For those who consider themselves Liberals, re: Illegal Immigration?

Question

I've noticed that many users who have taken liberal stances on other issues, are strongly opposed to illegal immigration. I'm curious as to your reasons? Is it because illegal immigration is primarily effecting the American poor in jobs, benefits and crime or do you have another reason?

Do you think this could be a unifying factor in the next elections?

LoveMuffin -- It wasn't meant as an insult in any way. I'm moderate...liberal on some issues, conservative on some and sometimes a fence sitter. Liberalism doesn't always have to do with your political party.

And if it matters to anyone...I'm registered independent

Answer 1

I'm a moderate so have a liberal stance on some issues and conservative on others. My position on immigration is based solely on experience and the research that validates that this is not just a local phenom. Yes to your question. Underemployment becoming unemployment, denied SSI while they get SSI, fighting for Medi-Cal and watching other natives denied too while they are getting undocumented Medi-Cal and services, litter and dog poop everywhere, insisting on Spanish, etc. It's not hate. I'm sure half of them are good law abiding people. But they changed everything and didn't assimilate or adapt to the neighborhood the way other newcomers did. I feel like a foreigner in my home town.

Answer 2

The reason I oppose illegal immigration and mind you Im from immigrant stock myself, is the fact that these people just muscle their way into this country without any regard for its laws get a whole bunch of benefits that the rest of us dont get, while my family had to stand in land and pay thousands in lawyers and the burocratic processes that involves immigrating legally.

Its the whole idea of bypassing the law and getting away with it. Which is part of the cultures of the countries from which these people are coming from.

What needs to happen is shut the demand, what I mean is penalize employers who have illegal workers with heavy fines, not just big companies but mostly mom and pop shops who employ most illegal immigrants.

Report people who show fake ID's or ID's from a foreign country.
I would also recommend to refuse public services to illegal immigrants but some of that would touch into the whole human rights arena and it could get very complicated.

What would also help would be denying citizenship to children of illegal immigrants, and end the whole child-anchor syndrome.

Anyway, it needs to be an effort enforced by all states without exception.

Answer 3

I am a liberal in Arizona (yes, there is such a thing!), so illegal immigration affects me and my family on a regular basis.

I am against breaking the law, pure and simple. I believe there should be a path to citizenship that doesn't take 14 years, as some of my friends have gone through, but I believe in rewarding those who apply for legal status with a shorter wait, and those who have entered illegally with a penalty, like fines and putting them at the back of the line for legalization, provided they pass a background check, and demonstrate their value to society (i.e. willing to work, and not mooch off the gov't).

I pay higher car, health and home insurance rates than much of the country because there are so many illegal’s here who drive without insurance (getting into wrecks and not being able to collect insurance money), and skip out on medical bills (even in the middle of hospital stays). Plus there are always horror stories about crimes committed by illegal’s, then they get deported, come back, and continue their crimes.

I used to work for a major homebuilder, and work would virtually stop for a day if word got out that "la hura" or "immigracion" was around. Quality was poor, communication was difficult, and there was little respect for the homes they were helping to build.

BUT, cost of homes would have been astronomical if well-trained union members had built the home, and then, people who love their big houses would complain. Migrant workers help keep farming costs down, and some foreigners are willing to do the jobs that many spoiled Americans are unwilling to do (try being a roofer in Arizona - 120 degrees on top of a roof?!). Bottom line: Employers who hire illegal’s are perpetuating the action and should be financially punished.

Those who want to become legal, if given a chance, would likely be intolerant of the behavior of illegal’s, because they have vilified all immigrants. Unfortunately, Mexicans are largely stigmatized, whether they are here illegally or not, because of some bigoted people. But you rarely hear mention of professionals and scientists here on an H1-B Visa that expired 5 years ago being here illegally, or the student whose Visa ran out, because they are not deemed a threat.

There is far too much hypocrisy going on, and people calling the last immigration bill "Amnesty" are completely clueless as to the definition. If it was enforced, the bill would have worked, or at the very least been a starting point.

Answer 4

Immigration laws are a form of socialism. It's about stopping people (in this case, the immigrant and a potential employer, or the immigrant and a potential landlord) from reaching a business arrangement because it might potentially have an effect someone else doesn't like. It's essentially the same as why a lot of people on the left oppose free trade. People on the left are always willing to butt into someone else's business if they think they might do some good by it, even if they haven't fully thought through whether they really will do good by it.

Of course, my views are those of the classical liberal, not the people usually called liberals now. I think people should be allowed to do more or less whatever they want, as long as it doesn't *directly* harm someone else. I support free immigration (apart from people with criminal records), free trade, and a reduction of the welfare state to a bare minimum, with a minimum amount of time paying into the system before you're eligible for even that bare minimum of social programs.

And to answer your other question:
Immigration will not be a unifying issue. It's a very contentious issue. However, what it could do is to lead to a restructuring of the two party system. Right now, the Republicans are a coalition with the biggest groups being libertarian-leaning businessmen and religious/cultural conservatives. The Democrats are a mixture with the biggest groups organized labor, intellectuals and African Americans. If immigration policy becomes the key issue, both these coalitions could be fractured and re-formed into a blue collar party composed of the cultural conservative and labor, opposed to a liberal immigration policy, and a white-collar party composed of intellectuals and businessmen, in favor of a liberal immigration policy. The African-Americans would probably be the swing voters in this arrangement, which would make things quite interesting. I don't think that's too likely, but it could happen.

EDIT:

Anon - do you really think that liberal politicians and Marxists favor illegal immigration? Some of them favor more legal immigration, but I don't think any of them favor more illegal immigration. The people who favor illegal immigration are the only ones who will make money off of it - businessmen who are paying the illegal immigrants less than minimum wage or are taking advantage of them in some other way by violating labor or safety laws.

Answer 5

You and people like you should really stop with the labels. Everything is NOT liberal or conservative.

The world is about ideas NOT a party line where you are boxed into your beliefs.

All people are different with different values and different beliefs and no stupid media made party like democrat or republican is going to encompass everything that everyone believes.

Illegal immigration is bad for the country for a variety of reasons however I am "liberal' on most every issue so be smart and make decisions based on what is the Right thing to do and not because you are a member of any party.

Answer 6

Yes it does have an effect on the jobs available in this country because the manufacturing, construction, and other businesses know they can hire them cheaper, and do, which leaves fewer jobs for documented americans, but the companies make more money. The problem is when they can't hire illegal immigrants here they will ship the whole company overseas where they can get even cheaper labor. Tax laws would take care of that though.

Answer 7

i am more opposed to the government that turns a blind eye to a HUGE border and corporations that hire them in place of american workers just to save a buck on taxes. if our government was functional and corporations we obeying the law then there wouldn't be 13 million people here working illegally.

we need to make sure our government functions and our corporations obey the standards they are expect to obey. then the problem would magically go away.

i am not pro-amnesty. nobody wins with amnesty. it makes the workers like the old slaves are 3/5ths a person proposition.

government and corporations profiting from illegal employment practices has happened over and over again in united states history. the term for immigrants in the first part of the 20th century was "wop" -- without papers. there are plenty of reports of immigrants being tied behind horses and dragged for sport and other travesties because they were a "problem" in that they came here and got jobs at low pay that put people already here out of work. nobody seems to realize the problem is not the immigrants -- it is ourselves and our broken system.

Answer 8

There is a difference between LEGAL immigration and ILLEGAL immigration... Even the most liberal of liberals would most agree that "illegal" innigration is destroying our country...Legal immigration is acceptable in everyway because there is history learned of the culture, language and goverment of which they want to reside.

Answer 9

1. It's the law.
2. It takes jobs away from hard working Americans.
3. It makes rich companies even richer while they abuse #1 and #2.

Answer 10

I am not a liberal but am going to answer this anyway - it appears that only liberal politicians and some far left marxist groups favor illegal immigration.