What does immigration "amnesty" mean to you.

[Cant trust em]

I've talked to different people about this and I've gotten different responses as to what this means. I think that there's a possibility of a semantics argument going on here. Please respond what you think amnesty as a policy is, and if you support that idea.

Thanks.

[Bluebear]

1. Path to citizenship is what I would support.

Humane, without tearing families apart or sending people "back where they came from" as they go through the channels to citizenship.

[Cant trust em]

2. Your avatar is quite awesome.

Really really clever.

[Bluebear]

5. Totally stolen but it says it all :)

[Cant trust em]

8. That's fine. I'm going to steal it from you.

:)

[Unvanguard]

3. Legalization without any penalties.

Which is what I would support for all the people already here.

[Cant trust em]

9. Would it be acceptible to you to have them pay....

something equivalent to what other legal immigrants paid to get their visa or such document?

My goal in immigration reform is to not make it any harder or easier for people currently living here to gain citizenship than any other person who wishes to call this country home. If paying some kind of fees makes the process equal, then that is what I want.

[Jamastiene]

12. Fair enough.

That sounds fair enough.

[Unvanguard]

14. People who are already here deserve citizenship as a matter of right.

They already make up a part of our society: we have an obligation to give them equal rights to everyone else, as soon as possible and without conditions.

The way I see it is, it's too late to complain about the rules they broke: they're here now, most of them have been here for years, and to make them go through a complicated, penalty-heavy legalization process is just to perpetuate the inaccurate and unfair myth that they don't already in every material sense belong here just as much as anyone else. At this point, the failure is not on their part: the failure is on the part of the law, for not recognizing them.

I recognize, however, that this is an extreme minority view, so I am willing to support any form of immigration reform that legalizes the status of undocumented immigrants and gives them a path to citizenship.

[leftofcool]

4. I support a path to citizenship

Secure the borders, and those who are now here, make them get a legal social security card, pay taxes etc..., give them citizenship as long as they are not felons.

[The Northerner]

6. According to the right-wing, ANY pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants is labeled amnesty

[Uzybone]

7. Legal status for those who are in country at the time

basically an impossibility given the attitudes towards illegal immigrants on both the "left" and right.

[Caliman73]

10. Amnesty is a hot button term these days.

It has real legal meaning, which is to return a certain group of offenders of the law to a state of legal innocence. With regards to immigration it would mean allowing people who are in the country without proper documentation to be free of that charge in order for the to have an opportunity to apply for residence and citizenship without the charge of entering the country illegally barring them from doing so. To me, it does not mean that people who are here without documentation would get a free pass and become citizens automatically. That is what I think many people interpret "amnesty" to be. It is merely the setting aside of the civil infraction of entering illegally so that the path to legal residency and citizenship are not blocked. If an individual has been here working and staying clear of other involvement in the criminal justice system, then I support the policy of allowing them an opportunity to apply for legal citizenship.

[Jamastiene]

11. If they aren't breaking any laws (other than immigration laws only) and they are productive

non-citizens, I see no reason to deny them a path to citizenship. Half the reason half of them are here illegally is because of how hard it is to come here legally. Give them a fighting chance. Hate me for that opinion if you (that's a generally speaking you, not the OP directly) will, but I just feel they are people who want a fighting chance in life.

[jmowreader]

13. Oh, you mean the Meat Packers and Lettuce Growers Civil Relief Act?

Where, instead of going to Smithfield Foods in Tar Heel and all the lettuce farms in California and arresting the HR people who can't figure out how to check Mexicans for legal status, they legalize the illegals who are already here.

Here's the thing: There is NO fucking way we are ever going to solve the illegal immigration problem without jailing some employers and accepting that food is going to get more expensive, because the reality of the situation is, illegals can get jobs in no-profit industries like agriculture because they'll take less than minimum wage. It costs a farmer three years' profit to plant this year's crop, and he needs a LOT of workers to tend and harvest what he grows. (Go to a produce department and look at all the pretty veggies and fruits. Someone had to put his hand on each one of those and cut them off the plant.) About the only way he can economize is to cut down on labor expenses. He can't just hire fewer people because fruits and vegetables have to be harvested quickly before they rot in the field. Therefore, he's got to get people who work for less than minimum wage--and if they're in the US legally they can't do it. But if they're undocumented he can cook the books to make it look like he's employing fewer people than he is.

If you can deal with food getting 50 percent more expensive, at minimum, we can deal with solving the illegal immigration problem. (And imagine what Walmart would do if you told them that! Fucking Bentonville would commit corporate seppuku over the notion they had to have mass Rollforwards in the grocery department--if a price cut is a Rollback, a price increase has GOT to be a Rollforward.) Until that happens, forget it.

[The Straight Story]

15. That using the system is not a reward, circumventing it gets you the best results (nt)

[William Z. Foster]

18. or...

...that the system is the problem.

[petronius]

16. Without reading other posts, I think it means granting permanent residency status

to people who are currently in the country without authorization.

[IndianaJoe]

17. It's a Lou Dobbs word used to label and then kill reform n/t

[TransitJohn]

19. What it really means

is that Capital gets amnesty by no prosecutions or fines to them, and they get to legitimize their peonage.