What if the Statue of Liberty was on the Mexican Border??

Question

THEN what would you think of Immigration? Why is it OK for people of white descent from Europe to come into NYC, but it's not OK for Mexicans to enter our country? What is the difference? That is what this country is all about...

I think some of you people are taking this a little too literal. What I am saying is that this country is supposed to accept the tired, hungry, yearning to be free... The reason these people are entering illegally is MOSTLY because we won't accept them legally. I am sure they would enter legally if we let them. However, we accepted tons and tons of Irish, Italians, etc... This country is so hypocritical, maybe it's time the Native Americans reclaimed their land...

Answer 1

I think your point here is that when people were coming in from Europe, unlimited legal immigration was allowed. I think a lot of people are choosing to ignore this point, because it makes it harder for them to attack illegal immigrants. Now there are restrictive quotas that virtually prohibit about 2/3 of Mexicans from ever getting a green card. I agree with the point you're making - unfettered immigration from Europe built America, and there's no good reason to think that unfettered legal immigration from Mexico would be bad.

I don't think racism is the main motivator, but rather economic protectionism. Additionally, we now have a huge array of social programs that didn't exist before the Great Depression. This does change the equation. If we got rid of those social programs, I think a lot of people's attitudes towards immigration would change. The other thing that's changed, again, because of leftist influences, is that people now seem to believe that the economy has a fixed size, and that having more people means spreading the same amount of prosperity around more ways. People didn't believe that in 1900 - they believed in economic growth, and that more immigrants would mean more productivity, since the immigrants would actually produce things.

I think the first step is to change the basic economic attitudes of Americans, and get them to believe again in the free market. Then, and only then, will the opponents of increased legal immigration be limited to the racists.

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Reply:

I agree that oil will run out eventually. I am optimistic that before this happens, it will have been replaced as the primary energy source by nuclear energy and/or solar energy. Research on both of these is progressing quickly, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if we had working fusion reactors within 20-40 years.

You're also correct that petroleum based fertilizers are essential to the agricultural revolution. However, only 16% of petroleum is used for non-energy purposes, and most of that could be easily replaced by other chemicals, except for the costs of generating the energy to do the chemical processing to make the replacements. If we solve the nuclear or solar energy problem, essentially all is saved. The only issue would be feeding all the people, and since world population is generally expected to peak at a little less than twice its current population, I'm not too worried about that. There's a lot of farmland in Asia and Africa not being farmed with Western-level efficiency.

You've raised legitimate concerns, so I'll thumbs up you, but I think these are entirely solvable problems. And who knows? Maybe the physicist who will come up with the key breakthrough to solve the fusion problem is an illegal alien Mexican kid sitting in a classroom in East LA right now.

Answer 2

Who told you Mexicans can't enter this country?
From 1997 until 2006 1,649,657 immigrants listing their home country as Mexico have been granted permanent legal residence status.
See the link below for the table that breaks it down by year but it averages out to about 150,000.0 a year are granted permanent residency.
Now that figure is not including temporary visas.
No one can enter this country legally without a visa and expect the same respect as a legal immigrant- even if they are from Mexico.
It just doesn't work that way.
Immigrants no matter where they are from are welcome and treated with more respect than those that entered this country at the turn of the century through Ellis Island.- illegal aliens no matter their citizenry chose to throw their rights in this country away by becoming outlaws from the onset of their entry into the United States.




ADD: If you are denied a visa it is for a reason- to protect the interests of the United States of American and it's citizens.
The only people the United States owes any allegiance to are her people, her citizens- not to the people in some foreign country..

Answer 3

When the Statue of Liberty was erected, and during the greatest period of European immigration into the US through New York as you describe, the immigrants were held at Ellis Island, and were processed for immigration legally. They were not brought over at night through ditches and smuggled in vans to poultry farms in Ohio, Arkansas, etc. It is different. Also the expectation of the immigrants was to come to this country and to assimilate into the culture here. It was not, to have every government agency be bilingual, all schools have esl classes, and people coming across the border and having children in the US emergency rooms so that they were entitled to privleges of a US citizen. I don't want anybody to give up their heritage, and think it is great that cities have festivals and areas of town to celebrate different cultures, but this is the USA, if we need to add to the infrastructure for every illegal alien who comes into the country from any country, then the buses would be 20 ft longer to allow for the translations on the signage. We need to allow the people who are already in the US the opportunity to earn their legal citizenship. Until the numbers of persons illegally in our country from latin american coutries become legal, no further legal immigration should be allowed, and further allocation of border agents should be used to ensure border security. I am not for a wall, but I am for security. I am not against any race, but I think that the Presidents of the latin american countries which are sending their illegal aliens into the US should bear some responsiblity for this. Some sanctions should apply;. Having the President of Mexico complaining about the US sending aliens back to Mexico definately sends the wrong signal. He should be just as strong against illegal border crossings.

Answer 4

The propblem is not about Mexicans coming to the U.S.. It is about Mexicans coming to the U.S. ILLEGALLY.

The first thing that these people did when they stepped foot in this country was broke the law. The condition by which they are here is illegal in that they #1 are undocumented guests of this country and #2 have no permission to be here (because of #1) which falls under almost every jurisdiction's Criminal Trespassing Statutes.

Another crime that is committed is that they do not file tax returns as EVERY resident of this country, citizen or not, is required by law to do (bearing that their income falls above a certain limit which encompasses over 99% of the population).

Actually, some illegal immigrants do file tax returns, which in that case means that they have assumed the identity of a legal resident which violates multiple state and federal laws including Identity Theft laws, Forgery and Uttering, Perjury (by making false statements on Federal Tax documents), etc.

Then, many of these illegal immigrants drive don't they? Federal Law requires that every state verifies proof of citizenship before issuing any state ID. If they have a license, it is either a fake or they forged citizenship documents to get the license (both crimes of Frogery). If they don't have a license and drive anyway, well that's against the law as well.

Many illegals go to hospitals for care, which by law they cannot be turned away, so when payment cannot be rendered who do you think gets stuck with the bill? - That's right. Honest Americans who pay taxes.

Many illegals, when they commit the crimes that I have listed above, get pushed through our court system and then many of those enter our prison systems. Who do you thinks pays the court fees, the public defender, and the $25,000/year that it costs to incarcerate the individual? - You got it! The American tax payer.

Answer 5

What in the world does the Statue of Liberty have to do with Immigration? It was a gift (from France) commemorating our independence. Just because it was the first sight that immigrants that sailed into the harbor in NY (BEFORE THEY WERE LEGALLY PROCESSED AT ELLIS ISLAND) could see really gives in no significance whatsoever...any more than landmarks in other harbor towns. It was just the biggest.

The poem inscribed inside the statue was inscribed years (about 100) later by a fundraising group.

This country has no obligation to take in the garbage (or "refuse" as the poem says) of every other country in the world. NONE. If you find that hypocritical feel free to leave and relocate where hypocrisy is a thing of the past.

Answer 6

It has NOTHING to do with white or Mexican! It has EVERYTHING to do with people breaking laws, and going around the system!! There is a process that people have to go through in order to come to this country. Illegals are spitting in the face of every immigrant that went through the PROPPER and LEGAL channels in order to become citizens and enter the US!! If Mexicans want to live and work in the US, then they need to go through those propper and legal channels like every other immigrant!!!

"The reason these people are entering illegally is MOSTLY because we won't accept them legally." WRONG -- everyday people from other countries become citizens. The US doesn't say "we don't want Mexicans in this country!"

" I am sure they would enter legally if we let them" - Yes we would, IF they went through the LEGAL and PROPPER CHANNELS!!

Answer 7

Speaking of morons there...John Wayne...FYI, the Statue of Liberty is ACTUALLY in New Jersey, NOT New York. Check your map. All waterways are divided 50/50 and it's on an island in NJ.

Answer 8

It is a long swim from Europe to the US, so there have been very few reports of illegal/undocumented immigration from Europe. It is NOT Mexican immigration that bothers people, it is the ILLEGAL immigration that bothers people. Europeans have always been sent back if they lacked proper documentation as well. The derisive term for Italians "WOP" stands for With Out Paperwork and they were sent back to Italy as illegals just like Mexicans are now.

Answer 9

Bad news dude, even Europeans have a Quota limit. As do the Mexicans for legal entry.

But if we did put the statue on the border within mintues a bunch of concesion stands would open under her selling just about everything. Including fake passports and IDs.

That is why she is safer on a little island.

Answer 10

People who immigrate legally have been through a background check. People who immigrate illegally have not. You never know who is crossing if they immigrate illegally. I support immigration from people of all ethnicities, but illegal immigration doesn't weed out the troublemakers.