Why is it that we aren't enforcing our current immigration laws?

Question

Everyone says no to reform but says we need to enforce our current laws....Why haven't they been enforced all along??

Charity G-I agree with you whole-heartedly and I feel that without the United State's help, Mexico won't be able to elevate their living conditions

Hot Mom- Mexico as a country is not Poor...they have money but it all belongs to 1% of the population. In Mexico there is no middle class. You are either rich or dirt poor....as we know, because their government is corrupt...I think that's what Charity meant to say. We all know that mexicans are not the only illegals out there. It makes me angry when people say that too...but unfortunately they do make up the majority. Here's to hoping the reform ends up passing eventually or nothing is going to change. I guess people would rather have silent amnesty.

Answer 1

There are several reasons we are not enforcing our current laws:

1) The existing laws are unenforceable.

2) The American economy is dependent on the unskilled labor provided by migrants. They are truly working jobs most Americans would not work if they paid $20 an hour. Furthermore, they are generally better workers who will work longer and harder than some unionized slobs.

3) The United States has historically had loose immigration laws at best. During the 19th century, immigrants would head to Canada then walk right across the US border if there was a backlog entering directly from Europe.

4) The culture does not have the stomach for deporting 12 million people. How long before there is a massive public outcry when we see families being dragged out of their homes and carted away? It would last a few weeks at best before people would start pleading for it to end.

5) Most people realize if they lived in Mexico they would do the same thing.

Answer 2

No guts by the government. Any country that loses control of their borders is bound to be doomed. Los Angeles already has a Mexican population of 40%. If they are legal it doesn't bother me but if illegals than a problem exist.
Obviously we can't deport 12 million people. What we could do is that everytime an illegal is arrested he sent back to Mexico. Maybe if it is done enough times a message will be sent. It'd take awhile but it's a start. We should be more concerned about our own citizens first and foremost. If families are separated that's just too bad. They made their choice and have to face the consequences. Are first duty is t our citizen. I'm not against immigration just illegals of any nationality. Like every one in this country my family were immigrants.

Answer 3

Charity G,
It's unfortunate that you think Mexico is one of the poorest countries out there. I think you need to get your facts straight! By the way, that is not the only reason people come here illegally (because Mexico is poor). There is also political corruption as there is here in the US only that the US tries to hide it to seem the only political system that has justice and truth. (yeah right!!!!). There is poverty, death threats, kiddnappings, abuse etc. But let me tell you this ONLY IGNORANT PEOPLE LIKE YOU think that all illegals come from Mexico otherwise you wouldn't have made that comment "Rising living standards in Mexico will fix the problem". Please, do your research and if your in your right mind, listen to some stories about why people immigrate here. Have a heart and listen.

Who ever said that companies should be fined for giving jobs to immigrants is also full of it. Tell me this, if you owned a company and you needed people to work for you, who would you hire? Don't say "only legal workers". Do you really, honestly, truly think that only "legal workers" are the right people for the job. Of course not. You would mostlikely want cheap, fast and good labor. There are people who are right for the job regardless of their status. Unfortunately the "illegals" as you call the gardners, cooks, dishwashers, housekeepers etc, are doing the jobs most "legals" don't want to do. Tell me this would you scrub a toilet or wash dirty dishes all day? You might say you would, but you wouldn't be satisfied with your wage now would you? these"illegals" have no complaints about how much they earn and are not bitching about their wages. On the contrary, they have 2 or more jobs and work very hard.

There was a comment made by an African American man made on T.V. when the Los Angeles rallies were taking place last year. He was protesting about "illegals" taking their jobs and crap like that. His comment was very disturbing and very ignorant. He said "The illegals are taking our jobs, we must kick them out! We will work but NOT FOR SLAVE WAGES". My reaction to this? It's not even human. So he's saying "illegals" work for slave wages and his people will work but not the the same money or like slaves? Please!!! I bet my life if you give him a job as a gardner or construction worker or even a dishwasher, He wouldn't cut it. I have nothing against African Americans or Anglo, some are great people and I have lots of them as friends but do you really think they are better workers than the "illegals"? I'm sorry if I offfend anyone with my comment but, it is what it is.

Suggestion: Don't be IGNORANT do your research, talk to people and find the real answer. Then have a decent comment about "illegals" and immigration.

Answer 4

It reminds me of the Brady Bunch Movie. Peter and Bobby are fixing their bicycles and somebody asks them if they want to go for a ride. They say "oh, we don't ride our bikes, we just fix 'em." Congress says "Oh' we don't enforce our laws, we just pass 'em." So if a law isn't effective(not enforced) it must be a bad law so they have to come up with a new one(which won't be enforced).
Our lawmakers take the easy way. They put band-aids on problems(especially around election time). This covers up the problem and eases the minds of the people who are too busy trying to make ends meet to take a long look at all the problems the country faces. Instead of digging down and getting to the root of the problems they pass laws that attack the symptoms. Because they don't enforce the laws and because they don't take care of the problems at the root they are left with the seemingly herculean task of dealing with 12 million illegal aliens and securing the borders. What are they going to do round up and deport 12 million people? No. But what if they took away incentive for American companies to hire them. The main reason they are hired by American companies is that they are cheaper than citizens and legal immigrants. One of the reasons for that is that they don't have to pay the taxes on illegal aliens that they have to pay for citizens and legal immigrants.
I suggest we secure the borders NOW, pass the Fair Tax bill(H.R.25/S1025), repeal the 16th amendment, enforce the laws on the books, and watch the American companies stop hiring illegals, firing illegals already working for them, and illegals deporting themselves in droves. Any who stay will be paying the full tax since they won't be ellegible for the prebate.

Answer 5

The cost to enforce current laws would be nearly equal to the defense budget, and 'legal' Americans would find it so intrusive that they would not allow it for long.

There is also an interesting dichotomy at work: on a national level we see a swelling revulsion at the onslaught of 'illegal' immigrants and demand draconian response from Congress, while on a local basis there is almost no political will to deputize local law enforcement into the federal cause. Only a handful of municipalities have ordered law enforcement to turn over suspected 'illegals' to federal authorities.

We are as a mass a mean, frightened, retributive nation. Individually we retain a great deal of emathy and understanding for those who come here not to mooch (as conservatives would have us believe), but to make better lives for themselves and their families.

Answer 6

Big business "fat-cats" make extra profit from cheap "slave" labor and an abundant supply of it holds down the wages of everyone in their employee.
They finance the politicians of BOTH PARTIES.

The Eisenhower administration ushered in a period with the lowest incidence of illegal immigration by fining and jailing those hiring the illegals.
That lasted until the Johnson administration changed the policy.
During that period, the illegals packed up and went home because the jobs dried up.
No cost to the tax-payer.

Answer 7

Follow the money!
Business supports illegal migration.
They have to compete with the bigger companies that have gotten tax breaks for sending jobs overseas for bigger profits. They also have to compete with China, India, and all the other countries big business are using to increase wealth for the powerful few - like it or not, being the New World leader has it's costs. Illegal immigration has been deemed to be an acceptable cost of doing "Country building" for the sake of "Democracy".

Answer 8

A citizen with skills and a record cannot get a job, while criminal illegals are hired, paid under the table,
contribute nothing to the tax base and steal benefits from those who do pay into the system. Corporate and political corruption is causing poverty to legal citizens.

Answer 9

Because they are unenforceable as written. As long as you have one of the richest nations in the world bordering one of the poorest, you will always have illegal immigration. The only real solution for illegal immigration is to elevate the living standards of Mexico.

Answer 10

Every civilization needs a slave class. In America after slavery itself was abolished we went through different ethnic groups to provide our very low wage slave class. (Irish, Italians, and now latinos) Since America is a wonderful place and one can be born into poverty and rise to middle class in a single generation, there must always be a constant infusion of new slaves to replace those who move up and out of that class.