I agree 100%. Border's first. I can live with an amnesty for hard working people who came here without the right paperwork but truly want to be US citizens, but that comes only after we secure the border.
Right, and since 9/11, our borders and visa overstays should be among our top priorities.
But not over folks carrying bombs. I care much less about someone's legal status than I do about their intent on being here. Lacking evidence about their intent then legal status must be the benchmark, but you and I both know that 99% of those people are here for economic reasons, not because they wish to do us harm. That's probably why most of your ancestors came here too. Some of mine came here for those reasons, some were here before the Europeans and some were brought here in chains (from Scotland, not Africa). I'm concerned about the security issues. Let the immigration issues sort themselves out separately.
I am far more concerned about the threat of immigration, legal and illegal, than militant Islamic fundamentalism to the long term future of our country.
You're out of your tiny little mind On that point I'll have to respectfully disagree with you <g>
Came here without the right paperwork? Are you one of those people who call them "undocumented workers" like Chertoff does? They are illegal aliens who violated our law entering our country and then violated other laws like ID theft and non-payment of taxes. You don't reward such people, who total 12 to 20 million. Amnesty is rewarding people who broke our laws. And who makes the subjective judgment that they are hard-working? And what happens if the border is not secured?
What is going on today is unprecedented in our nation's history. Here are some facts gleaned from Bureau of the Census data that provide an indication of what is really happening:
---The 35.2 million immigrants (legal and illegal) living in the country in March 2005 is the highest number ever recorded -- two and a half times the 13.5 million during the peak of the last great immigration wave in 1910.
---Between January 2000 and March 2005, 7.9 million new immigrants (legal and illegal) settled in the country, making it the highest five-year period of immigration in American history.
---Immigrants account for 12.1 percent of the total population, the highest percentage in eight decades. If current trends continue, within a decade it will surpass the high of 14.7 percent reached in 1910.
---Of adult immigrants, 31 percent have not completed high school, three-and-a-half times the rate for natives. Since 1990, immigration has increased the number of such workers by 25 percent, while increasing the supply of all other workers by 6 percent.
---The proportion of immigrant-headed households using at least one major welfare program is 29 percent, compared to 18 percent for native households.
---The poverty rate for immigrants and their U.S.-born children (under 18) is 18.4 percent, 57 percent higher than the 11.7 percent for natives and their children. Immigrants and their minor children account for almost one in four persons living in poverty.
---One-third of immigrants lack health insurance -- two-and-one‑half times the rate for natives. Immigrants and their U.S.‑born children account for almost three-fourths (nine million) of the increase in the uninsured population since 1989.
A central question for immigration policy is: Should we allow in so many people with little education, which increases job competition for the poorest American workers and the size of the population needing government assistance? How did we get into this predicament in the first place?
Prior to 1965, the US was taking around 178,000 legal immigrants annually. In 1965, Congress replaced the national origins system with a preference system designed to unite immigrant families and attract skilled immigrants to the United States. With these changes and some subsequent ones, the result was that most of our legal immigrants now come from Asia and Latin America, and not Europe. Chain migration designed to unite families has also brought in aged parents, children, uncles, etc., many of whom are not contributing to our society and in fact, require more social services. Even with quotas in certain immigration categories, we are now legalizing the status of over one million people annually and millions more are waiting in lines overseas for their turn to come in. Chain migration has also changed the "mix" of immigrants, making it less diverse.
Mexico accounts for 31 percent of all immigrants, with 10.8 million immigrants living in United States, more than the number of immigrants from any other region of the world. Immigrants from Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean account for the majority of immigrants, with 54 percent of the foreign‑born coming from these areas. Of those who arrived 2000 to 2005, 58 percent are from Latin America. This lack of diversity has hindered assimilation and could well result in the Balkanization of the country by language and culture.
We need a rational, sensible immigration policy for many reasons, some of them economic and some of them cultural, i.e., the ability to assimilate these massive numbers into our society . Since 1970, the population of the US has increased by 100 million; since 1990; by 53 million; and since 2000 by 20 million or the equivalent of our six largest cities. The Bureau of the Census projects that we will have 364 million by 2030 [that will add 63 million people to our population in the next 23 years, the equivalent of the current population of the UK] and over 400 million by 2050 with one-quarter of the population being Hispanic. The annual arrival of 1.5 million legal and illegal immigrants, coupled with 750,000 annual births to immigrant women, is the determinate factor of three-fourths of all U.S. population growth.
These additional people will require infrastructure [roads, water, electricity, gasoline, etc.], and impact our schools, hospitals, social welfare systems, penal system, etc. Couple these increases with an aging US population faced with entitlement programs about to go belly-up in 10 years and you have some serious public policy issues that could threaten the future of this country.
But not over folks carrying bombs. I care much less about someone's legal status than I do about their intent on being here. Lacking evidence about their intent then legal status must be the benchmark, but you and I both know that 99% of those people are here for economic reasons, not because they wish to do us harm. That's probably why most of your ancestors came here too.
They are coming here illegally. Some may be carrying bombs or biological or chemical weapons. We have no idea who is coming in and why. If you believe that 500,000 to 1 million people a year entering our country is benign, you fail to recognize the impact they are already having on our country. As I indicated above, what is going on now is unprecedented. Today, about one in every 8 people resident in America is foreign born.
Some of mine came here for those reasons, some were here before the Europeans and some were brought here in chains (from Scotland, not Africa). I'm concerned about the security issues. Let the immigration issues sort themselves out separately.
They are intertwined. It is the reason why I believe immigration, legal and illegal, reprsents one of the two greatest threats to the dream that is America. The Hispanic Challenge By Samuel P. Huntington
You're out of your tiny little mind On that point I'll have to respectfully disagree with you
LOL. You couldn't resist the personal attack. Islamic fundamentalists will not takeover the US and the reins of our government. They will not destroy our Constitution. And even a few nuclear weapons secreted into the US will not destroy us and our values. We will survive those. We won't survive the current invasion of immigrants, legal and illegal, who are swamping the world's lifeboat and the last best hope for Man. We will be destroyed from within, not from the outside.