[Victoria Delsoul]

Oh please, we are talking about working visas. They are already living in America waiting every day to take illegal jobs. In 1987, Reagan gave amnesty to 3 million illegal Mexicans who, by the way, sponsored another 3 million of their relatives once they became citizens.

These illegals are already here, getting picked up and taken to work on farms and other low paying jobs. Why is amnesty a bad word anyway? After all, amnesty is a great source of labor, is good for the economy, the consumer, and the illegals would pay taxes.

[Alberta's Child]

Good post, Victoria.

What most people don't understand is that these illegal immigrants may be the only thing that keeps the U.S. out of a deflationary spiral along the lines of what Japan is going through right now and what Europe will be experiencing over the coming decades.

[gubamyster]

Why is amnesty a bad word anyway?

In 1987, Reagan gave amnesty to 3 million illegal Mexicans who, by the way, sponsored another 3 million of their relatives once they became citizens.

You answer your own question. How did Reagan's amnesty stop illegals? It didn't. Amnesty rewards ILLEGAL behavior and begets more illegals.

The illegals are taking entry-level jobs and displacing Americans, including intercity youths and legal low wage & uneducated legal immigrants.

Do a little research at the Center for Immigration Studies:

Tired and Poor: The Bankrupt Arguments for Mass, Unskilled Immigration

by Steven A. Camarota

National Review, September 3, 2001

We at the Center for Immigration Studies estimate that the average Mexican immigrant will use $55,200 more in public services during his lifetime than he pays in taxes.

The Impact of New Americans: A Review and Analysis of the National Research Council's The New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration

In California and New Jersey, the average immigrant-headed household currently uses $3,463 and $1,484 more, respectively, in services provided by state and local govern- ment than it pays in taxes. This translates into an added tax burden of $1,178 imposed on each native household in California and $232 in New Jersey (Table 3 on page 7)

Immigration was responsible for 44 percent of the decline in relative wages (com- pared to other workers) for high school dropouts from 1980 to 1994.

Immigration from Mexico: Assessing the Impact on the United States

by Steven A. Camarota

Center for Immigration Studies Paper No. 19

reduction in wages for the unskilled has likely reduced prices for consumers by only an estimated .08 to .2 percent in the 1990s. The impact is so small because unskilled labor accounts for only a tiny fraction of total economic output.