I think that most people would be willing to cut illegals who have been here for many years - say 5 or more years - a break, especially if they had a family, were working and not on welfare, were paying taxes, had no criminal record and WANTED TO STAY HERE AND BE AMERICANS.
But as for the rest, we needn’t deport any of them. All we need do is start shutting down businesses that knowingly hire them and use the assets thereby secured to defray the apprehension, housing, medication and repatriation costs of illegals. We can also stop providing any benefits except immediate essential medical care for illegals here before we ship them back. We also must revise the “anchor baby” issue and stop people from using that as a ploy to gain permanent residence here. Do that and they will evaporate. We CAN and SHOULD start penalizing that government, i.e. Mexico, which actively collaborates in an effort to destroy our borders in a non-too very transparent attempt to reconquer what was lost in the 1850s.
If we need more workers, there are MILLIONS of people who would GLADLY come to America - LEGALLY and who would be more than willing to learn our language and eager to have American citizenship. That is FAR better than creating the kind of dangerous, unassimiliable, hostile, exploited underclass a “guest” worker plan would create.
The IMPORTANT thing is that our borders become defensible and nobody gets in here unless we clear them first and nobody stays unless we want them to.
I think a posture like that outlined above would gain support from most Americans and is something that would help Thompson and/or Hunter and ANY candidate for President.
From what I can understand, Mr. Thompson’s view of the immigration debacle falls out roughly like this:
1. Enforce immigration laws. Close the border. Keep new illegal immigrants OUT. It doesn’t make any sense at all to try to figure out what to do with the folks already here, if we don’t keep new illegal immigrants out.
Mr. Thompson has said that a nation that doesn't have control of its borders, and who may enter and who may not, is in danger of losing its sovereignty.
2. Count on attrition to reduce the number of illegal immigrants. Apparently, something like a quarter million illegal immigrants leave the US each year on their own. If we were to shutdown the inflow, the problem of illegal immigrants would grow smaller with each passing year.
3. Once we have control over our own borders, and we see who is staying and who is going, then we can figure out what to do next.
I think that Mr. Thompson is also in agreement that if we ultimately permit any of these folks to stay, they must assimilate and become Americans.
sitetest
“I think that most people would be willing to cut illegals who have been here for many years - say 5 or more years - a break, especially if they had a family, were working and not on welfare, were paying taxes, had no criminal record and WANTED TO STAY HERE AND BE AMERICANS.”
That would be amnesty.
NO AMNESTY for illegal aliens.