2. ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION - Do you think Democrats or Republicans have a better solution for the illegal immigration problem? What do you think about the proposed 700 mile fence on the Mexican border? What do you think about the American civilians who patrol the border looking for illegal immigrants, who believe the US government is not doing enough? What is the impact of illegal immigration on life in the US? What is its impact on you?
Illegal Immigration- Our Country is built on Immigrants and the differences we all have. That’s what makes us different. I do not think Illegal Immigrants have impacted me a lot because most of them take the jobs I wouldn't want, and most other Americans don’t either. That is why more people let them do the job, because they can't find people to do it.
JAMES W
IMMIGRATION: I believe its a problem that was created by this president when he allowed the borders to be open to any and everyone. Now I am not prejudiced. I feel that if you want to come to this country you should have the right to do that by LEGAL means. Civilians controlling the borders are no more than vigilantes that are going to hurt innocent people. Whether this 700 mile fence will it be patrolled or is just going to be a fence I don't know. But this situation is just saying to your child that okay for the first 10 years of your life you can do as you please and then after the 10 years are up you decide that its time for discipline. But you get frustrated when nothing you do works and it doesn't seem as though anything will work. The fact that they (immigrants) will work for pennies has a great impact on our society because they are taking the low paying jobs that most Americans won’t take and they shouldn't. I don't mind so much but they are benefiting from our government programs without being citizens. And they want to march for their rights. They want to enjoy the fruits of citizenship without actually being a citizen and that’s wrong.
Jennifer R
llegal immigration has become one of the biggest problems this country faces. It is not just a problem of being racist against a segment of our society, it is about our national security. The Republicans seem to have a better handle on the problem. The House Republicians, led by Tom Tancredo, stood their ground during the last session and prevented the Seanate bill from being approved. House members feel the border should be secured before any ammensty or guest worker program be put forward. If the border is not secured for our National Security we will be faced with the same problem down the road. Border security should be our priority before anything else. The Minutemen have helped to guard the border and have done a good job. It is a sad situation when citizens of this country have to guard their own borders. Illegal immigration has become a drain on our economy. Many of them have come here and are taking jobs that Americans could do. They are no longer just doing work that citizens of this country won't do. In the construction business they are taking jobs from Americans and making very good money. Much of the money they make is sent back home to their family, so it does not stimulate our economy. Many of them work in jobs where they are paid under the table, which means they do not pay social security or income taxes. Many of them are also able to take advantage of programs such as medicaid and are creating a burden on these programs to the American taxpayers. Also many hospitals in this country are suffering because they use their services and do not pay for them. A 700 mile fence is a good idea, but should be extended to cover the entire border.
Renee R
Illegal immigration is another one of those problems we have here that may never be resolved. You see, it’s only a problem if you’re a bigot, or otherwise full of hatred for anyone who is not white and does not speak English well. All of the statistics show that the average non-English speaking person who comes here from Mexico will attempt to learn English. Their children know both languages, and by the third generation, the Spanish language is all but forgotten. I mention this because if you ask the average American, they will tell you that the problem is that “those people don’t learn our language.” In reality, it’s all about racial hatred. The average American is not so much against illegal immigration for economic reasons, but more for the fact that they hate having the option to “press 2 for Spanish” when they call their bank.
Again, I am hoping that the recent election results will bring in some politicians that are more practical in their approach to this issue. It’s true that the people who come here illegally from Mexico do use some services that they do not pay for. However, they use these services at a far lesser rate than the average U.S. citizen. In addition, they also provide the Social Security and Medicare systems with a huge surplus every year, as they are paying taxes, but are never able to get their money back because their illegal status prevents them from using these services. They work hard and they come here because the situation in their country will not allow them to support their family. They risk their lives to come here and make a better living for themselves. And we fault them for this?
If our politicians really wanted to get rid of this supposed problem, they would only have to do one thing: fine or jail any official of any company that hires illegal immigrants. But, this will never happen because big business lines the pockets of both parties. Big business needs the illegal immigrants because they work for nearly nothing, helping keep costs low and profits high. Many studies suggest that if all the illegal immigrants from Mexico left tomorrow, our economy would spiral downwards.
As for the fence – this is a joke. Fences are for animals, which again, lets you see what the average American thinks of those from Mexico. This fence is “feel-good” legislation. It will allow the typical ignorant, uneducated person to think that something is being done. It is nothing more than an insult to the people of Mexico and even to Americans of Mexican descent, such as myself.
Mark E
COMMENTS FROM STUDENTS IN AUSTRIA
The bad influences also flow from the south. Bad guys in movies are usually black or Hispanic and the good guys are white. If you see a lot of this kind of movie it is not a miracle that people want to put up a fence on the Mexican border because they are afraid of those people,. In Europe we have seen enough fences and walls so nobody wants to see them anymore. For example the wall between two independent Germanys is still on our minds and I think we learned a valuable lesson from that. Also the way people see their own right in the U.S. differs from the view in Europe. Like in Traffic, people run things their own way and live freely, and the U.S. government supports this ideology more strongly than do European governments. European way aims more at common right than individual right.
It was not until the 1970s that a big wave of immigration overtook Europe, especially Germany and Austria. These countries invited others to come and help rebuild. Racism died with the war, but nowadays there is small discrimination against Turkish immigrants who come to Europe to find work, and send their money back home, or remain unemployed and live off the welfare of the nationalized government. Nowadays racism and immigration is not a huge problem in Europe – it died with WWII. There is some resentment toward the Turkish, but nothing worth fighting over. With such a dark stain on their history, Austria and Europe are moving toward a more socialist government system.
In my opinion, America’s problems with immigrants are much more dangerous than in Europe. There are problems with people from different cultures in nearly every single town, but I think American people are very patriotic and therefore want to save their nation-state. Probably it’s also a bit more complicated because it’s legal to possess weapons. In our culture lots of people have problems even to touch a weapon. I wouldn’t say that this is common in America, but there’s not such a big distance and not so much respect to such terrible machines. The whole story is deeply connected with prejudices that built up over generations. I think that nowadays it’s very important to come over such prejudices and get to know the people and their culture on one’s own. Prejudices are very often not true and don’t fit reality.