All of which raises the larger question of addressing the unofficial economy of illegal migrant workers in the first place. Any opinions on Bush's proposal to legalize "guest workers" in order to enable taxation of those wages and money being sent back to Mexico? The fact that most jobs done by migrant workers are below the skill and wage level acceptable to American workers makes it undesirable to just halt this practice altogether.

One other note...I would bet that if you looked at the number of lazy welfare recipients not even trying to work in America, the vast majority of them are legal US citizens, not illegal immigrants.

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I agree with this statement. Most people on welfare are legal residents. I am not sure, but I would hope that legal residency is a requirement for welfare, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is not.

Immigration is very important. The U.S. economy could not grow at 4-5% a year without it. It is also true that illegal and new legal immigrants do the work most Americans will not. This has been true for the past 200 years and is nothing new. New European immigrants slaved in the factories and the Chinese built the railroad system in America. Asian and Hispanics are simply replacing the Europeans as the new immigrants. There are a few main differences though. Much of the new immigration comes from Mexico and comes from land across our border. Immigration before was much more difficult as people had to take a several week-long long voyage from Europe by boat. Today, they simply take a 1 hour drive or a few days hike.

The second difference is the European standard of living in the 18th and 19th century was not so much lower than America's. Today, the Mexican standard of living is a fraction of Americas. So, people are coming for financial reasons today, in the past most came for religious reasons.

The third reason, which is much like the first, is the distance. If you came to Europe by boat, it was not easy to go back home. Today, you can work in America by day and sleep in Mexico by night. There is very little from keeping you from going home. In the 18th and 19th century, people used their life savings to come to America and it was most likely a one way ticket.

I am not saying the immigrants of old are better than the immigrants of today. I believe they both want to do well for themselves and their family.

Mike

I'd have to disagree with your second difference Mike. The original colonists may have come over for religious reasons, but I don't really count them as immigrants. If you look at European immigrants in the 19th and early 20th centuries, there was plenty of poverty to go around and they came to the US for economic reasons. You'd be right about the disparity between the US and Mexico economically though. That and the proximity of Mexico to the US certainly has spurred an explosion of Mexican immigrants.

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Sure, I agree. I think there were some financial incentives for Europeans to come to America. Many got free land to move out west. But the standard of living in Europe and America was not much different. I would say their may have been a bigger class difference in Europe, but you were just as likely to make the same money. There was obviously more opportunity in America, but most people did not triple their standard of living by going to America. I still feel religion was a large part of the incentives. I don’t think there are many in Mexico or Africa that come to America for religious reasons.

Today, someone can come from the Mexico, China, or Africa and triple their standard of living by becoming a dishwasher in a restaurant or picking fruit in California. This gives them a chance to live in a spacious house by their standards, own a cell phone and drive a decent car, unheard of in many parts of their home country. Also, there is not the great medical care, welfare, food stamps and other services to be found in their home country.

Again, I am for immigration, I am just against my tax money going to people abusing the system. America can only remain strong and grow with the large numbers of immigrants. This is especially true are Americans are not having as many kids.

The dream of America is a great thing. People can come to America with almost nothing and work hard so their children can have a bright future. I think we all know college educated children of 1st generation immigrants. These are the people that contribute to keeping America strong and a great place to live. I am also against restricting access to good intentioned people.

As far as this bill, I don't like the idea of pregnant women resorting to 3 days in the desert so their child can be a U.S. citizen. There has to be a better way.

I am also sorry to say, America is not for everyone. We can simply open to border and air service and say, "come on over, there are no restrictions." Our country would be flooded and bankrupt within a year. There has to be limits. This is the same problem South Korea faces if the North decides to reunify. South Korea can't just let all 22 million North Koreans flood Seoul because flooding Seoul is exactly what will happen.

Mike

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Considering the "Walfare State" Didnt start until the latter part of the 20th century, there was no welfare during the mass migrations from Europe", I would have to say that the main driving force behind the new imigration trend is free money. 60 Minutes did a piece a few years ago where a Post Office in southern Texas (Hell Yeah!) had nearly 5,000 box numbers but only 2,000 residents the rest were believed to be assigned to people living south of the border who used the post office boxes to collect "wellfare checks" the post office posted some 1,000 to 2,000 a month. I have not done any research to follow up this information but I would bet it is still happening. Just last week there were 49 people Indicted (sp) for scamming money from the Katrina relief fund. Where ever there is money the scum will follow.....

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