"return every single illegal entrant, no exceptions"

[Pinguin]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 8:44pm

I don't think a thread has been posted on this comment yet...

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/10/18/051018154752.u9fj2ynj.html

"Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said his department aims without exception to expel all those who enter the United States illegally.

'Our goal at DHS (Homeland Security) is to completely eliminate the "catch and release" enforcement problem, and return every single illegal entrant, no exceptions.

'It should be possible to achieve significant and measurable progress to this end in less than a year,' Chertoff told a Senate hearing."

Do we believe him?

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 9:03pm

Do you think this guy has ever been to NYC?

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 9:06pm

Aww. You know, the issue with illegal immigrants has always been a political opinion I have never been able to conclude for myself. On one hand, it is true our population is increasing and if it continues largely there won't be alot of space to..move in I guess. But just thinking about why people may be illegal aliens..sure some may be drug smugglers..actually we watched a movie about that in Spanish class. But others, especially in the South American case, are people simply trying to make a better life. I'm not saying all of them are, it is true many could be just taking advantage of the barrier but.... ahh I dunno I'll always be torn on this.

[Plum]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 10:49pm

What's bull**** is that we keep putting the immigrants through hell (and no, that's not an exaggeration to anyone who's heard of what goes on at INS detention facilities), but I never hear about businesses being punished for employing illegals. So it's okay to use them as our landscapers and busboys, but we don't actually want them to exist as full citizens. Gee, that sounds familiar. I wonder what kind of historical precedent we have for that?

[Pinguin]

Posted: 10/19/05 at 12:07am

The whole illegal immigration issue just seems so ridiculous, because it should be so clear cut. If a company is employing illegals, they're breaking the law. If an illegal immigrant is found here, we should send them back, especially the immigrants who commit crimes (and believe me, many of them are NOT sent back, as the article sort of starts to point out).

You'd think SOMEONE would care enough to do these things. You know, in the name of HOMELAND SECURITY.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 10/19/05 at 12:12am

Immigrants are humans not cattle!

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 10/19/05 at 12:17am

Oh no, as someone who just left a corporate job that got smacked with TONS of fines for employing illegals with falsified documents, I can tell you first had, they punish the employers. I guess they target the companies and not Buffy and Trevor.

[Pinguin]

Posted: 10/19/05 at 12:20am

HAHA, Buffy?

Posted: 10/19/05 at 12:51am

Anyone who eats at a restaurant in this country and supports this line of thinking is an absolute idiot.

I cannot believe that a nation comprised of the descendants of immigrants would allow this type of thinking. Of course, I don't really consider it an actual line of thinking, so much as a paranoid knee-jerk reaction to the pile of bull-**** that they're fed through their precious media outlets.

If this supposedly 'great nation' could breed and develop the type of populace that could actually take care of itself, then perhaps the ones who are wiping its collective ass could be considered expendable. Until that time - which is a fantastical hope, considering the extraordinary laziness and sense of entitlement that we tend to breed - I think they need to shut up and tip better.

[Pinguin]

Posted: 10/19/05 at 12:56am

So you think that the fact that our borders aren't secure and that we don't know who's living in and coming into our country is not a big deal?

Posted: 10/19/05 at 1:04am

Secure from what, Pinguin? Poor Mexican families trying to survive, or adventuresome Canadians who want to sell their souls and participate in our capitalistic nightmare?

There may be some undesireables on this planet - who probably shouldn't be welcome anywhere, including here - but to make a blanket statement that you're going to expell all illegals is tantamount to re-creating the red-scare of the 50's. Which really isn't surprising, considering they have tried to recreate everything else from that repressive, judgemental and restrictive era.

[Pinguin]

Posted: 10/19/05 at 1:15am

Well, when Bush announced the possibility of a guest worker program the activity around the border spiked -giving people from Mexico or wherever incentive to come here incites them to cross the border, which is DANGEROUS for them and really not good for anybody except people who want cheap labor.

And the safety issue applies to the idea that foreign terrorists groups or other dangerous criminals could possibily (some think already have) come into the country undocumented by exploiting our insecure borders, which I feel is a legitimate concern. Plus, living in a town close to the border is perilous, considering the looting, etc. that has been occurring down there lately. Remember that Bill Richardson had to put New Mexico in a state of emergency because of all the havoc that the illegal crossing was causing.

Posted: 10/19/05 at 1:24am

I would say that at least some of the havoc was caused by 'good solid Americans' who felt empowered to go out and stop this threatening hoard with their own govenment sanctioned arsenal.

Just to be clear, do I think that there aren't dangers caused by certain individuals that need to be guarded against? No. But I really don't think that the blanket mentality of 'anyone who isn't one of us is against us' is the answer.

[zzannahk]

Posted: 10/19/05 at 1:38am

to be crass and quote stephen lynch:

If I could be a superhero
I'd be Immigration dude
I’d send all the foreigners back to their homes
For eating up all of our food
And taking our welfare and best jobs to boot
Like landscaping, dishwashing, picking our fruit
I’d pass a lot of laws to get rid of their brood
‘Cause I’d be Immigration Dude

let's face it we need illegal immigrants to do the jobs that most Americans think they're too good to do

[Pinguin]

Posted: 10/19/05 at 1:42am

I mean, I understand that argument...but those jobs weren't always done by illegal immigrants, and in parts of the country that aren't as hit by illegal aliens, those jobs ARE done by citizens.

The stereotype has not always been the "Mexican housekeeper," so it seems a little silly to me to claim that "Americans" won't do those jobs, because they certainly used to.

Posted: 10/19/05 at 1:46am

Pinguin - my question is, "What differentiates the illegal Mexican housekeeper from the American citizen one except for place of birth?" And what makes that an acceptable distinction to play puppetmaster with their lives?

[Pinguin]

Posted: 10/19/05 at 2:04am

To me, what differentiates the two is that the citizen pays taxes and has identification that can be verified. The idea of citizenship keeps a country afloat -without it, there's chaos.

Why even have different countries if we don't have citizens? People can just float from place to place, doing who knows what who knows where.

**edit**

Also, if you think about it, we as people give up certain freedoms to the government (like...the freedom to do whatever we want) in exchange for protections. Following laws, paying taxes etc. are things that we do in exchange for the structure of government. Citizenship is FUNDEMENTAL to that.

Updated On: 10/19/05 at 02:04 AM

Posted: 10/19/05 at 2:18am

Pinguin - you have definitely hit upon a distinction that we don't share. You ask why we have different countries, and I really have no answer. I tend to veiw the world as one. While others draw boundaries based on location and land ownership - fueled by religion based ideologies - I see everything belonging to everyone. And I really do think the answer lies in finding our commonalities, not enforcing the arbitrary and pointless idiosyncratic distinctions between us.

[Pinguin]

Posted: 10/19/05 at 2:20am

How romantic of you :0)

Posted: 10/19/05 at 2:21am

Well, pinguin, someone's got to dream big, dont you think?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/19/05 at 9:55am

"Also, if you think about it, we as people give up certain freedoms to the government (like...the freedom to do whatever we want) in exchange for protections. Following laws, paying taxes etc. are things that we do in exchange for the structure of government."

Tell that to the people of New Orleans. Tell that to the people who didn't get their flu shots last year. Tell that to the people who might need Tamiflu if god forbid the avian bird flu becomes transmissable between humans.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/19/05 at 10:15am

The immigration issue is the Republican's last worst hope.

They have lost the enthusiasm of many of the most bigoted heartland conservatives from the midwest and west, who have been saying for years that Bush was too "soft" on immigrants--mostly directing that venom toward Mexicans.

The Republicans are torn--they know they need more Spanish-speaking conservative Catholic voters in places like South Florida in order to defeat the Democrats, but the more they cater to Latinos, the more they alienate these white bigots, whom they also need.

So this move is clearly a desperate ploy to rally the "white folk"--on the eve of the Bush administration being indicted the most crooked and more corrupt presidency in history.

[lildogs]

Posted: 10/19/05 at 11:30am

It' easy to get caught up in the fear and hysteria about terrorism and let uncertainty and paranoia dictate our behavior. I'm concerned that people who wish to harm the US and its citizens are in the country illegally but they could just as easily be citizens. Timothy McVeigh was a citizen as well...

I personally favor the McCain-Kennedy proposal to grant work visas for 5 (might be six) years and then those people can choose to leave or apply for full citizenship. This seems to be a fair and equitable solution to both assimilate those who wish to work and live in our country and those who want to protect our borders and restrict immigration.