What is your honest opinion on undocumented immigrants?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My honest answer is that I am really disappointed in the immigration system. I do believe we should accept refugees for asylum who are in critical danger and who have risked their lives in their country to speak out against injustice.

I also think that there is room in this country for many hardworking ambitious people who aren't highly skilled. But as someone who works in a field where people from all over the world come here to learn and can't work, it boils my blood that by not properly regulating employment of people we have allowed immigration to default to who comes and stays rather than having a sane system to make sure we can accept as many of the most deserving people we can, but not more.

I don't buy your stereotypes of illegal immigrants as parasites. Most of them are trying to do the right thing, work hard and get the best for their families, abide by laws and live as part of society. But we have failed the whole community of people who would like to come here by not regulating things and allowing a huge huge class of people living in the shadows for many years.

I'd like to see much more honest legal immigation of skilled workers, immigrants sponsored by citizen relatives and legitimate refugees and lots of space for a diverse set of people from all over the world who are aspiring to arrive here and do good things. I'd like our immigration bureaucracy to work well enough that people don't cheat hte system out of mere frustration. I'd like employers who hire illegal immigrants either via fake SSNs or under the table to be penalized for real. I don't see penalizing the immigrants themselves as useful. I don't know what to do about the kids of illegal immigrants who got dragged into this mess against their volition.

NP here. You don't live where I live, I guess. Illegal immigrants live 20 to a 3-bedroom apartment, and that is not a lie or exaggeration. The homeowner pays taxes on their kids only, because they would never admit they rent to illegal immigrants, so maybe 1-2 kids per home. Guess who makes up the difference in school taxes? Everyone else. I refuse to do it anymore. Until they can pay their own property taxes, they should not be able to leach the system. And since their kids don't speak English, it costs actual taxpayers (me, not them) more for ESL services. The anchor babies eventually speak English.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't care if they would at least TRY to learn English and assimilate into America society. However. Little El Salvador, Mexico, etc., infuriate me.

[Anonymous]

It's illegal. Others wait in line. There is a skills balance in the USA.

[Anonymous]

Pp absolutely right. You cannot have Mexico come to the us to paint houses and cut the grass. Who is going to do the real
Work

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't care if they would at least TRY to learn English and assimilate into America society. However. Little El Salvador, Mexico, etc., infuriate me.

Everyone I know is somewhere in the process of learning English. It doesn't happen overnight.

All immigrant groups, legal or otherwise, group together. That doesn't mean they aren't assimilating. But assimilation is a generational thing. Also not overnight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My honest answer is that I am really disappointed in the immigration system. I do believe we should accept refugees for asylum who are in critical danger and who have risked their lives in their country to speak out against injustice.

I also think that there is room in this country for many hardworking ambitious people who aren't highly skilled. But as someone who works in a field where people from all over the world come here to learn and can't work, it boils my blood that by not properly regulating employment of people we have allowed immigration to default to who comes and stays rather than having a sane system to make sure we can accept as many of the most deserving people we can, but not more.

I don't buy your stereotypes of illegal immigrants as parasites. Most of them are trying to do the right thing, work hard and get the best for their families, abide by laws and live as part of society. But we have failed the whole community of people who would like to come here by not regulating things and allowing a huge huge class of people living in the shadows for many years.

I'd like to see much more honest legal immigation of skilled workers, immigrants sponsored by citizen relatives and legitimate refugees and lots of space for a diverse set of people from all over the world who are aspiring to arrive here and do good things. I'd like our immigration bureaucracy to work well enough that people don't cheat hte system out of mere frustration. I'd like employers who hire illegal immigrants either via fake SSNs or under the table to be penalized for real. I don't see penalizing the immigrants themselves as useful. I don't know what to do about the kids of illegal immigrants who got dragged into this mess against their volition.

NP here. You don't live where I live, I guess. Illegal immigrants live 20 to a 3-bedroom apartment, and that is not a lie or exaggeration. The homeowner pays taxes on their kids only, because they would never admit they rent to illegal immigrants, so maybe 1-2 kids per home. Guess who makes up the difference in school taxes? Everyone else. I refuse to do it anymore. Until they can pay their own property taxes, they should not be able to leach the system. And since their kids don't speak English, it costs actual taxpayers (me, not them) more for ESL services. The anchor babies eventually speak English.

I lived in Los Angeles many years and I saw this. But I saw American citizens do this to. The house next to me has way to many occupants, illegal additions and when the mortgage crisis hit they set it on fire for the insurance money, almost burning my house down too. All Americans, several generations back.

What you are describing is a poverty problem, not a immigrant problem. And our screwed up immigration system lets people live here in squalor. I agree that is wrong. But I don't think that it reflects on their character. I do sympathize with your anger - zoning laws should be enforced too. I wish they had been in my old neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are wrong that your grandparents just bought a ticket and here they were. Study immigration and you will know that statement is inaccurate.

Depends on when they came. Prior to 1924, that was all you had to do. After 1924, there were quotas for each country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My honest answer is that I am really disappointed in the immigration system. I do believe we should accept refugees for asylum who are in critical danger and who have risked their lives in their country to speak out against injustice.

I also think that there is room in this country for many hardworking ambitious people who aren't highly skilled. But as someone who works in a field where people from all over the world come here to learn and can't work, it boils my blood that by not properly regulating employment of people we have allowed immigration to default to who comes and stays rather than having a sane system to make sure we can accept as many of the most deserving people we can, but not more.

I don't buy your stereotypes of illegal immigrants as parasites. Most of them are trying to do the right thing, work hard and get the best for their families, abide by laws and live as part of society. But we have failed the whole community of people who would like to come here by not regulating things and allowing a huge huge class of people living in the shadows for many years.

I'd like to see much more honest legal immigation of skilled workers, immigrants sponsored by citizen relatives and legitimate refugees and lots of space for a diverse set of people from all over the world who are aspiring to arrive here and do good things. I'd like our immigration bureaucracy to work well enough that people don't cheat hte system out of mere frustration. I'd like employers who hire illegal immigrants either via fake SSNs or under the table to be penalized for real. I don't see penalizing the immigrants themselves as useful. I don't know what to do about the kids of illegal immigrants who got dragged into this mess against their volition.

NP here. You don't live where I live, I guess. Illegal immigrants live 20 to a 3-bedroom apartment, and that is not a lie or exaggeration. The homeowner pays taxes on their kids only, because they would never admit they rent to illegal immigrants, so maybe 1-2 kids per home. Guess who makes up the difference in school taxes? Everyone else. I refuse to do it anymore. Until they can pay their own property taxes, they should not be able to leach the system. And since their kids don't speak English, it costs actual taxpayers (me, not them) more for ESL services. The anchor babies eventually speak English.

I lived in Los Angeles many years and I saw this. But I saw American citizens do this to. The house next to me has way to many occupants, illegal additions and when the mortgage crisis hit they set it on fire for the insurance money, almost burning my house down too. All Americans, several generations back.

What you are describing is a poverty problem, not a immigrant problem. And our screwed up immigration system lets people live here in squalor. I agree that is wrong. But I don't think that it reflects on their character. I do sympathize with your anger - zoning laws should be enforced too. I wish they had been in my old neighborhood.

I don't live in L.A., I live in Westchester County, NY. I do not see citizens doing this here. It is illegal immigrants, pretty much exclusively. They did not come here through the "immigration system." I would LOVE for zoning laws, AND immigration laws, to be enforced.

[Anonymous]

Illegal immigrants come here because they do jobs that Americans don't want to do, like picking fruit. It's hard work and it doesn't pay well. So unless you want to pay $10 a pound for apples, you benefit from illegal immigration.

http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2015/03/27/3639975/undocumented-farmworkers-nj-id-wa/

If you do want to pay $10 a pound for apples, punish the businesses that hire illegals, not the poor people who can't find a better job in their own country.

[Anonymous]

Illegals "do pay taxes." Really? So they have a 90% compliance rate like everybody else?? . . .

If illegals truly, verily, paid taxes on all of their under the table wages, and if they were truly honest about those wages in applying for food stamps and free school lunches, and if they had to declare bankruptcy to discharge hospital bills like the rest of us, maybe I would feel differently. And I am not talking about people who merely overstayed a legal visa.

Now, if all that were so, I would offer legal residency, but NOT permanent residency (not green card) if certain conditions were met. Im sure we could create special worker programs. Working for our national parks, building highways, building the wall, . . . Now if they would do 4 years military service, or if they marry a citizen, I would certainly say give them a green card which obviously leads to citizenship. I dont understand why a border crosser cannot get a green card if they marry a citizen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Illegal immigrants come here because they do jobs that Americans don't want to do, like picking fruit. It's hard work and it doesn't pay well. So unless you want to pay $10 a pound for apples, you benefit from illegal immigration.

http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2015/03/27/3639975/undocumented-farmworkers-nj-id-wa/

If you do want to pay $10 a pound for apples, punish the businesses that hire illegals, not the poor people who can't find a better job in their own country.

I'm a PP, and I have lots of (American!) friends who have picked fruit for money in their travels, and here! They never stayed in the other countries and leached off their systems. I buy apples from the orchard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Illegal immigrants come here because they do jobs that Americans don't want to do, like picking fruit. It's hard work and it doesn't pay well. So unless you want to pay $10 a pound for apples, you benefit from illegal immigration.

http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2015/03/27/3639975/undocumented-farmworkers-nj-id-wa/

If you do want to pay $10 a pound for apples, punish the businesses that hire illegals, not the poor people who can't find a better job in their own country.

I'm a PP, and I have lots of (American!) friends who have picked fruit for money in their travels, and here! They never stayed in the other countries and leached off their systems. I buy apples from the orchard.

I've done it too. But there aren't enough Americans in this country willing to do it for the wages that they pay. And how do you get your oranges?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Illegals "do pay taxes." Really? So they have a 90% compliance rate like everybody else?? . . .

If illegals truly, verily, paid taxes on all of their under the table wages, and if they were truly honest about those wages in applying for food stamps and free school lunches, and if they had to declare bankruptcy to discharge hospital bills like the rest of us, maybe I would feel differently. And I am not talking about people who merely overstayed a legal visa.

Now, if all that were so, I would offer legal residency, but NOT permanent residency (not green card) if certain conditions were met. Im sure we could create special worker programs. Working for our national parks, building highways, building the wall, . . . Now if they would do 4 years military service, or if they marry a citizen, I would certainly say give them a green card which obviously leads to citizenship. I dont understand why a border crosser cannot get a green card if they marry a citizen.

This would lead to a downward wage spiral as there would be a large labor pool of people with very little bargaining power. This is essentially what H1B visas have done in some tech sectors. I know it might feel satisfying from a moral sense, but it's bad for Americans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Illegal immigrants come here because they do jobs that Americans don't want to do, like picking fruit. It's hard work and it doesn't pay well. So unless you want to pay $10 a pound for apples, you benefit from illegal immigration.

http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2015/03/27/3639975/undocumented-farmworkers-nj-id-wa/

If you do want to pay $10 a pound for apples, punish the businesses that hire illegals, not the poor people who can't find a better job in their own country.

I'm a PP, and I have lots of (American!) friends who have picked fruit for money in their travels, and here! They never stayed in the other countries and leached off their systems. I buy apples from the orchard.

I've done it too. But there aren't enough Americans in this country willing to do it for the wages that they pay. And how do you get your oranges?

I hear you. I don't buy oranges though.

[Anonymous]

Is it OP, who asked for our honest opinion, who keeps posting to tell us why we are wrong?