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Is there a difference between legal and illegal immigration to you?

Is there a difference between legal and illegal immigration to you?

  • Total voters
    67
Winston said:
Illegal entry is a criminal offense. But, all of the undocumented people I work with and have worked with in the past, overstayed their VISAs. Which is a civil matter. They didn't come the traditional, stowaway way.

Romanian/Bulgarian/Serbian/Macedonian people do this at very high rates in my city too. They come over on work VISAs and just never leave because they don't want to go back to ****ty infrastructures and low wages.
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Ok. There is that distinction. Over staying a VISA in a civil matter. However, all the other crimes such people commit in order to stay here are certainly criminal violations.
 
phattonez said:
Based on what? Be objective.
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You said foreigners are destabilizing 'your culture'; which I assume is American. I see no destabilization of American culture by immigrants, so I can not give you examples of what I do not see.

Do you see destabilization to your culture? Maybe you would like to elaborate.
 
1750Texan said:
You said foreigners are destabilizing 'your culture'; which I assume is American. I see no destabilization of American culture by immigrants, so I can not give you examples of what I do not see.

Do you see destabilization to your culture? Maybe you would like to elaborate.
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How would you characterize destabilization?

One easy way is to look at how many people speak the language of a nation.
 
RabidAlpaca said:
As an immigrant myself, no, I don't really care. I think in general people should be able to move and live where they please. If someone isn't hurting me and is just living their lives in peace why should I care?
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thats an impossible situation.

government is here to secure rights, how can it do that if it cannot determine who is friend or foe.

if you allow someone to enter because government puts no time into knowing who and what their intentions are, and later they an commit an action which hurts people, then it to late to do something for those people who are hurt which the government was supposed to serve by protecting their rights.
 
ocean515 said:
It is not a criminal violation to enter the country illegally. The criminal aspect comes into play through all the other things they do to stay here.
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It's a criminal violation. That's why they're called illegals.
 
Master PO said:
thats an impossible situation.

government is here to secure rights, how can it do that if it cannot determine who is friend or foe.

if you allow someone to enter because government puts no time into knowing who and what their intentions are, and later they an commit an action which hurts people, then it to late to do something for those people who are hurt which the government was supposed to serve by protecting their rights.
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I don't consider every non-American my foe, so I don't have the same fears as you.
 
RabidAlpaca said:
I don't consider every non-American my foe, so I don't have the same fears as you.
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:doh, oh, you have to treat everyone the same under the law, we have people who want to do us harm, your idea is to let people in at will and trust they don't hurt other people, so you are being gullible
 
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Winston said:
Because that is what America was built on. The Chinese built our railroads. We had Italian, Irish, Polish, Bohemian immigrants. It used to be common to hear Italian in public.

We aren't destabilizing our culture. I don't wish to spend the afternoon arguing immigrant crime statistics with you either.

Our Mexican brothers and sisters are safe, normal people, who want what you want for your children's future. Educational opportunity and economic stability. End of story.
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Not the end of the story.

You throw out a lot of opinions, then state you do not wish to discuss those opinions.

The Chinese, Poles, Italians, Irish, Bohemians, along with the Cambodians, Koreans, Vietnamese, and others for the most part came here legally at our invitation. The Illegals don't. You do see the difference?

I have no illegal brothers and sisters. Where did you get that idea?
 
RabidAlpaca said:
As an immigrant myself, no, I don't really care. I think in general people should be able to move and live where they please. If someone isn't hurting me and is just living their lives in peace why should I care?[/QUOTE

However when someone wants to move to the US, they should have to do so legally as is expected on any other nation on the planet.
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Redress said:
Other. Depends on what aspect you are looking at kinda thing. They are immigrants. They differ in how they became immigrants. So whether they are different or not depends on what you are discussing. For example, if you are discussing immigrant assimilation, then no, they really are not different. If you are discussing policy on immigration, then yeah, they are different.
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If they come in illegally, they are not immigrants....they are law breakers.
 
Winston said:
Basically, if you do the mass deportations that Trump is talking about, you are going to ruin lives and disrupt employer's livelihoods. They need to go to court, return home, obtain a work VISA, and obtain citizenship within a series of court dates. With the punishment being tavel expense and court costs. Failure to comply would mean deportation, and even a miserable lefty like me, could agree they deserve that then. So, one major barrier to citizenship is English. A timeline to obtain citizenship is up in the air, because you can't snap your fingers and learn English.

I am fluent en espanol, and have often considered reaching out to Spanish-speaking communities that need basic level English proficiency lessons. Right now, I'm focused on political objectives but, maybe I could leave my positive mark on the world in that way.
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Those employers who knowingly hire illegals should be heavily fined or imprisoned.
 
1750Texan said:
Most immigrants, whether they be lawful or not, assimilate well in America. How is America destabilized?
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That's why half the population of California prisons are illegals from Latin American countries.

It's all that assimilation.
 
What a dumb question...Is there a difference calling an illegal alien an undocumented immigrant or a drug dealer being called an unlicensed pharmacist. Of course there is a difference. Duh!
 
jimbo said:
That's why half the population of California prisons are illegals from Latin American countries.

It's all that assimilation.
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93% of MS-13 members in New York are in the country illegally. I think they could care less about assimilating.
 
jimbo said:
That's why half the population of California prisons are illegals from Latin American countries.

It's all that assimilation.
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Hey man, don't be so mean to our "brothers and sisters" who come here against our laws, collect our welfare benefits, and then commit crimes against us.
 
antiquity said:
93% of MS-13 members in New York are in the country illegally. I think they could care less about assimilating.
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True, I just picked California at random and because I was fairly sure of the number.

The same is true in most parts of the US.
 
ObamacareFail said:
If they come in illegally, they are not immigrants....they are law breakers.
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im·mi·grant
ˈiməɡrənt/
noun
noun: immigrant; plural noun: immigrants

a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country
 
antiquity said:
There wouldn't be a problem with employers hiring illegals if the E-Verify was enforced.
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There wouldn't be a problem with illegal border invaders if any of our laws were being enforced.
 
ObamacareFail said:
Those employers who knowingly hire illegals should be heavily fined or imprisoned.
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well i think thats just little to far, how about finding them heavy and it they continue they will not be issued a tax i.d. from the federal government, so they cannot be in business
 
Immigration Terms and Definitions Involving Aliens
A general summary of U.S. immigration terminology follows. Any references below to USCIS refer to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Alien
An individual who is not a U.S. citizen or U.S. national.

U.S. National
An individual who owes his sole allegiance to the United States, including all U.S. citizens, and including some individuals who are not U.S. citizens. For tax purposes the term "U.S. national" refers to individuals who were born in American Samoa or were born in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands who have made the election to be treated as U.S. nationals and not as U.S. citizens.

U.S. Citizen
An individual born in the United States.
An individual whose parent is a U.S. citizen.*
A former alien who has been naturalized as a U.S. citizen
An individual born in Puerto Rico.
An individual born in Guam.
An individual born in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

*The Child Citizenship Act, which applies to both adopted and biological children of U.S. citizens, amends Section 320 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to provide for the automatic acquisition of U.S. citizenship when certain conditions have been met. Specifically, these conditions are:
One parent is a U.S. citizen by birth or through naturalization;

The child is under the age of 18;

The child is residing in the United States as a lawful permanent resident alien and is in the legal and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent; and
If the child is adopted, the adoption must be final.

according to law, any person who enters the u.s. via a non-check is an illegal alien and anyone who comes to America in a legal capacity [visa] and overstays is reclassified and illegal alien
immigration-terms-and-definitions-involving-aliens
 
Redress said:
No, the poll asks about difference. Whether there is a difference, and whether that difference matters, depends on context.
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You're talking about the immigrants, not immigration. There is no context that can make legal and illegal immigration the same.
 
Redress said:
No it isn't. Maybe you should read the poll question.
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I did read the poll question. Perhaps you should do the same before you post.

Is there a difference? Yes. One is illegal, one is not. It doesn't matter what an immigrant taste like, nor do I desire to find out.
 
DiAnna said:
I view it as two different things. Personally, I find hispanics to be some of the most generous, hard-working, and delightful people on the planet. I love their colorful culture, their wonderful food, and their devotion to family. I would be thrilled if legal immigration for people from Mexico and Central America was tripled, quadrupled even.

But we as a country simply must know who they are and where they are, otherwise they are forced to steal SS numbers from citizens and legal immigrants, causing chaos in their own tax/financial records, and are exploited for their undocumented status, making them vulnerable to manipulation and forced labor, which hurts everyone in society. Our borders must be secure, but our immigration laws must be loosened for families looking for a better life.
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This.
 
apdst said:
You're talking about the immigrants, not immigration. There is no context that can make legal and illegal immigration the same.
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Do both come from different countries?

Oops, a context in which they are the same, and I did not even have to work hard to find it. Do try and fail less.
 
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