Illegal immigrants worried about their children...

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Why does this make you sad for people who immigrated here legally? Their children will never have to worry about their parents being arrested or deported for entering the correct way. I feel GOOD for immigrants who went through the process legally. They have been screened and odds are much better that they will be productive members of our soceity.

I think she means, and I agree, she feels for those Mexicans and others that came here legally who are assumed to be illegal just because there are so many people coming illegally from their country. This country has this awful feeling towards immigrants because there are so many illegals. I feel like when I tell people I'm an immigrant (because lets be honest, my accent gives me away ) I HAVE to make sure to say "Don't worry I came here legally". I'm lucky because I'm Australian people are less likely to think I'm illegal, I'm sure some still wonder if I married my husband for a GC.

So many illegals are getting away with it, the laws just aren't tough enough, they aren't scary enough. Here are people doing it the right way, being put through the wringer, because there are so many people doing it the wrong way, or not doing it at all.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

Another thing that gets me is the argument hat these children know nothing else but the United States.

Good . . . . and a great opportunity to open their horizon!

I lived in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, and very briefly in India and it allowed me to experience other cultures and other languages. In fact, I learned a lot and wouldn't want to miss this for the world.

If I were a young lad in my 20s, fluent in English and Spanish, I would probably try to emigrate to Buenos Aires, Argentina and live there legally instead of living illegally in the United States. The U.S. is a great place to live, but not the only one. Sixteen years from now I will either retire in Northern California, or in the South of France.

The world is a big place.

[az110965 252]

I think she means, and I agree, she feels for those Mexicans and others that came here legally who are assumed to be illegal just because there are so many people coming illegally from their country. This country has this awful feeling towards immigrants because there are so many illegals. I feel like when I tell people I'm an immigrant (because lets be honest, my accent gives me away ) I HAVE to make sure to say "Don't worry I came here legally". I'm lucky because I'm Australian people are less likely to think I'm illegal, I'm sure some still wonder if I married my husband for a GC.

So many illegals are getting away with it, the laws just aren't tough enough, they aren't scary enough. Here are people doing it the right way, being put through the wringer, because there are so many people doing it the wrong way, or not doing it at all.

As I said before, if ever there comes a time where entering illegally carries consequences then we're on the right path. The catch and release program is a laugh.

The simple fact that illegals who put their children in a position to have to worry about being parent-less is a sign of these people's motivations. All they care about is coming here and don't give a $hit about any possible consequences, because typically there aren't any.

Those deported today are typically back the next day.

Another thing that gets me is the argument hat these children know nothing else but the United States.

Good . . . . and a great opportunity to open their horizon!

I lived in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, and very briefly in India and it allowed me to experience other cultures and other languages. In fact, I learned a lot and wouldn't want to miss this for the world.

If I were a young lad in my 20s, fluent in English and Spanish, I would probably try to emigrate to Buenos Aires, Argentina and live there legally instead of living illegally in the United States. The U.S. is a great place to live, but not the only one. Sixteen years from now I will either retire in Northern California, or in the South of France.

The world is a big place.

Put me down for retirement in Costa Rica. Except I will immigrate legally!

[Nicoco 26]

It's sad because

1.) Some countries that have a lot of illegals in the US now it's really hard for honest people to get a tourist visa or other types of visas to come here legally

...

nevermind the rest, I don't want to start anything here.

[Nicoco 26]

I think it's because the media bends over backwards to try to make us feel sorry for the ones who didn't immigrate here legally. I don't doubt it's difficult and expensive to pay a coyote to walk you across the US border, but I think it's far more difficult, time consuming, and expensive to immigrate legally. I don't see the media asking us to feel sorry for them.

I think it's sad because legal immigrants deserve a little sympathy for what they go through in order to immigrate. Illegal immigrants deserve nothing, and it's disgusting for the media to try to make it appear as if they are the victims of a cruel government. I completely understand the motives for someone to walk across the border and live illegally in the US. If I were a peasant in Mexico then I'd probably strongly consider doing the same thing. However, I would know the risk I was taking when I did it, and I wouldn't be crying on television trying to pull on the heart strings of idealistic liberals after I got caught.

Yes

I think she means, and I agree, she feels for those Mexicans and others that came here legally who are assumed to be illegal just because there are so many people coming illegally from their country. This country has this awful feeling towards immigrants because there are so many illegals. I feel like when I tell people I'm an immigrant (because lets be honest, my accent gives me away ) I HAVE to make sure to say "Don't worry I came here legally". I'm lucky because I'm Australian people are less likely to think I'm illegal, I'm sure some still wonder if I married my husband for a GC.

So many illegals are getting away with it, the laws just aren't tough enough, they aren't scary enough. Here are people doing it the right way, being put through the wringer, because there are so many people doing it the wrong way, or not doing it at all.

And yes.

[PantomimeGoose 59]

I was looking into activism for legal immigration reform earlier this year (things like whether the process could be made faster, more efficient, less AP on frankly racist grounds etc) and was really shocked by the number of people who loudly expressed their beliefs that there was nothing so hard or invasive or expensive or potentially discriminatory about the current visa process.

I have a lot of sympathy for the plight of people who cross the border in desperation, but strongly believe that we need a temporary immigrant worker program to change things. It's hard to be upset at the people who are doing what they can for a better life when the American people are the ones who enable it by ignorantly defending the holes in the system.

[TBoneTX 43,489]

In a large indoor "pulga" (flea market) across town, many mostly Hispanic vendors sell a staggering variety of stuff. One T-shirt vendor had shirts, in children's sizes, that said (in either English or Spanish) "Relax, Gringo -- I'm Legal!"

I thought that this was hilarious and wanted to buy one for 10-month-old Mini-Bone, but Mrs. T-B. nixed the plan. I saw none in adult sizes for me, sadly.

[Harsh_77 716]

Media is just one big circus they would flip-flop between both the sides, whichever story sells. Has media ever talked about legal immigrant how much they have to suffer?

Has any church come in front and argued for legal immigrants and how much hardship they have to go thru the process?

Why do states have to enact and come up with their own laws to control the illegal immigration? Coz the Federal Govt is not doing enough or not doing fast enough to control the situation with illegal immigrants.

Everyone is looking for the better life but there is a right way and a wrong way unfortunately illegal immigrant choose a wrong way, instead of accepting they took a wrong step now they are making their children their shield and stand behind them.

[Tasha and Chris 0]

They set themselves up for this when they entered the US illegally. The pitiable situation they find themselves in now would not have happened if they hadn't broken the law to begin with. I do have sympathy for their children, but their situation is not the fault of the Alabama government or it's new law. They took the risk that something like this could happen when they entered illegally, and when they chose to have children in the United States. They presumed it wouldn't happen because the federal government has a record of selective law enforcement. The Alabama law mirrors federal law, with the additional caveat that it requires Alabama law enforcement officers to enforce the law. I'm a little disgusted with the media for trotting these people out with their sob stories and completely glossing over the fact that they got themselves into this mess voluntarily.

"I can't stop working. My daughters need shoes and other things."

She shouldn't be working in the US to begin with, and her employer is breaking the law by providing her with a job. What's next? "We're doing the work that Americans won't do!" What they really mean is that they're willing to work for slave wages because they don't have legal status, and there's no shortage of employers in the US who are more than happy to exploit them. If they had green cards then they too would be demanding minimum wage jobs. The ones who use fake ID's and Social Security numbers and lie on an I-9 form are even worse because they actually ARE taking a job that a US citizen or permanent resident would be happy to take.

I know a farmer who grows strawberries near the Northern California coast. He only sells his fruit through roadside stands and local farmer's markets. Because he doesn't have to pay distributors he gets to keep all the profit, so he can afford to pay minimum wage to strawberry pickers. He insists on proof of lawful presence for everyone who shows up for work, and he turns people away every day because he's got more than enough workers by the time the shift starts. Every day he says someone will show up and offer to work for half as much if he'll overlook their legal status. He just laughs and tells them to go find a farmer who is willing to break the law because he's not. Other farmers who sell their produce to distributors are forced to hire illegals because their competitors are hiring them, and the net result is artificially deflated prices.

This is the same reason that unemployment is so high in the US. We can't compete with Chinese labor costs, and we don't charge tariffs to offset the difference. Nobody can afford to produce anything in the US because their competitors will always be able to undercut their retail prices because they're getting their products made in China. Free trade is the reason the middle class are disappearing in America. It's not the greed on Wall Street.

Frankly, I think every state should enact laws similar to Alabama's. Eventually, there would be far fewer people in this situation because they'd simply stop coming if they know the chances of getting away with it were slim. Someone's willingness to break the law is directly proportional to their perceived chances of getting caught.

People have mixed opinions on this subject, most want pitty for their situation as illegal parents of citizen children but you hit it right on! Anytime you enter any country undocumented you forfit your rights on the spot. Adding children to the equation is risky in my opinion. I know the process is difficult and expensive but so is a "coyote". Great post, honest!

[sachinky 464]

Today's CNN page has a story on an 'undocumented' immigrant killing himself.

Cue the tears and bleeding hearts.