I don't have an opinion on immigraion...but I do have a question for those who do...?

Question

I hear both sides...and the arguments that both present.
I don't plan on developing an opinion based on what someone answers...
But some comments on the "ANTI" side seem a bit racist towards Latino cultures. For the ANTI folks, do you consider yourselves to be prejudiced against Latino's?

For the "PRO" folks, do you feel that prejudice plays a part in the ANTI camps actions? ALso, what prevents ANY country from having their citizens immigrate legally?

Not trying to provoke anyone..just something that did spark my curiosity.

You're not getting it!
I know the argument already...
I just noticed that some people say some things that are skewed against a particular group or groups of people.

Please respond ONLY if you intend on addressing the question. THanks.

OK, none of you are getting it..i'll just delete the question...thanks, but no one truly addressed the question.

1) I would have hoped that the discussion could be on both illegal AND legal immigration. That is why I made no distinction. In reality, both will be revised and curtailed soon, in my opinion.
2) Why are you telling me the reasons WHY you are against immigration? I honestly don't care WHY you are or WHY you are not. I want to know if you consider yourself racist/prejudiced/etc.?

Answer 1

I'm not sure if "anti" people are prejudice Or are just as passionate about their answers as those "pro" But there has been allot of hatred from both sides

Answer 2

It seems to me that you have formed an opinion. You believe that the anti ILLEGAL immigration side leans towards racism. And you believe that the pro ILLEGAL immigration side views the anti ILLEGAL side as racist. THe fact is, is that you are looking for predjudice in either side. You are a racist.
I have been participating in these Q&A's for a while, and I see people who are against ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION suffer the humiliation of being called Racist, white trash, rich whitey, etc. etc.
It is getting old. Illegals are Illegal. Period !! They are breaking the laws of our country. Period.
There is no bias against Hispanic, Latinos. Period. Unless of course, you are looking for it. In which case you will find it. Racism seem to flow two ways.
And Mexico does not seem to have any laws concerning their citizens leaving their country without identification, a passport, a visa. Nothing that lets the government know that these people are leaving, or when they are coming back. Even in the free United States, there is always a record of when we have left the country, and who we are. The Mexicans are sneaking in, under the radar, and we have no real idea of their true intent. They refuse to play by the rules.

To VMV 1970.
You sure sound like an educated person, who really wants to be considered non racist, but look at your statement " the United States needs these Illegal Immigrants to perform the menial labor jobs that Americans won't do.??????
Are you implying that if we allow them to come here and stay, that we won't afford them the opportunity to advance themselves, become educated and prosper like all other Americans? Are you saying that we are dependant on their low skill levels and that is all they are good for. If we won't let them use every opportunity that any other American has, then why let them in and why let them stay? Other immigrants come here and get fantastic educations, become doctors, lawyers, CEO's, Senators and Governers, etc. etc. Why won't we afford the Mexicans the same opportunities? You my friend, think like a racist in denial !!!!

Ok asker, delete your question. It's like I said, you are looking for racism.
If that is not what you want, then rework your question, until you get the answer you are seeking.

Answer 3

I don't consider myself racist or prejudiced and I think the pro-illegal immigrants don't even think that is the main reason people are concerned. I think they are just aware that calling someone a 'racist' freezes discussion.

I am not sure what you mean by 'what stops any people from coming legally."

They can't all come legally as quickly as they want because we, like all other developed countries, have limits on how many poor immigrants can come. We pay the bulk of the cost of education and services for poor people even when they pay all taxes, and that is a good deal for poor immigrants. That is particularly true when you realize that countries like Mexico don't even have universal education so that coming here is the difference between having their children educated or not.

The school systems and services like Medicaid and emergency medical service that cannot be denied are now failing our own people in border states and areas where the number of illegal immigrants has grown so huge.

There is no doubt that some people who are against illegal immigration are also prejudiced against the Mexican culture. (I can't say racist because if Mexican was a race rather than a Nationality I think it would be considered Caucasian.) However, if prejudice were driving the debate this would have happened long before the numbers of illegal immigrants reached 12 to 20 million.

Right now, we have a legal immigration limit to protect our schools, etc. I have no problem with anyone here legally. Neither do I want to raise the limit on legal immigration, though, especially if we do end up giving amnesty to those here, because our schools and health programs are failing, and once they become citizens all of these people can bring in not just their children but their indigent parents. We already don't know what we are going to do when the baby boomer generation retires, and we can't afford that. Any 'guest worker program' has to protect our services and be enforceable in terms of making people go back.

To the person below me, most of the illegal immigrants are from Latin America. Mexico is by far the biggest source. This is reasonable because they are right next door AND DO NOT HAVE UNIVERSAL EDUCATION. It is very easy for them to come across and change their life completely at our expense.

I don't blame them as a parent, but they know we are paying for services their own government won't pay for for them. I blame our own government for letting it happen and I think it has to stop.

Canada has not only universal education but universal health care. Their illegal immigration here is in the statistical margins. In fact, I hear more about Americans sneaking in there for the health care than I do about Canadians sneaking in here (unless they want to blow something up or transport drugs. We do need security on both borders.)

Answer 4

As someone who wants to immigrate to the United Kingdom from Malaysia, I have some thoughts that I hope you will find interesting, at least from the perspective of legal immigration.

Mainly, because illegal immigration seems to be such a hot button topic right now, the barriers to entry for legal immigrants have been substantially raised. The processes are unbelievably bureaucratic and rely on a lot of documentary evidence that can be difficult to obtain (does everyone seriously keep records of every pay slip they have received and file all their tax returns for the previous three years?). It seems to be pretty biased towards people who have been earning a certain level of income before migrating to their desired country - I would not get much of a chance for example, if I had spent most of my time working for non-governmental organizations or charities that don't actually pay very well.

This sometimes makes the prospective legal immigrant think, "You know, why really should I bother if it's all that difficult?" The sad fact is that the agencies involved in immigration as well as the general public don't particularly make you feel very welcome either.

Ultimately, you get a bit of a "lemons problem" where the people who really want to settle in the country are those who are desperate or those who wouldn't be able to, for whatever reason, get work in their own country - i.e. those who may not necessarily be the most desirable immigrants anyway.

Answer 5

Absolutely racism plays apart. In general the folks who are so up in the air are the same ones that don't think blacks should be offered affirmative action, while Rich kids automatically get their affirmative action on the bases of money, not their test scores, or their IQ's, as demonstrated by George Bush!

They are the owners of every "ism there is and many of the phobias as well, especially against gays.

In short, they are intolerant , bigoted, racist, and many are Fascist as well!!

And the irony is that they need them for slave labor! Why do you think this Republican Congress has done nothing???

I am not against immigration, but it is practiced 3 ways: At the Embassy's, the way illegals blend in to a culture if they are not an obvious minority. Many of these illegally stay in this country after they finish college, but it isn't what the anti-Immigration people are talking about for the most part. They have singled out 1 race, the Mexicans!! Why? It's pretty obvious it seems to me!

Answer 6

I am not racist. I do not want anyone of any nationality entering my country illegally. I have no problem with Latino people, unless they are here illegally. I have problems with illegal immigrants from anywhere. We have laws that should be enforced and nothing should prevent any country with immigration laws from enforcing them. Because there are so MANY people in the USA illegally from Mexico, Central and South America (Latino's) they want to cry 'racists". It is a futile ploy they keep using to undermine the REAL reason for the USA to crack down on illegal entry. It's simply against the law and the Latino people have abused our generosity to the point that now the USA MUST close it's borders tight and stop all undocumented people from entering.

Immigrants coming in here illegally from other countries are not as numerous, but just as illegal as those coming in across our border with Mexico, whom are 95% Latino/Hispanic. That is a large leak that must be stopped. Most illegal or legal immigrants from other countries don't come into the USA demanding rights they don't have, abusing our welfare, disrespecting our country and putting such a large drain on our economy as the illegal people who are coming across our southern border do.

You ask a question about how people stand on 'immigration', then call us 'racists' before you read our answers. We are not prejudiced against Latino's! We are fed up with them crying 'racist' because we want our borders secure. IT just 'happens' there are more Latino's AT THAT border! It just so HAPPENS they are the majority of any race/ethnicity coming into the USA ILLEGALLY!! YES, you ARE trying to provoke people by your ignorant question and accusations!!

Answer 7

I believe immigration should be regulated not because of racism but because everyone should have a fair chance to come here and work, if you are from Africa or Europe you can't just sneak across the border.

However I don't think this government is willing to pay enough immigration workers to process the legal applications lin a timely manner, so illegals will continue to cross over.

Having said that, I think unregulated illegal immigration serves the interests of the employers, they can pay cheap rates and don't have to provide benefits to the employees. So enforcement should be directed at those who hire illegal workiers, not those who are trying to make a better life for themselves.

Answer 8

Well are you talking about immigration or illegal immigration? Too many people get these phrases mixed up these days. I don't mind if people take the right, lawful steps to come live/work/study in the U.S. Much of my family has done so. But I have NO tolerance though for people who jump the border or overstay their visitors visas, and make no attempt to make themselves "legal" (report to the USCIS, pay taxes, attempt to learn English, purchase insurance, etc.). And that has nothing to do with race. If you do some research, I'm sure you will find that it's not just Hispanic people that illegally cross the borders.

Answer 9

At this point I would say i'm no anti-immigration, but since our society is becoming more socialist and government dependant, it makes immigration a difficult issue, the requirements for legal immigration are very strict because the immigration policy makers don't want a bunch of criminals and freeeloaders here. Its their way of making people pay for our numerous public benefits before they collect on them. illegal immigration allows people to get around ours laws, (minimum wage laws, public health, public education) without paying any of the taxes to support our programs, I think thats what makes people dislike the immigration policy we currently have set up. And remember that not all immigrants are illegal infact all the immigrants I work with are legal, and they have to be more angry about the illegals than any naturalized person I've ever met.

Answer 10

I think you should clarify immigration, as I don't know of too many people who argue that there should be 100% NO immigration. The question then becomes legal versus illegal immigration.

I am very ANTI illegal immigration when it comes to those immigrants wanting to be endowed with legal rights--they have none and deserve none. This has nothing to do with Latinos and everything to do with common sense.

If you circumvent the law in order to enter a country, what gives you reason to believe that government is now in your debt to grant you legal rights and benefits?

Answer 11

Mexico needs to support itself, become more self-sufficient, and stop trying to live off the United States. Part of our relations problem with Mexico is that something like 85% of their commerce happens directly with the United States. They don't really do business with anyone else, at least not to an extent that would really seem to matter much. Consequently I think there's a widespread perception that the United States is The Big Paycheck. I just think that's stupid. Mexico's supposed to have about a trillion dollar GDP, it's time for them to start providing for their own citizens. ALL their own citizens. And, they need to start covering costs for deportation, incarceration etc for their citizens when their citizens come to our country and start blatantly breaking our laws etc. I think there needs to be what amounts to an immigration treaty, a document that will guide national, state and local law enforcement on the process of dealing with people that are living and working in our country illegally. I think it needs to have clear standards, and employers of illegals need to find other ways to cover their business costs.

Please don't throw the race card on this. This is a matter of having some kind of legal standards under which to do business in america. There's already a lot of fraud an corruption out there, and the illegal worker thing just feeds that fire. We have citizens and would-be citizens from all over the world, of all nationalities,
races, religions etc. Mexico should not enjoy a 'sweetheart' deal simply because they're our neighbor. That's preferential treatment, and another component of the issue.

Mexico needs to employ their own citizens. Mexico needs to get a handle on crime. Mexico needs to start enforcing their side of the border. Basically, Mexico needs to clean up its' act and stop trying to get the United States to do it for them.

We're getting played on this one, all day long. It's bad news, and the illegal immigration, not just from Mexico, but from anywhere, needs to STOP. Dead. In its' tracks. Building the border fence is a great first start, there.