What's YOUR priority in addressing the illegal immigration problem?

[TahitiNut]

Poll question: What's YOUR priority in addressing the illegal immigration problem?

"Congress is working toward passage of a new round of immigration reforms. What do you think the top immigration reform priority should be?"

This is a poll on the 'ClickOnDetroit" website at http://www.clickondetroit.com/politics/9124553/detail.html

Interestingly ( :eyes: ), the results are currently ...

Choice Votes Percentage of 58236 Votes
Tighten border security. 10099 17%
Deport everyone who lives and works in the country illegally. 26510 46%
Toughen penalties for employers who hire undocumented workers. 9588 16%
Offer a program for willing workers and employers. 12039 21%

[Selatius]

1. THE FUCKING BORDER!

You can't have a FUNCTIONING IMMIGRATION POLICY if you can't even police your damn borders! Get border security, airport security, and seaport security in place, and THEN address the issue of immigration! This is perhaps the most pragmatic first step towards solving the problem there is, and it's a whole hell of a lot more sensible than turning the US into a police state to deport 12,000,000 people before you even bother trying to secure the border. All that does is set up a cycle where they get tossed back to their home countries only to find their way back in through the gaping holes. That's stupidity.

[havocmom]

7. If you SERIOUSLY bust the chops of illegal EMPLOYERS

there will not be such a stampede to the jobs they offer, as exploitive as many are.

Easier to round up a few fat cats who prey on the desperate and make good, solid examples of them in the courts. More cost effective and gets closer to part of the root problem.

Then work on the borders, when the traffic dies down a bit.

[Selatius]

12. Why not do both?

I don't see how securing the border is mutually exclusive with the notion of crushing the exploitative practice of knowingly hiring illegal aliens in a concerted campaign to depress wages. In fact, if you do both, you tackle the problem both from a supply and from a demand perspective.

[havocmom]

30. Didn't I say do both?

Just put a priority on busting illegal EMPLOYERS first. That will make the second tack a bit easier as traffic will slow down if there aren't exploitive employers waiting.

[TahitiNut]

15. It comforts me to see a DUer I admire say things I agree with.

It's so much easier for me to admire you. :dunce: :silly: :hi:

[havocmom]

31. Thank you for that, TahitiNut

Have to admit, I could use a bit of friendly about now

:hi: you big ol silly, logical, fairminded rascal you.

[sutz12]

2. How about "Work on something that really matters?"

From all of the hoopla, you'd think they all just came across the border last week.

We've been living with this for 40 years. Are we really going to fix it next week? I don't think so.

[VirtualChicano]

3. Good Luck

Trying to deport 200+ million pilgrims back to Eurpoe.

but what the hell, count me in DEPORT'EM!

[HereSince1628]

6. Ah! The ironic ring of post-colonial deconstructionism!

[Solon]

4. Short term or long term?

See that's the problem all those choices are bad policies if taken by themselves, and without a long term stragedy, so think of something else, please.

[bluedog]

5. Use the same Immigration policy MEXICO has:

_ Foreigners are admitted into Mexico "according to their possibilities of contributing to national progress." (Article 32)

_ Immigration officials must "ensure (that) immigrants will be useful elements for the country and that they have the necessary funds for their sustenance" and that of their dependents. (Article 34)

_ Foreigners may be barred from the country if their presence has upset "the equilibrium of the national demographics," if they are deemed detrimental to "economic or national interests," if they are not good citizens in their own country, if they have broken Mexican laws, or if "they are not found to be physically or mentally healthy." (Article 37)

_ The secretary of governance may "suspend or prohibit the admission of foreigners when he determines it to be in the national interest." (Article 38)

Mexican authorities keep track of every person in the country:

_ Federal, local and municipal police must cooperate with federal immigration authorities upon request: i.e., help in the arrest of illegal immigrants. (Article 73)

_ A National Population Registry tracks every "individual who comprises (sic) the population of the country," verifying each individual's identity. (Articles 85 and 86)

_ A national Catalogue of Foreigners tracks foreign tourists and immigrants (Article 87), assigning each a tracking number. (Article 91)

Foreigners with fake papers or who enter the country under false pretenses may be imprisoned:

_ Foreigners with fake immigration papers may be fined or imprisoned.

more:http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=MEXICO-04-24-06

[Burning Water]

20. Now THAT is

not progressive. ;-)

[AndyTiedye]

8. Toughen Penalties Against Employers Who VIOLATE LABOR LAWS

[BOSSHOG]

9. Exposing the "conservative" effort to make this an issue

American businessmen are hiring these people to work and giving them an impetus to cross the border ergo, why don't "conservatives" flock to the fields and pick lettuce to take away that impetus? May I suggest because "conservatives" are not solution oriented.

Hate Liberals. Hate Gays. Hate Immigrants. "Conservative" values in a nutshell.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. Getting them to vote democratic.

At least that's mine.

[NNN0LHI]

11. No deportations. No programs. No second class citizens. They are here.

You make them full American citizens. End of story.

Don

[TahitiNut]

25. What about the next 50 million? And the next?

Hell ... what about 1 billion people even worse off? :eyes:

Yeah ... the hell with people who've been waiting 10, 15, or 20 years.

[LSdemocrat]

13. Other: Reform and streamline the legal immigration process

People come illegally because it's almost impossible for the working poor to come legally. The experiences of the past years have shown that the country can handle large levels of immigration, so lets raise the legal immigration levels to a more sensible level and streamline the process to make legal immigration a real possibility for people.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. Fair wages

[warrens]

16. Fine the employers

Anyone whose business plan is to pay illegals low wages to make increased profits is a criminal. It's no secret that if you show up at a chicken slaughter plant with anything that looks remotely like real ID, you will be hired instantly. For about $5 an hour.

[TahitiNut]

26. There are 3,000 (corporate) employers ...

... with more than 200 unanswered "warn" letters in a single year. These letters are generated by the Social Security Adminstration when the identity (name, etc.) provided with a SSN doesn't match, which is the typical problem with illegal immigrants using fake SSN's.

As far as I'm concerned, the executives of such corporations belong in jail. Period.

[Burning Water]

17. Border first, then

without the constant pressure of people pouring in hoping for an amnesty, or whatever, the other issues can be addressed in a rational and non-emotional manner.

But we must do what is best for America, not Mexico, or any other country.

[chicofaraby]

18. None of the above

I think we need to decriminalize immigration and concentrate the law enforcement on stopping actual criminals from crossing borders.

The immigration laws are as pathetically unenforceable as the drug laws and for the same reasons. There is no need to criminalize millions of people who are trying to succeed in America. We COULD try and help the economies of the rest of the continent to improve and their economies to strengthen. That would take some of the shine of the idea of emigrating from their homes in the first place.

As for the effect of immigration on the USA, I love my hometown of Austin Texas and it's mix of cultures. If immigration leads to more cultures from wherever, I say bring it on.

And frankly, the kind of family that will walk from Guatemala to make a better life in the USA is the kind of family I want to live next door to me. I want them to succeed as Americans. I want them to bring innovation and change. They are one of our historical strengths. We should encourage them, not make them criminals.

[Minnesota Libra]

19. How about all the above in just that order - tighten border security......

.....first and then go for all the rest. There would be no more illegal alien issue.

[slackmaster]

21. Fully adopting and embracing the Metric System

We're way behind the curve.

[BooScout]

22. I have no priority.....

The Immigration Issue is a BIG FAT SMOKESCREEN and it's purpose is to divide and to distract. I am freaking sick to death of the entire nation up in arms over a Bush ploy to get our attention off of other things.

Don't get me wrong, I do think Immigration in America needs to be addressed....but there are other things I feel are far more pressing. The whole fucking Immigration system is broken and has been for quite some time. I should know. I had to damn well deal with the INS for years while my husband went thru the system legally and let me tell you it wasn't easy. It was degrading. It was slow. It was a bureaucratic nightmare, it was expensive and it was patently unfair and mostly a bunch of total bullshit. Laws aren't enforced that are on the books now....and when they are enforced, the INS cherry picks exactly what it wants to do about enforcement. I see no reason to pass a bunch more laws that won't be able to be enforced any more than the current ones.

I am much more concerned with other issues. I want the Patriot Act repealed. I want the war in Iraq to end and I want the poor people of Iraq to have a chance at survival despite what we have done to their country. I want a diplomatic solution to Iran. I want a diplomatic solution to the Israel/Palestine issue. I want Democrats in Congress to get up off their asses and out from behind their momma's skirts and to start getting some backbone in leading this country out of this god forsaken mess that the Republicans and Bush have gotten us into. I want someone to fucking lead the country in doing what is right for a change. I am tired of responding to Republican nasty politics. I want the Democratic Party to define just what the hell it stands for and then fight tooth and nail to make it happen.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

23. I'll stick with Emma Lazarus' priority.

[retread]

24. My priority would be to strengthen unions! n/t

[tjwash]

27. How about making Mexico responsible for it's people crossing over?

Mexico benefits immensely from illegal immigration, by having 11 million of their poorest citizens here so they don't have to worry about them, and they also get to put the U.S Dollars that the migrant workers send back there into their economy as well.

Would you want to do anything about it if you were in their shoes? Or would you covertly encourage them to come up the border to the U.S.?

[TahitiNut]

28. Strangely enough, Vincente Fox made a campaign promise to ...

... 'influence' the US to grant amnesty to Mexican citizens illegally residing and working in the US - an amnesty which would permit them to continue living and working in the US rather than being returned to Mexico and prohibited from emigrating to the US. I personally regard that as bizarre - almost Orwellian. Rather than hold his feet to the fire to dramatically improve the equity of the economic system in a country that exports both oil and labor, he's expected to make it easier for his own citizens, his own electorate, leave? That's fucking insane!

[hunter]

29. Mexico and the U.S. are two cripples holding one another up.

If one falls, so will the other.

First thing to do is to end corruption in both countries. Both countries are most certainly corrupt, each in its own way.

End the corruption in both countries and living standards for workers in both nations will improve, reducing the pressures on the border.