Why cant we secure our border first and deal with immigration laws with separate legislation?

Answer 1

Because that makes too much sense, and, I mean, do you ever see common sense emerge from Washington, especially in the Congress??

Chow!!

Answer 2

I agree with CF on the "logical" part. Common sense would say stop the flow then repair the break. Duh, is that not what we did when the water covered the banks in Louisiana during Katrina? Same thing should be applied to our borders Mexico and Canada. Middle eastern illegals are crossing mostly through Canada. Just last week they had caught someone of Middle Eastern decent.
Each state is different when it comes to illegal immigrants. The federal govt is only involved when it concerns federal law such as illegally entering the country. State to state issues come from already inforced laws that everyone must abide. If I want to get assistance from Social Services in our state you must have a current state ID, Valid SS#, and proof of domicile. I was a volunteer to the christian assistance league in our city. They have the ability to check to see if SS# is good or not through their datat bases which are connected federally for the past 8yrs and on taxes filed. They will ask also proof of last taxes filed (those who do not work or do not receive SSI will not have one that is where they must have proof of monies or previous assistance received). In North Carolina, where I live, the county and state are working together to find common ground. When I first moved here from Kentucky, our town was on the slow road to desimation. The neighborhoods were in decline, many of the apartment complexes were C grade properties and had a high turn over rate and a lot of bad crime. The roads were in badly needed up dating and there were very few shopping venues. In the past 14 yrs here and working with the Hispanic community (legal and illegal) the apartment communities have been improved and new ones built, the vehicle taxes collected has increased by 50% which in turn has improved roads and new ones built. More businesses have moved in and people from Charlotte have been building and buying real estate all over the county. I beleive it is due to the influx of the illegal immigrants moving to our county and increasing the population which in turn has made more companies want to move near us to create jobs and tap into another economic market. We have not had too much immigrant crime and by the latest statistics by our state the racial curve in our jails and prisons was still 63% black 26% white which left 11% other. Other included Asian, Native American, mixed race, then hispanic. In some states such as California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico, they have a harder time than we do in the east and south. They are the first area of contact for influx and because the illegal communities are so tight knit it is hard to find someone. Also, in those states they have been fighting for social reform for 20 yrs and have made no headway. It is their own fault for not inforcing a social reform.
Build the walls - put NAFTA - on the slow road to nowhere - and talk to your local and state elected officials.
Don't worry about being politically correct - be politically involved! Vote

Answer 3

That's kind of like trying to fix a broken dam full of leaks without relieving the water pressure first.

Dollar after dollar has been thrown at enforcement-only measures without success. That's because it's not only a problem with people wanting to come here, it's also a problem of American loved ones and American employers WANTING them to come here. Push AND pull. Reform must be comprehensive (hit all areas at once) for it to work: 1) More effective enforcement; 2) future flows--i.e. addressing outdated visa counts; 3) status quo for those here--i.e. legalization.

Answer 4

We have existing laws on the books.....if the federal government had ever seriously enforced them......that would have deterred the majority of illegal's from entering the US to start with. As usual its another problem our federal government has not taken care of.

Answer 5

Do you really think all the illegal Mexican immigrants come here to pick lettuce?
Here are some facts you should know:
40% of all workers in L.A. County (L.A. County has 10 million people) are working for cash and not paying taxes. This was because they are predominantly illegal immigrants, working without a green card.
95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.
75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens.
Over 2/3’s of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal whose births were paid for by taxpayers.
Nearly 25% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally.
Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages.
The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south of the border.
Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.
21 radio stations in L.A. are Spanish speaking.
In L.A.County 5.1 million people speak English. 3.9 million speak Spanish (10.2 million people in L.A.County).
(All 10 from the Los Angeles Times)
Less than 2% of illegal aliens are picking our crops but 29% are on welfare.
http://www.cis.org/
Over 70% of the United States annual population growth (and over 90% of California, Florida, and New York) results from immigration.
The cost of illegal immigration to the American taxpayer in 1997 was a NET (after subtracting taxes immigrants pay) $70 BILLION a year, [Professor Donald Huddle, Rice University].
The lifetime fiscal impact (taxes paid minus services used) for the average adult Mexican immigrant is a NEGATIVE .
29% of inmates in federal prisons are illegal aliens