You knew that you were breaking the rules when you came here.
You knew that you were breaking the rules when you stayed here.
And now you want to complain because you are not being treating with the same respect as someone who came here using the proper channels instead of cheating?
Didn't you benefit enough from your extended illegal stay?
Well... I guess you could claim Squatter's Rights to say that the Statute of Limitations for Ejectment have run out and that the government should have acted sooner.
I guess you could say that you were here first. (Although the Gadsden Treaty, the results of the Mexican-American War, or countless other laws would cause such claims to be moot.)
You rolled the dice, you had a good run, you crapped out - now go home.
10 comments:
Just months ago you were against the Arizona bill proposal now you've done a u-turn. Stereotypes & all are deployed & you've even worked in a bit of history (like the colonizer's came to America through 'the proper channels' and the laws and rights are suddenly legit & the only 'proper ones'). C'mon now Black J.
Uh uh...
The Arizona bill used stereotypes to target one group.
California is broke becuase it does too much for too many with too little.
If the gates are open too wide the clash of cultures causes problems.
(Which may not be a bad thing at all.)
I'm in favor of immigration - our laws are more just than those of Mexico.
I just don't think people should assert rights where they have none.
illegal is illegal. tho i cant fault anyone for wanting a better life, something has to give somewhere.
The law is what is wrong here.
I say if you have the gumption and guts to move yourself to a new country, risking life to do so, go to a place where you will be hated, not enjoy legal status, work for less money than others with similar skills, live in substandard conditions, all just to have a better life.... I would rather have you than 90% of the native born Americans who wont get off thier tails, play video games in stead of doing homework, then cry when the factory closes down and you have no skills and want the union to some how save your lazy tailed job!?!?!?
If illigal immigration is a problem... I say change the law, not the immigrant.
Black J
When you wrote that post it wasn't only about geographical labour distribution, but also about the myth of jobs being taken away from one group by another. Now you're talking about 'gates being open too wide' and that sounds a bit mythical to me.
That post was an explicit acknowledgement of what productive migrants legal or illegal (whatever that means) contribute to the economy. By that reasoning a qualified nurse should be allowed to work regardless of migrant status because nursing like agriculture is an area where people are badly needed. I don't think that argument can be limited to geographical areas and unskilled labour.
Co-sign brohammas.
UBJ, Could you tell me who's this painting by? It's very beautiful!
@ KayDub - NAFTA created the environment which benefitted American corporations but harmed smaller American and Mexican farmers.
About 5 million Mexican farmers lost their jobs and many came here to work because of NAFTA.
I'm not an open border type of guy - I've lost too much from letting homeless people stay in houses for free during cold months and then having them claim some type of squatter's rights.
They knew in advance that I was just trying to help them for a while but far too many asserted rights when they should have had none.
Many destroyed homes or burned them to the ground.
On a larger scale, I'm sure this happens with cities, counties and states as well.
There has to be some sort of FAIR regulation regarding immigration in the States.
@ Desertflower - Mark Kostabi
UglyBlack, I agree with your position as it relates to the original transgressors, but I have misgivings about punishing their kids who are effectively American.
Dream Act is a reward for illegal behavior, though it would seem that it might be in the best interest of US to grant citizenship to these individuals in order to enhance and realize the full benefit of their contribution to American society.
I don't think having laws pertaining to immigration is wrong. Most countries have them, including Mexico - which are far more strict than the US. What's wrong is the inconsistent laws and policies which provide incentives and protections for illegal behavior and very little enforcement.
@brohammas,
I think that "lazy American" argument is weak. The problem is that for even the poorest Americans (not all), their standard of living might be 10 or 20 times above the standard of living for the average immigrant in their home country. An immigrant, new to the country, and particularly an illegal one, MUST do whatever they can or die! I think for the majority of the poorest Americans, do whatever or die is simply not the situation they face. To try to make a relative comparison between the American with some form of safety net - family, friends, social services, welfare, etc. - to an illegal immigrant that must hustle or die, to me, is not a valid comparison. Of course they are hungrier and more willing than the avg American, but their most meager situation in the US is probly 10 time above their standard of living in their own country.
If you told all those "lazy Americans", they could improve their current standard of living by 10 times (this might be the equivalent of going from project housing to a million dollar home neighborhood) if they took a job washing dishes or mowing lawns, then I think you see a lot more of those "lazy Americans" put their video games down.
Of course the immigrant and the lazy native are in different situations, the comparison still stands. I would still preffer the hustling immigrant who is hustling to live because they are the hustler, which is what America once had and now greatly lacks. It is much like a well performing charter school. Most of those that do well benefit from a sort of self-selecting process wherin those that attend are the ones willing to be proactive. Immigrants are those who have a predisposition to taking action which translates to improvement.
The fact that our standard of living is so much higher than elsewhere is one more reason to advocate for the immigrant. What is greater value, one who sits and does nothing and enjoys a "10" or one who works hard, risks, and innovates to achieve a "9"?
The greater whole benefits from the influx of working people.
@brohammas,
Okay, I guess I can agree somewhat with that, but still, the immigration should be done on a legal and controlled basis. And the "lazy" label is still somewhat unfair to a degree. It's all relative. In a generation, those hustle immigrants will have "lazy" American children of their own.
There are other factors. For example, I think it's debatable whether there has been a net contribution economically here in Southern Cal by the mass illegal immigration. There is a huge draw on resources from illegals here in SoCal (schools, social services, public services, etc.) and it's unclear whether the uncontrolled influx has been a net benefit.
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