Current Events > Liberals, what do you want to do about illegal immigration?

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Do you want amnesty? If so, would you favor tightening the border afterwards? Or would you prefer we just look the other way and have a new round of amnesty every 10 years?

Do you want legal immigration from south of the border to be so easy that nobody would bother sneaking in?

Do you think that everybody has a natural right to immigrate to the US?
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They pretend that there's some kind of higher law that declares there's no such thing as an "illegal" immigrant. I've yet to hear one explain what that higher law is, where we can read the text of it, or what gives it authority, though.
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I'm not a liberal but a Centrist and want tighter borders, reduced immigration across the board, and amnesty for the people here in the US already.
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I think building a giant wall is a waste of money. I'm all for protecting our boarders but there has to be a better way than that.

I'm also for Amnesty for those who have assimilated and started lives and families here. Make it easier for them to become citizens. If they've done nothing but work their entire life to provide for their families just so their children could have a better life i see no reason to kick them out. I also think it's absolute absurd that they're considering sending back children who were BORN HERE or brought over when they were very young by their parents. this is the only life they know. They've created a word for themselves here. they go to school here. They've gotten jobs here. they contribute to this country. They pay taxes, they make and sell goods, they do a lot of things for Americans...And you want to send them back to a life they know little to nothing about because their parents brought them over when they were 3 or gave birth to them after they came over? Why does that not sound stupid as fuck to you?
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TheVipaGTS posted...

I think building a giant wall is a waste of money. I'm all for protecting our boarders but there has to be a better way than that.

I'm also for Amnesty for those who have assimilated and started lives and families here. Make it easier for them to become citizens. If they've done nothing but work their entire life to provide for their families just so their children could have a better life i see no reason to kick them out. I also think it's absolute absurd that they're considering sending back children who were BORN HERE or brought over when they were very young by their parents. this is the only life they know. They've created a word for themselves here. they go to school here. They've gotten jobs here. they contribute to this country. They pay taxes, they make and sell goods, they do a lot of things for Americans...And you want to send them back to a life they know little to nothing about because their parents brought them over when they were 3 or gave birth to them after they came over? Why does that not sound stupid as fuck to you?

The above plan would in practice lead to periodic episodes of amnesty and massive inflows of illegal immigrants.

So we give amnesty to everybody who had an anchor baby at least X years ago. The signal that is sent to Mexico and Central America is "Sneak over here, get into LA or some other sanctuary city/state, and lay low until the next round of amnesty is granted."
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Hop103 posted...

I'm not a liberal but a Centrist and want tighter borders, reduced immigration across the board, and amnesty for the people here in the US already.

You're not in the US. Troll.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/261-politics/76659455?jumpto=3#3
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TheVipaGTS posted...

I also think it's absolute absurd that they're considering sending back children who were BORN HERE or brought over when they were very young by their parents.

Who's wanting to deport citizens?

Liberals want everyone who sets foot across the border to be granted citizenship, mostly because they're near-guaranteed voters for their team.
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It should be far, far, far easier to become a citizen legally. It's a convoluted mess as things are, the process takes 15 years on average. Not nearly enough green cards are given out a year.

We shouldn't just take anyone and everyone, but as things are we're not taking in even close to enough.
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DarkChozoGhost posted...

It should be far, far, far easier to become a citizen legally. It's a convoluted mess as things are, the process takes 15 years on average. Not nearly enough green cards are given out a year.

We shouldn't just take anyone and everyone, but as things are we're not taking in even close to enough.

I definitely do think this is a discussion worth having.
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With our declining birth rates, America needs more illegal immigration.
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Personally I'm in favor of dissolving all countries.
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DarkChozoGhost posted...

It should be far, far, far easier to become a citizen legally. It's a convoluted mess as things are, the process takes 15 years on average. Not nearly enough green cards are given out a year.

We shouldn't just take anyone and everyone, but as things are we're not taking in even close to enough.

By what measure are we not taking enough? And who are we not taking enough of?
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Gather them all up have them hunger games each other and the winner gets deported.

Iodine posted...

With our declining birth rates, America needs more illegal immigration.

for what purpose

why do we need to keep increasing population
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Considering Obama deported at crazy high rates and the difficulties it is to become a citizen as is, I'd say we continue doing things how we were doing it as the rate of "ILLEGALS TAKIN OVER!" is a ridiculous talking point by the GOP to push a problem not grounded in reality. Not to mention the whole wacky "ILLEGALS ARE VOTING!!!" bullshit that there's all of zero evidence.

Our immigration policy was fine.
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Make the path to citizenship easier (not saying open borders, just a system that doesn't take quite so long). Give people who have already planted roots here the option to become legal citizens. Don't pour a bunch of taxpayer money into a wall. I don't think the left generally views immigration as a huge priority, or a problem that desperately needs fixing. It's the right that gets all worked up over it.
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I'm not a liberal, but I'm in favor of open borders. There's a huge debate amongst libertarians about what their position on closed/open borders should be logically.
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DarthAragorn posted...

Iodine posted...

With our declining birth rates, America needs more illegal immigration.

for what purpose

why do we need to keep increasing population

Well the problem is Social Security. If there's no one paying taxes yet there are old people receiving benefits eventually money will run out.
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DarthAragorn posted...

Iodine posted...

With our declining birth rates, America needs more illegal immigration.

for what purpose

why do we need to keep increasing population

GDP growth
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Spooking posted...

Hop103 posted...

I'm not a liberal but a Centrist and want tighter borders, reduced immigration across the board, and amnesty for the people here in the US already.

Same here. As a Centrist - AS A CENTRIST - I do think we need tighter borders along with removing tax payer dollars for illegal aliens who enter our country: no welfare checks, no housing, no ER visits, ect... Turn everybody away who isn't an American citizen. We don't have endless funds to care for all of these folks.

How about non-citizen fetuses?
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Immigration process reform that streamlines it educated/skilled workers, or otherwise incentives uneducated/unskilled to pursue education or technical training upon immigration rather than a long lottery system.

Amnesty for those currently here. Willing to compromise complete amnesty for just dream act students, not their parents. Keep the current system in which military service can grant their parents citizenship. Tighten border security, but more importantly, visa reform since this topic always ignores the significant amount of people who overstay their visas here. So many eastern europeans with thick accents and broken english and no one bats an eye, but places like Arizona pass a "papers, please" law that lets LEO basically solicit any person of color when it's just as possible their family has been in the U.S. for generations.

I'm white and first generation American born here. No one has ever questioned my immigration status in spite of having a very foreign name that English speakers can't pronounce. Meanwhile growing up in the southwest I've had citizen friends of hispanic descent get questioned frequently.

The benefits of amnesty lie in the fact that a lot of the waste and economic burden that comes from illegal immigration stems from relying on the safety net because there is no upward mobility (i.e., dream act students had a much tougher road getting through college than citizens who could take out federal loans, since we already invested in their public education, it's a waste to not cultivate that intelligence and talent into a skilled/educated tax paying citizen). It would also incentivize them to culturally integrate and less likely for them to send money back home away from our economy if this becomes their new home.

That being said, tightening border security and/or visa reform can only do so much. Short of extremely authoritarian methods, you'll never have 100% efficacy so the problem will eventually resurface. But I find a lot of conservatives ignore the economic boon because they can't overlook some emotional facet, which is kind of funny considering their party's alleged ideology, but I digress.
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Under Obama ICE was doing their job well. They were focusing on illegals with a violent criminal record and as a result that number went up. Now under Trump there have been more deportations but the number of those who are violent criminals hasn't gone up that much.

DevsBro posted...

Liberals want everyone who sets foot across the border to be granted citizenship, mostly because they're near-guaranteed voters for their team.

Uh no.
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The Great Muta 22 posted...

Considering Obama deported at crazy high rates and the difficulties it is to become a citizen as is, I'd say we continue doing things how we were doing it as the rate of "ILLEGALS TAKIN OVER!" is a ridiculous talking point by the GOP to push a problem not grounded in reality. Not to mention the whole wacky "ILLEGALS ARE VOTING!!!" bullshit that there's all of zero evidence.

Our immigration policy was fine.

So no change? Keep the sanctuary cities and look the other way? What if there were sanctuary cities for people who disagreed with alimony laws or the income tax?
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The issue should be handled practically in a matter of fact manner. It is a fact that they contribute to the economy. It is a fact that they don't commit many crimes-They do come here to make a better life for themselves after all. They essentially function the same way as anybody else. How we label them is nothing more than semantics. Illegal immigration is only a problem if we make it one. The primary thing that needs to be fixed is how easily exploited they are. An illegal should be able to report crimes, abuse, being paid or otherwise treated unfairly by employers without having to worry about deportation. If they break the law, or evade taxes then they can be prosecuted or have their wages legally garnished like everybody else. There may be cases where deportation is the best option, but such a harsh punishment should only be used in extreme cases.