The more I read about it the more I support immigration?

Question

I am a white English male. But when I read about some of the attrocities in the world - low life expectancy, exploitation, poor pay and healthcare - in some of the world's countries... how can we criticise people who have come for a better life? I say open the doors and let everyone (who wants to come) in! I would do the same in that situation. It's quite flattering they like England so much to move here. And a slight unnoticeable increase in tax to allow people to live better lives is a small price to pay. They will keep increasing tax anyway.

I may be completely deluded - what are the arguments against immigration?

They are our friends and it's time to welcome them with open arms! Besides, they do the jobs we all don't want to do - at least be grateful for that! I just think the Earth is a giant rock and we don't have the right to control people being where they want. We all own it equally!!

Answer 1

Too many immigrants dilute your national identity.
Immigrants are generally net consumers of public resources rather than net contributors.

So, somebody's gotta pay for them. And it isn't going to be me.

Checked out the riots in France recently?

Personally, I'd shut down all immigration were it within my power. The reality is that, regrettably, we do need to allow some immigration.

Answer 2

Although I can emphasize with your concerns, you must look at the practical aspects of the problem. England a while ago had selected to give up a large part of its heritage and culture. It is now just beginning to realize what a bad choice this was. We in the Untied States can see the writing on the wall. Bottom line is that you cannot have open borders and call yourself a nation. We cannot operate as a nation without the rule of law. We cannot choose to pick this law because we may feel sorry for a so called victim and selectively enforce another law. The rule of law is what it is all about. These people broke into to our home uninvited. They are here illegally that is wrong. Many others who have are trying to get access to this county are paying a lot of money, time and effort to do it the right way [ that is the legal way]. Quite simply if you are here illegally you have no rights you are not entitled to anything except to get deported and the sooner the better!

Answer 3

Nothing against you personally and I am prepared to believe for the moment you are a white English male but:

We British have made the biggest mistake in 1000 years of UK history in allowing a 2,000,000 Muslim community to take residence in the UK. Not on racist grounds, Islam is not a race. The Islamic ideological differences will not adapt to the western way of life in another 1000 years. The other problem is that Muslim people have nowhere to return to because there is not a single Islamic country which provides a modern way of life; I cannot see why we UK people should be asked to use our old culture to provide a modern lifestyle for those with such a different ideology.

We are so overcrowded in the UK we are building on flood plains and the green belt. Really who are you to feel you have the right to give away UK space and facilities to anybody who wants to take some?

Answer 4

Yes, I agree with you that we are a great country. But one of the things that make us great is that we have laws that all of us are expected to follow. If we open the doors to anyone who wants to come here, we are saying that it is okay to break the law to come here, but once you're here, you better follow all of the other laws we have. It doesn't make sense. If they want to come here, they need to know that the first thing they have to do when they get here is become legal. Then they can take advantage of all that America has to offer.

Answer 5

The vast majority of people around the world agree with you. We support immigration 100%. But this immigration must follow LEGAL channels, no matter which country you are talking about.

BTW, to the poster above me. You are wrong. Every country has the right and necessity to have immigration laws and enforce its laws. It's not a matter of race. An illegal alien is NOT a race. They come from nearly every nation on earth. The ONLY thing they have in common is they spit on the laws, the country, and its citizens of whatever country it is they invaded illegally. PERIOD.

Answer 6

I agree, but we need to go further.

Borders separating different peoples are not a natural occurrence. They are man-made. The purpose of borders is to create spheres of economic influence for differing factions of wealthy-elites and to keep the slaves on the plantations. Immigration is largely due to the movement of people from nations where they are impoverished to nations that promise a better opportunity. Forty-one percent of the world's people live in abject poverty on $2 per day or less as they toil to produce the goods upon which the global capitalist system rests. The only decent way to resolve the immigration issue is through a global system that promises work and a living wage to all people of all nations. A system where the needs of the people of the world and societal issues are paramount over the pursuit of profits is called socialism.
The World Socialist Web Site www.wsws.org

" . . . nowhere have we really overcome what Thorstein
Veblen called "the predatory phase" of human
development. . . . the real purpose of socialism is
precisely to overcome and advance beyond the predatory
phase of human development." -- Albert Einstein
http://www.monthlyreview.org/598einst.htm

"The world is my country. Science is my religion." -- Christiaan Huygens

Answer 7

i support immigration too, but when it becomes open, governments shouldn't compensate them. everyone has to earn his fair share, not by other peoples taxes.
and if there is open immigration they all become legal taxpayers.

Thomas Jefferson: "the natural right which all men have of relinquishing the country in which birth or other accident may have thrown them, and seeking subsistence and happiness wheresoever they may be able, and hope to find them."

Answer 8

I don't know about the UK, but most EU countries like France and Italy can't sustain economic growth without increasing their populations. Since the birthrate among native born Europeans is very low, they must depend on immigration, or fall behind economically.

Answer 9

The anti-immigrant bigots should stop lying to themselves. The like to point out how they are only against illegal immigrants, often capitalizing the word illegal for emphasis. But really, is their only problem with immigrants simply that they haven't filled out the correct paperwork? Give me a break.

The anti-immigration crowd is the modern day Nazi racists. Immigrants are being scapegoated in much the same way that the Nazis scapegoated the Jews. The purpose of fascism is to inflict the interests of the wealthy-elite upon the working class people. Propaganda, of course is a necessary tool. One of the things this propaganda attempts to do is to misdirect the public's anger away from the real cause of their problems (capitalism and the wealthy-elite) to an irrelevant entity. The Nazis used the Jews for this purpose while the modern day fascists are using immigrants.

Answer 10

I am an immigrant myself: I came to this country legally, worked here legally, paid my taxes, and after due time, applied for citizenship.
The debate in the U.S. is not about immigration but about illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants do cost the economy-wages are driven down because the illegals do work very cheap---and they do cost taxpayers billions because a lot of these people do end up in our emergency rooms when they get sick because they do not have healtcare. Also, their children, if they were not born in the USA do get an education which the illegal immigrants do not pay for--so that's the debate. The addition that terrorists can cross over into our country is simply paranoid because if the terrorists want to come in, they will find a way to do so, regardless of how tight our borders are.
The media here in the U.S. blows the entire issue out of proportion, and the legislation is trying to penalize illegal immigrants where they should penalize companies hiring illegal immigrants. I somply believe that after allowing illegal immigrants to work here for so many years it would be unfair to simply throw them out. They are here, they work hard for little money, they have children--a lot of them born in the U.S. that it is unreasonable to kick them out.

Since all groups of people have their share of crooks is it no argument for me that illegal immigrants are doing drug trafficking. There are a few crooks among them just as there are crooks among Americans, English, Germans, Koreans, Chinese--you name the nationality and they will have crooks--so that is no argument against immigration.

What I do not support is the notion of giving illegal immigrants residential status for free or to accommodate them with their language. When I came here I had to learn English, take all my tests in English and so forth. No one accomodated me by allowing me to take any test in my native language. I oppose this for the simple reason that when a person decides to immigrate to a foreign country this person must be willing to adapt to the culture, to learn the language, and to abide by the laws of the country of their choice. There is way too much accomodation for hispanics. They have to realize that it is wonderful to preserve the native language, but they are here, they need to learn English.
In addition to that did I have to put out quite a lot of money to get my immigration visa---and then later, more money to become a citizen.

It would be a huge loss in revenues to allow illegal immigrants legal status without any fees---or to give them citizenship without having to pay. If that's what the government going to do then I will sue to get my money back. If illegal immigrants do get a free citizenship document then each and every naturalized citizen should get re-imbursed for their expenses.

Since the citizenship application currently amounts to 800 dollars will you be able to imagine what a huge financial loss this would be for the government because the estimate is 13+ million illegal immigrants in this country. Not to talk about the loss in taxes. Like I said, I do support immigration, but with some stipulations. I simply oppose the fact that I go to WalMart and hear announcements in Spanish over the intercom, or that I call the bank and hear announcements in Spanish. I had no such accomodations, I had to learn English.