In three years of public commentary, we have never received so much and so heated a response as we did to our February 2008 column on immigration. In it, we asserted that deporting millions of people would be a managerial and humanitarian nightmare and said that other solutions we needed to integrate illegals into our society and culture.
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Reader Rants and Raves
► You characterize the illegal immigration debate as an economic issue and a matter of realistic response. While the issue certainly has economic impacts, it is first and foremost a legal issue. If we are to ignore the law on the basis it will benefit us financially, we cross a moral and ethical boundary. Economic benefit does not confer legality upon an illegal act.
The law must be upheld. If we allow individuals do decide what laws should be followed and what laws can be ignored, the law loses all effect. We live in a society where the laws are agreed upon in advance. If laws are unjust, America provides the ability to change them going forward, but the current law must be enforced for us to have any confidence in the processes that provide our safety and security.
— J.F.
► I read your standpoint on immigration and I agree a lot of people doing a lot of work that wouldn't get done. I also have read the replies that basically state USA for USA citizens only. My reply is the Mayflower must have held a lot more people than I thought.
— B.A.
► What is it about the word " illegal " that you do not understand? If you were to commit an "illegal act, I would guess that you would expect to be dealt with according to the law. However, when it comes to the liberal interpretation of the law, that doesn't matter. Selective application of the rule of law leads to a breakdown of order. However, legal citizens must obey our laws but illegal aliens get a free pass plus access to all this country has to offer for free. Just sneak into the country, evade the law, and reap the rewards. What other country in the world can you illegally enter and become a ward of the state? You are so insulated from the common person that your opinion makes no sense.
— Anonymous
► I totally disagree with your view. You need to be in the trenches to see the real damage being done to the very fabric of America with these invaders. They openly break our laws, send their children for free public education, get free medical treatment in emergency rooms, use every public program possible created for American citizens. In California, they get tuition breaks that my legal new resident son cannot get. In Utah, they get drivers licenses and then use them in other states to establish residency. Labor-intensive businesses are forcing experienced foremen out because they cannot speak Spanish to the illegal laborers! Enforce the laws, build the wall, send them back, and if they want to be citizens follow the established procedure. You are out of touch on this one.
— J.M.
► In reading your comments on immigration you said it better than any politician. In Orange County CA several years ago they stopped the picking of strawberry by Mexican immigrants. After 2 days they had to call the immigrants back. They are good for the economy but don't tell a politician. This does not seem to be a liberal or a conservative issue until they want something done. Then it's OK.
— Anonymous
► Thank God the vast majority of American patriots are not prepared to transfer their country and culture so that business can enjoy cheaper labor! I won't be happy until all 12 million Mexican criminals have been deported.
— J.C.
► Your immigration views are a mixture of sense and nonsense. You are right, we won't deport 12 million people. You are wrong that they are an asset to this country. We don't need millions of uneducated, non-English speaking immigrants. We could use lots more highly educated immigrants, who speak English, particularly those trained in math and science.
So what do we do with 12 million foreign workers who don't pay their way, entered by violating our laws (displacing those properly waiting), and generally don't want to assimilate? The answer is simple. Make the penalty for hiring an illegal so high that all their jobs disappear. When the jobs disappear so will the illegals. No need to deport anyone.
— J.S.
► I am in total agreement with you. These people that are fired up by the likes of Lou Dobbs are enough to make a person wonder about any government that responds to the common man's emotions. The founders actually were well aware of this danger and were careful to establish a republic.
What is a fact, as you stated, is we need these workers. We cannot build an iron curtain at our borders so what is necessary is to address the problem at the point of the employer. It's a myth that most of these people come here and take a free ride on our system, contributing nothing. Most employers would hire a U.S. citizen in preference to an immigrant but very few young Americans will accept either the hard, humiliating low-level jobs that are a necessary part of our economy. They are not taking the jobs that we see being cut by corporations. In fact, contrary to public opinion, most of these workers are very young men who do not plan to stay in this country.
Many have wives and children at home and send what they can save back to them. No doubt if our citizens really understood this problem in depth they would have a different opinion.
— V.V.
► So this is what globalization has wrought? Groups of people with common interests and worldviews are now powerless to sustain their values, perpetuate their way of life, affect their destiny? Hoards of economic refugees now determine the politics of a formerly sovereign nation?
It strikes me we have just taken a giant step backwards towards the jungle. Civilization is in retreat. And you hold this to be a good thing? It’s no wonder the email is running against your view.
— J.S.
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