Any idea what to do about it?

How will this immigration policy affect our quality of life?

The current meme/lie being passed around for all to take a puff is the argument that these illegal aliens do the jobs that other Americans won’t do. That corporate America is afraid that it won’t have enough workers to do these jobs. With unemployment in the African American community at more than 12 percent, and many of these jobs are not even offered to African Americans because they are not bilingual, the question begs, how is this immigration going to impact upon the already outrageous employment levels in the African American community.
We have not heard a whimper from the Congressional Black Caucus as a group on how these will impact the constitutents they say they represent. when an illegal alien is given a job over an African American even if that is the so-calleed low-paying job that in many academics and politicians is only a drop in the bucket, it has a chilling effect upon that African-American and his/her family and they pursuit of the American Dream, that these illegals are also trying to enjoy.
Being selfish you would ask yourself, how can you take care of somebody else, when you haven’t taken care of family first.
All this talk of caring, compassion and reunification of families should be looked at inwardly toward American citizens who have yet to be included in this dream of opportunity for all, the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Get real and tell the God’s honest truth!
Would Mexico accept African Americans, listen to their demands that their “rights” be honored, and allow them to emigrant if the roles were reversed? We know the answer to that.
Only when we sincerely confront the racism that is so systemic in corporate America will things change. This is being set up as an “us against them” with the bottom line being the almighty dollar for the few “winners.”
When will we learn?
Stop supporting an issue where we will not be the winners.

PS: I’m a progressive, not a conservative.

What’s even worse is how the child of color is being used to promote this clearly bigoted stance…

Don’t get me wrong – I believe in legal immigration – but you can discuss, debate and protest without resorting to base delineations of nationality and by implication race.

To much of the disucussion in this nation is stunted/prevented/polluted by purely racist arguments and bias.

http://wizbangblog.com/2007/05/19/if-the-law-is-a-ass-then-kiss-my-laws.php

J.

If you don’t know what it is, that’s not funny.

Haw! Translation anyone?

Take a moment and consider why anyone would want to immigrate to the U.S. from Mexico. Is it because life is so good here or so bad there or a mix of both? Is some half-assed effort to close the border going to improve conditions in Mexico? Is it even going to be possible to do such a thing while maintaining commercial access? What about NAFTA and the effect of massive agricultural subsidies on Mexican farmers? Illegal immigrants can hardly be said to be having a major impact on the majority of U.S. jobs. What about corporate outsourcing, with many companies not merely seeking cheap foreign labor, but lax foreign oversight as well, with many moving their company wholesale overseas to avoid U.S. taxes and laws? War profiteer Halliburton, anyone?

U.S. wages stagnant or losing ground to inflation? Blame the immigrants. Crime on the rise after years of decline? Blame the immigrants. Education and health care problems? Blame the immigrants.

See, it’s easy.

Of course, the ultimate irony comes from the pages of history. California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Texas were all Mexican territory once. Anyone remember just exactly how they came to be part of the U.S.?

In Florida, the Hispanics come in two varities: Puerto Ricans and Cubans. The Puerto Ricans are citizens. The Cubans are legal if they’re have “dry feet”.

Most of the outcry seems to be directed at Mexicans. (Ironically the complaints are loudest in those states that used to be Mexican territory.)

I don’t think either party is really interested in enforcement. The Dems don’t want to upset minorities, the Reps like the cheap labor.

What I don’t get is the republicans trying to paint it as a Democratic problem. From 9/12/01 to 2006 GWB had a blank check and a rubber stamp congress. If there was ever a time to secure the borders, that was it. That nothing was done is just another opportunity squandered.

The Bush Administration and the bosses, however, have a problem: they want a large pool of unorganized workers so they can drive down wages and benefits. Thus, they need to speak out of both sides of their mouths, and pass legislation that is basically feel-good nonsense (and, knowing the Bush Administration, includes a few kickbacks for their buddies thrown in good measure).

Meanwhile, the exploitation of American workers and immigrant workers continues, and the guys who are offering solutions are the guys who are causing the problem. A real solution, whatever it is, would start by punishing the guys who are profiting from this crass screwing of the general populaces of America and Mexico, but since they’re running the show and basically own both parties, that not only ain’t gonna happen, you can’t discuss it.

Because terrorists would never dream of coming to the US through Canada. Being unwhite and all, they would naturally come through a country of unwhites.

I think Iggy nailed the heart of the problem:

You can’t ignore your own laws for 25 years, while people come here, get jobs, raise families, buy property with no problem, and then suddenly turn around and put the hammer on them as though they were horrible criminals. They aren’t. Most of them are just trying to get a better life for themselves.

… You’re getting mad at the wrong people. These folks are being hired, not just privately as nannies, but by our most respected and utterly American corporations. Why the hell wouldn’t they think it was tacitly okay? Our finest citizens treat it like it’s okay.

Sure it’s amnesty. Sure no one will really be deported. This bill will fail to stop illegal immigration just like the bills in 1986 and 1965 failed to stop it. (By the way, that makes Ted Kennedy a 3 time loser on immigration reform.) But the last time we literally sent the National Guard down to guard the border and haul illegal immigrants back to Mexico was fifty years ago. These people are now a part of America. Some have been here for decades.

But I think this brings up an interesting question — should we have a different standard for those from Mexico who simply walk across the border than we do with those from, say, Yemen or Nigeria or Iran who entered our country on visas but now have expired visas or are otherwise here illegally?

Consider the mirror of the question, from the Democrats’ perspective: a) is absurd; b) if the Republicans are jingoistic, does that mean the Democrats are “un-American”, or c) Are the Democrats cynically political, who actually care nothing about Mexican immigrants?