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hmmm...suddenly "Children of Men" doesn't look so far off

Once again we see the liberal slant of our media willing to sacrifice our country's rule of law for political correctness. John Celardo, yes if only these folks came through Ellis Island, but they didn't they entered illegally, and then have obtained fraudulent I.D.s and S.S.#s as another offense. Many friends of mine came here and jumped through endless hoops and bent over backwards for INS to await a Green-card. I am Pro-immigration, but only via legal channels.

Since everyone loves to look to the North for the "super-awesome" health care, have you seen Canada's laws, which they enforce? In Canada citizenship is a a right for qualified applicants rather than a privilege as it had been in the past. Here's a brief excerpt:

Unlike citizenship by birth, citizenship by naturalization is not acquired automatically. Thus, it is not possible to acquire citizenship merely by marrying a Canadian or by residing in Canada for a certain period of time. Citizenship by naturalization must be applied for and the requirements of the Citizenship Act must in the vast majority of cases be met.
b) has been lawfully admitted to Canada for permanent residence and has, within the four years immediately preceding his or her application, accumulated at least three years of residence in Canada, according to a stipulated formula
c) has an adequate knowledge of the English or French language
d) has an adequate knowledge of Canada

Ok Roehan I do see your point, but it is absurd for "liberals" against immigration reform to believe that illegals do not have some harmful economic impact and something should be done about it. Obviously I don't agree with rounding them up in the night like our wonderful GOP, nor do I believe in totalitarian "national identity cards" and other abortions of democratic thinking, but something should be done. I'm not even sure blackballing them with full cash bail payments will really do anything but railroad "criminals" through the justice system; if they're guilty I guess thats good, but if they're innocent then obviously more understanding measures should be looked at.

How ironic we are discussing this today on the anniversary of the executions of Sacco and Vanzetti-- August 23rd, 1927.

Thank you to Trevor for clarifying who are illegal immigrants and who are not.
Being an immigrant myself and now an American citizen, it's shocking to me why in this country it's ok to be illegal. Don't we have laws here? I came on a tourist visa to the US and I applied for a political asylum and I was granted it. And I don't understand why someone has to be "better" then people like me who follow all the rules about the immigration law.

Actually, illegal immigrants do pay taxes. The illegal immigrants in the service sector and who don't get paid off the books pay into medicare and social security and they also pay sales taxes and just about every other tax but income and i think maybe state.

Opposing illegal immigrants is not the same as xenophobia. The immigrants who passed through Ellis Island were not illegal aliens, they lawfully travelled from the countries to the United States, just as many legal immigrants still do today.

Illegal immigrants are obviously a burden on national infrastructure as they do not pay taxes; at the same time, I do understand the system itself is hypocritical for needing a caste of quasi-slave labor to buttress the extreme consumption of products and services. There is no easy answer, but equating anti-illegal immigrant measures with xenophobia and playing the race card is not constructive, nor is it a particularly intellectually compelling argument.

There are good and bad people in all society. Blaming the Newark shootings on illegal aliens is a stretch. Politicians who want to be reelected are using fear to force this issue into the press. I think it’s time for all of us to take another look at Ellis Island, then turn and look at the New York skyline. Many of the folks that came through Ellis built those buildings. If we had been as xenophobic in the early twentieth century as politicians want us to be now, where would we be in 2007.

um...this....um...is...umm...the..um..most..um..."um"filled ...um..segment...ummm...I've...um...ever..um...heard. nails...um...on...ummm..a..um..chalkboard...umm.

Probably.