Okay I'm Really Offended By This~~Illegal Immigrants

Pye - I am absolutely with you!!! My kids are part Mexican through their dad who also has a bit of Native American (either Navajo or Apache - haven't yet learned) and, according to my former mother-in-law, a stray Dutchman a few generations back. My background is very much like your other parts - no Spanish, but French, Irish, Scottish, English, German, Finish, Swedish (by way of the Dutch), and other parts unknown as yet. I easily get riled at the assumption that all Mexicans are illegals when my ex's family has never left their country of origin - only the boundaries changed when we conquered Mexico City in 1848 and demanded ownership of our current Southwest. What WAS Mexico became the USA. Yet, my mother-in-law spoke no English because they simply weren't integrated into the "conquering" group. I am also offended at the erroneous assumption that illegals pay no taxes. WRONG! (Not counting those who are paid under the table by illegal employers who are ALSO violating the law - so where's their punishment?) Having worked for the IRS for 6+ years gave me a perspective on taxes paid by a variety of people. Illegals who do not have legitimate Social Security numbers, but who get jobs with employers who don't know their documents are fake, do pay taxes!! Their employer is required by law to withhold taxes from their pay. The illegal simply can't file to get a refund because their Social Security number isn't valid. It will match another person's record and until it is corrected, no refunds will be issued on the bad number!! So....that money is in the general fund and actually BENEFITS the US Treasury!! So much for the "they don't pay taxes" argument. Are there people who are scamming? You bet - and the vast majority of them are CITIZENS!! That doesn't mean our borders should be open, but it does mean that we should be taking another look at how we are reacting and analyze it. Do we really think these people are taking our jobs when they mow our lawns and clean hotel rooms and casinos? (Yes - that's a generality, but it is largely true in my area.) Or are we just afraid of a group whose physical characteristics aren't like the WASPs we are used to? The hate and bigotry needs to stop. The Xenophobia needs to stop. We are dividing ourselves into oblivion.

I got that email so many times in my personal email that it is sickening, I do not like it nor do I think it is funny. American and CAnada were created and we were all immigrants from Europe plan and simply.

I agree with you but all peoples that came thru Elis Island have been made legal. And no I didnt know that all Irish people arent legal how they get here if not legal had to have a green card yes? ANd yes I know alot of spanish speaking people didnt come just from Mexico for I worked with people from Brazil ,Hondurus ,Chile and other part of Central and south america . The ones that didnt have thier green card got sent back. ANd it goes for all illegals I get tired of them getting the benifits that I cant if someting should happen that I would need help as I was born here they dont want you to get any help what so ever if you are born in America but had it to the ones not here legal!

While it is true that there are many people here illegally - and not just mexicans - and they do have more benefits than I do at times, we tend to forget that we were at one time the "illegals". Yes, things have changed since we've taken over and we've set down rules and ways of implimenting them. But the truth remains that we don't like them here any more than the original Americans liked us being here. I personally think that since we have set up here and have been running this country for the past couple hundred years, our laws should be abided by and those seeking the benefits our country has to offer should do so legally - or be thrown out. We are the ones that are tolerating this. We are the ones that are hiring these people illegally to save ourselves a buck. Until WE stop letting them stay and take advantage of our system, they won't go away.

I am offended by your statement as considering yourself a native American if you are also German, Dutch, French, Spanish, Irish, Welsh, English and Scottish. If you are not pure Indian... you are not native American. We have the same thing going on in Australia. The most vocal people about Aborigines rights... are those Aborigines cross bred with Europeens. The fact of the matter is that we live in the present... not the past. When you open the door to illegal immigrants... you might as well open the door to the world... and invite them to invade your country and take over. This is not about human rights. It is about being practical and sensible to maintain the economy of the country. Multi-culturalism is killing us. The biggest mistake we ever made.

Although I am against illegal immigrants...and yes, Mexicans do make up a large part of them...I've never held out that they are the only ones. I figure regardless of where you are from...if you come to the U.S. do it legally. If you really want to be a citizen then start off right and not by breaking the laws. Since I, along with all of my family that is alive, were all born in the U.S. I don't see any of us as illegals. Whether my ancestors as far back as Columbus came here illegally of not...I have no idea. I would assume they did since I am not of Indian descent. I don't care if ppl want to come here from other countries and build a new life...just do it legally. **AT PEACE WITHIN** ~~STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS~~

i think you put your finger on it in the last line, either we are all illegals or we are all legals, only time alters. Native Americans first migrated from Asia over the Alaskan land bridge, should we send em all back? See, people naturaly want to move for the benefit of their families, can we really blaim them? Also, i hear the right talk of taxes being high as a result of illegals. Its another conservative lie, if it were true that there was a link between migration and taxation, levels would vary but taxation never falls, i think any excuse is used for hiking up the levels. Insteasd of blaming migrants, maybe we need to be looking at our power brokers and ask why do they always seem to remain in power and wealth whatever happens to the rest of us? How do they maintain their position? I think you will find most of the problems of modern industrial states stem from attempts by the powerful to stay in power blessed be

I honestly think that rather than complaining, writing satire poems and so on, ppl should do something to help somehow....I think what ISNT generally realized is that #1 like you said NOT ALL illegals are Mexican and more than that #2 MANY illegals are here to escape horrific conditions and hoping for a better chance at life and #3 getting status here IS NOT EASY OR CHEAP...This I know first hand because I just went through it..Granted for me and my kids it wasnt as hard as it would have been if I'd just tried to come here on my own WITHOUT being married to an American AND if we'd come from certain other countries (we're Canadian)..in fact once the ball got rolling it was fairly easy or at least easier than I thought it would be HOWEVER it was also very costly...Fortunately for us we had the money to do it BUT many ppl coming here DON'T HAVE IT....Realistically, how many illegals have $1000s of dollars to spend on all the paperwork, appts and so on?? I'm thinking very few.. And, speaking from a Native American viewpoint, we can probably consider all peoples that are non-Natives as "illegals" LOL aint that the truth!! Interesting how that is so frequently forgotten and the fact that the ORIGINALS have been and are currently getting shafted up the you know what wiht a double edged sword

I do hope you will forgive the length of this note,as I am going to ask questions as well as make comments on what I have read on this subject. First off,I am Canadian,and while we of course hear about your problem with the illegal Mexicans in your country,I must ask,have any of them Legal of otherwise tried to change your laws to make you allow them to get around our laws to suit them ? Our major problem here is the east indians,while some have used the legal manor of getting here,many have not and are just as illegal as your spanish,the major difference is,these force the government to change our laws so they can carry their knives to school and change the uniform of the Royal Canadian police force,just so they can wear their rages on the heads. they have taken complete control of many compnanies and have forced the government to make laws saying we are not allowed to discriminate against them,but they can call us anything they wish. I never had any problems with immigration when the people were coming from Europe,but the TRAITOR Trudou,hated the whites (English)he would only allow the eastern type in,so now we are flooded,with them.I also am part native Canadian,my great granfather married a native lady. the rest,like you are basically all European,British,Welch,Irish,Scott, And one other point about our ancesters of the 16/17/1800,most of these were soldiers and their families escaping from the tierany of Napolian and other war lords in those days,and yes,we can say,that many of the illegals here are trying to make better lives for themselves and their families,and it is very hard with the government rules concerning such,but there are many big differances between 3 and 400 years ago. At least,all the ones from east india and afrika,can get green cards,Canadians can not even apply for U.S.citizanship.so go figure. Have a great day.

I also get emails about that sort of thing. You're right. Most of us probably would not be here if it weren't for illegal immigrants. People forget about that. I know there is a problem but I might be doing the same thing if I were in their shoes.

Hi Pye, I agree with your feelings and it is a shame what some people have to go through for a better life. I understand that people complain and want the illegal people we have here to come in the legal way but there is the other side of the coin that people should try to understand, many illegals have tried to come through the front door and do it the right way but INS refuses to grant them a visa. I know someone who went 3 different times to apply in Mexico City and they charged him for all the application fees and denied him the 3 times but they made sure they collected his money on those 3 separate occasions. They knew all along that they can only approve a certain amount of visa's for each country every year but they denied his applications and still took his money. In many regions the poverty is so bad and the hunger gets unbearable that the only option they see is to cross over illegally (and come through the back door). Those crossing are a mixture of people from many different countries, Asia, South America, Brazil, Africa and Europe to name a few. The journey is not a nice one and many die along the way, the US Government says it is illegal to aid anyone trying to enter the country illegally but it is our government that has put up water stations so they have something to drink while they are crossing over, unfortunately you have some people who live along the border that are against this and they put poison in the water - so they all know not to drink it and they must bring along their own water supply. I understand that people want the illegals out because of they way they came in here to begin with but for many there is no other choice - when your desperate you will do what ever is necessary to survive. There are many illegals who work and do pay taxes, they are allowed to apply for an IRS Tax ID Number and many pay their taxes like you and I do - oh and by the way they still take out social security tax from their earnings even though they do not have a SS number. I also read an article where INS asked IRS to fork over the names of all those who work and use a Tax ID Number and IRS said no. IRS said that even though they are illegal they are still paying taxes and the money is going into our economy so why would we risk loosing all this money by giving you the names. I understand both sides but I think people should try to be more understanding, if you have children and you need to feed them, get medical care and get them the things they need to survive most people will do anything even if that means illegally crossing over to another country to care for your babies. Those that commit violent crimes should be kicked out and sent back to their countries I agree but the ones that are here already and only trying to live a decent life I feel should be given a break. Our President does what he wants and gets his own way, if he really wanted to close that border he would have done so already, it is obvious he does not want to do it. When my family came here from Italy they went through Ellis Island and the Italians entered legally and those that settled in NYC were treated like crap, like low class citizens, they tried to move to upper Manhattan and were not wanted and forced to stay down in lower Manhattan which became Little Italy. Now unfortunately they focus on the Mexicans even though they are not the only ones who enter from the Mexican border. I wish the problem could be resolved so everyone would be happy with this situation and live peacefully. This is just my opinion and like I mentioned before there are two side to every coin and it would be nice if people would try to see the other's point of view.

Hi Pye...it has been awhile since we touched in and I hope things are OK with you. David and I have been working with a web designer and my photojournalism work has increased since purchasing the new camera. Anyway, had some breathing space and I wanted to spend it on one of my favorite hobbies...Mylotting. I've been checking our friends' sites and dropping by for a chat before posting a few new discussions on my site. I saw this one of yours and appreciate your well presented reasons for being offended. The question of illegal immigrants and the focus on Mexican immigrants is agreeably rather one dimensional. However, most news reporting is slanted these days. I was trained by an old time reporter and he and I chat about the lack of responsible journalism these days. No one bothers to do the leg work and get both sides of ANY issue. They take the latest feed from one or two sources...blow it up and replay it over and over...and over! Not surprising to me that the question of illegal Immigrants is skewed...most everything in the media is and that is why I pay increasingly little attention to any of it. If I am interested...or reporting on a story I see my place as a 'gather of facts in the observer mode.' If reporters today did it that way people would see both sides of any issue and be able to formulate their own opinions with greater clarity. Unfortunately that is not the case...and so those without a voice or the mobilization to create one end up being abused and misunderstood. Good post again...good to be here and chatting with you again. Raia

I am sorry this offended you, I did not see the post you are talking about. But I can say this, If anyone wants to come into a country they do need to pay taxes and become legal. There are a lot of people that are working illegal, like I said I did not see the post but I do understand where this person is coming from. I work for a company that hires illegal people, what is so bad is the payroll company passes these social security cards as legal and they are not, this is not fair to the many, many people that pay taxes, and they don't pay any. I'm sure this is the point the person that made this post was saying.