it is perfectly defensible and indeed necessary for a country to have a democratic debate over changing the basic nature and composition of the country, which is what we are talking about. The harsh fact is that virtually no country in Latin America is well-governed. It's hard for me to understand how letting huge numbers of their poorest and least educated become voters here will improve the quality of our civic life. I don't have a problem with a couple of cities having a strong latin influence, eg Miami and LA, but when it starts to happen in rural towns in eastern North Carolina, I think it is time to call a halt and have a national discussion over where we want the country to go. The alternative is to allow the immigrants to make the decision for us.
Bravo! Well said. I have a sense that the obvious retort from the opposition, "YOU RACIST", is fast losing its sting. It's hard to take such an accusation seriously from someone standing in the street waving a mexican flag, breaking our laws. Although, I also have a sense that the feds are on the hook for tens of trillions in future entitlements to a rapidly aging boomer population and their loose stance on illegals is probably their admission that these laborers are needed to remain solvent. The next hundred years will be very interesting, I'm hoping to spectate on a tropical island somewhere.