Ashamed of how illegal immigrants are handled
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Patti Huber
Published: April 7, 2008
I am a concerned parent and citizen of the U.S. I am ashamed of how Prince William County and INS have chosen to handle illegal immigrants — asking for papers like they are dogs and then shipping them off if they do not have the right ones.
Why doesn’t the government be productive. Offer work papers for those that are here and not breaking the law.
Allow them to come in and take photos and get fingerprints and run back ground checks and then allow them to work and pay taxes and remain with their families. Wise up guys ... this is going to back fire.
PATTI HUBER
Spotsylvania
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Posted by ( barnun ) on April 10, 2008 at 9:38 am
MikeG, great points. Slavery dates back to early recorded history of pretty much all civilizations. mexico was conquered by the spanish, not the US. We did fight a war with Mexico once and won. we let them keep their country, and it’s a beautiful country. Illegals are not just mexicans. What if we allow 10 milliion russians, 10 million chinese, 5 million Koreans and for now, lets throw in 3 million french. They all come within a 5 yr time frame, Most are from the countries poorer areas, most have little to no job skills that apply in the US, most show up with no money looking for free healthcare, welfare etc. At this point that would only be fair, right ? But we’ve now still excluded so many other countries ... This is why we have immigration laws that are supposed to allow a limited number of applicants from all countries through a fair and legal process
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Posted by ( MikeG ) on April 10, 2008 at 6:48 am
Gee, PhDee, sounds sort of like the Spanish, French and Portuguese invasions of North, Central and South America, don’t you think? Contrary to what you want to believe, the “Indians” are only considered the original owners of the Americas because they didn’t have to take it away from anyone, which they probably would have done if they had had to when they arrived here over the land bridge from the Asian continent (or so the theory goes). The first Europeans to arrive in North America in the 15th century were not “illegal” since such a concept did not exist then to describe exploration and settlement of “unclaimed” lands, an activity that was going on all over the globe, not just here. Pity the poor Indians, throughout the Americas, who could not stand up to the pressures of outsiders taking over their lands, with all the effects such occupation had on the “firsters.“ But that was life and reality then, and this is now, and in spite of your wishing to equate the now with the then, it just doesn’t wash. Such arguments lack true logic. It’s just as meaningless in my book as the argument that some of our nation’s African Americans have put forward regarding apologies and reparations for slavery. Slavery is a horrible thing, and a terrible black mark on our national history—just as it is on most of the societies throughout Central and South America as well, including the Indian cultures who almost universally enslaved and murdered their conquered Indian neighbors. I feel no responsibility or guilt for what my and your ancestors did hundreds of years ago, nor do I feel the need to apologize for being a legal citizen of this country – no matter what the circumstances were at the time of its founding.
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Posted by ( barnun ) on April 09, 2008 at 9:00 pm
phdee is just bitter and hates everything in every article. I guess illegals have internet access ? the indians fought to keep us out and lost by force. it’s history. There were also many americans killed by americans. The irish and italians were treated poorly at one point. the japanese americans were treated poorly during wwII. this in no way justifies allowing millions of people to come and break our current laws.
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Posted by ( phdee ) on April 09, 2008 at 4:13 pm
The Indians were the original “owners” of this country, until invaded by illegal immigrants mostly from Europe. These illegals had no papers/documents, and there was no legal basis to “claim” the land. These illegals just took over, did not assimilate into Indian culture or even try, thought they owned the place, introduced disease including sexual, whiskey, and religion, introduced slavery (cheap labor), carried out a holocast against the Indians, set up their own govt (excluded the natives), relocated the Indians off their own lands, and brought a wave of additional illegal immigrants into the lands, and eventually fought the original natives. (What right did they have to their own land after all?) These illegal immigrants did not try to learn the Indians’ languages. They bred lots of “anchor babies” to claim “citizenship”. Killings in the name of the Lord were common. Founding fathers like hypocrite Geo. Mason wrote beautiful words of “equality” - but kept slaves - for cheap labor and profits. And we fought a delicious and juicy civil war over slavery and its economics.
Does this sound similar to what the anti-immigrant crowd is yelping about today? Actually, wqhen you get down to the nitty gritty most of the “citizens” today are themselves illegal immigrants and anchor babies. What then is the difference between these “citizens” today and the so-called “ illegal immigrants” of today? Sure looks like, to me, a modern day repeat.
“Son, Take a look around, this is your hometown”. - Bruce Springsteen
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Posted by ( barnun ) on April 09, 2008 at 1:34 pm
The article states “Offer work papers for those that are here and not breaking the law.“ If they are here, they’re already breaking several laws. If the US government had been enforcing the laws, we wouldn’t be spending the extra billions and billions on the existing problem. the Anchor baby rule needs to go away, especially when not conceived in our country and by 2 parents that are not legal in our country. Legal status for the child is a reward to the parent for breaking our laws. Lets put all of this in perspective. how about if the cops start paying us for speeding ? What happens to the roads ? What happens to the police budget ?
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Posted by ( raywilliams ) on April 09, 2008 at 1:20 pm
MikeG, that is what this debate is all about. It can’t be the ‘throw them all in jail’ that some advocate, and it can’t be ‘ignore the problem and it will go away’ position others take. There has to be an open, non-hostile dialoge to reach some middle ground of acceptable action the UNITED WE can take to our elected officals and hold their toes to the fire. All sides have to be examined: logisists, tax impact, funding source, security etc. But extreme positions do little but delay any real action from happening.
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Posted by ( MikeG ) on April 09, 2008 at 11:52 am
“Until that border is sealed, all other efforts are like spitting into the wind.
That is why I support stop-gap measures of documentation of those here for
security and tax accountability.“
While I can agree with most of this post, I part company with you when you apparently advocate our just throwing up our hands because the US Government isn’t doing their bit, and just issue everyone green cards. Where will that end? The answer is NEVER! By continuing to push the initiative in PWC, we are garnering national attention, and thereby Federal Government attention. The issues surrounding the Fed’s failures to seal our borders and enforce laws already on the books has long been a political hot potato to Congress. We and other localities that have begun to take matters into their own hands are trying to get the federal government to live up to their responsibilities the only way they can—by applying pressure through initiatives such as this and through publicity and constant calls to members of Congress. I for one want the pressure to continue, and I refuse to just throw up my hands and capitulate merely because the problems seems to be too big for some to get their heads around. You have to start somewhere, and I think PWC and other state and national localities that have taken up this initiative are doing whaqt they have to do. On, On!!
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Posted by ( Mike ) on April 09, 2008 at 11:41 am
Ms. Huber - I’d just like to point out that illegal aliens are economically viable because they are illegal. They fill a need for black market labor. Giving them “papers” will only make them unemployed and open the market to millions of new illegals crossing the boarder to fill the void.
If you want to fix the problem, secure the border and prosecute businesses that use black market labor.
Since the federal govt. has chosen to ignore the problem, citizens of PWC are doing what they can to ensure PWC is no longer hospitable to black market labor.
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Posted by ( raywilliams ) on April 09, 2008 at 10:38 am
T Dawg, I think you’ll agree there are limited dollars available to the federal government. Those dollars have to be divvied up amongst programs. More dollars going to <insert bad program here> mean less dollars available for <insert good program here>. Billions spent on Iraq are not available for our own border security. It’s a matter of what cause the People want most.
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Posted by ( raywilliams ) on April 09, 2008 at 10:29 am
cobra, all this will not be fixed with one small effort such as the PWC initative. This is a ‘feel good’ effort to calm some residents but it’s like bailing out a boat with a teaspoon. There are hundreds, if not thousands of policies and enforcements that need to be done simultaneously to have a real effort on the illegal population. Quicker than PWC can ship out 34 arrested to ICE, 34 more have entered PWC. It all starts with funding and a committment to SEAL the border from the US Government. Until that border is sealed, all other efforts are like spitting into the wind. That is why I support stop-gap measures of documentation of those here for security and tax accountability.
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