To those who support illegal immigration: How many people would want to come to the U.S., and what if they did

Question

20-30 Million illegal immigrants in U.S.
4 billion people in the world living under the poverty line defined by IMF.
How many of these would, given the opportunity, try to illegally immigrate to the U.S.?
How would this affect our society, economy, environment, population?

Answer 1

I support illegal immigration. They want to come to the U.S. to make a better life for themselves and there families.

Answer 2

i think you might be one of those people who thinks the US is the place that everyone wants to be...that people are just "so so envious" of us and everyone wishes they were here. umm...that's not true. i love the US, i live here, it's my home, i'm proud and all that stuff. but, don't you think immigrants feel that way about their home? i'm sure it's a struggle for lots of people to leave their country and make a home in a new place. so...no, i don't think ALL 4 billion people below the poverty line want to move here. i think their first choice would be to "make it" in their homeland! i assume you are a loyal citizen of the US by your interest in this topic....but it also sounds as though you assume people from other countries don't feel the same way as you do, about their own home. another thing to take into account...the REALLY impoverished people....they live day to day, they don't have time to dream, they'll never see a television, they will never have more than what they absolutely need in their pocket, they don't even know where on the map the US is.

Answer 3

Who "supports" illegal immigration? That's like saying "to all those people who support burglars..." It's ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. Now, some people might believe that the immigration laws are too strict, or are missing pieces (such as a guest worker program, or a 10-year "path to citizenship" for people who are willing to learn the language and pay back taxes...yeah, this is PRESIDENT BUSH'S PLAN!.. or more lenient rules for assylum claims from certain countries), but no one supports people breaking the law in this way. The questions are (a) what do we do with people once they're here, (b) How important is immigrant work force (including illegals) to our national economy, and (c) how do we combat the extreme conditions in other countries that makes people flee to America?
Sure, if borders were completely open and travel was free, would 4 billion people choose to live in America, with McDonalds, air conditioning, and space, vs. living in a hut in the middle of a dought in a war-torn central African country? Of course. Would our country be overwhelmed and not able to function economically? Of course. But no one trying to answer (a)(b)or(c) is proposing that we just "open our doors" and buy plane tickets for everyone from Africa and Asia.
Use a more realistic argument -- there are plenty on your side-- and fairly characterize the other side, or no one will listen to you.

Answer 4

Nobody 'supports' illegal immigration. It's just that some of us don't believe that building a wall and trying to deport 12 million people is realistic.

How about cutting it off at the roots, such as requiring a Passport for all Western Union wire transfers of money between the US and Mexico? That would certainly kill a lot of the motivation.

Arizona recently passed legislation that illegal immigrants could not get subsidized in-state tuition to State Universities. Hard to believe that until now, we were subsidizing their university level education!

Answer 5

Once they get a feeling for the cost of living here, I think they'll leave! Healthcare is not all it's cracked up to be-the cost near $20,000 a year for good healthcare for a family of four.

Answer 6

You are right, if they give them amnesty, we can take that 20 - 30 million times 6 to 10, they can bring in mom and dad, grandpa and grandma, brothers, sister, and soon on.

Answer 7

I don't support ILLEGAL immigration just legal.

Answer 8

4,000,000,000

Everyone who does not already live in a western industrialized nation.

Answer 9

I do

Answer 10

I don't