wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

I agree with the first poster. What happens to all the people who have waited to enter the country legally? There is no labor shortage; fifty percent of NYC's young black men are unemployed. Illegal immigration is basically the way Mexico has handled unemployment. Without remittances, the country would have collapsed.

If all the illegals were sent home, they are still ahead because they made money for quite a few years. If the illegal immigrants are granted amnesty, then all black men shold get their criminal records expunged. Give them a fair shake, too.

And fine the employers who used illegals to defer capital investment. And fine the New Yorkers who got their dinners delivered by illegal bicycle messenger.

Phil in Queens, people who employee illegal immigrants are breaking the law, are they "criminals" in your opinion??? If we throw the illegal immigrants out of the country, where does the employer's accountability lie? Should they not pay fines and go to jail for breaking the law? Let me remind everyone, unless you are a Native American, we would not be here right now if our families were denied citizenship? …The Statue of Liberty reads "Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door." Should we take her down? or continue to be hypocrits...…And so Phil we have this in common, our families came to America, I believe America did not stop then, but only continues to grow. Immigrants are why we are a great nation called the USA and I am proud to be an American and I welcome all immigrants who are here to become Americans....And by the way I am English, Scottish, Irish and Cherokee Indian decent, I can trace my Caucasian family to Jamestown and I am a descendent of a Revolutionary war hero. And I believe a person who has just taken his American citizenship oath only a few moments ago is just as American as me! To quote Rick re illegals immigrants "They are the new Irish and Italians etc. We should welcome these people and not make them feel like criminals."

God bless America, the Land of the Free.

I’m tired of the CONSERVATIVE LIE; illegal immigrants take away jobs from hard working Americans. If the estimated 12 million+ illegal immigrants walked off the job today America would be in an even bigger mess. Most illegal immigrants do jobs (blue collar)that Americans are no longer trained or feel they are too good to do (an example of this comes from my own Southern home state, the Mexicans work in poultry and meat plants while white people would rather collect disability or unemployment)In fact by keeping immigrants unaccountable is un-American, creating shadow citizens who have NO civil or human rights & more often than not exploited by Americans who employ them, paying below min wage w/ no benefits, hurting our job market far more than making them legal so they CAN contribute to income tax.I know personally many NYers (funny enough they’re wealthy Republicans) who knowingly employ hard working immigrants, breaking the law and creating indentured servants, reinventing slavery. The upside is far greater to make illegal immigrants legal then to keep them in our country as shadow citizens.

What a lot people don't seem to realize is that illegal immigrants contribute more to the economy than they take from it. The reality is if you take them out of the work force EVERYTHING WILL GET MORE EXPENSIVE. Contractors use immigrants because they are hard working, loyal and work for an honest, reasonable wage. Granted there are always those who will take advantage and mistreat the immigrants but what I see everyday are contractors using these guys in important positions and these guys are getting the job done. I've talked to laborers who take home in excess of $800 to $1000 per week. I would've killed for that kind of money in my post high school/college days. People with families would kill for that now! The problem is American's think they deserve more for less. They look down on service jobs and are just plain lazy. They want a job but they don't want to work. Where are all of the teenagers and non college 20 somethings working? I don't see them en masse out in the labor market. Look around you. Outside of union jobs, every service job, pizzeria, diner, construction site, landscaping site, carpentry job has illegals working. I see these guys working on town projects, municipal buildings, in gov't offices with electricians and plumbers. They are cleaning houses and taking care of children. They are the new Irish and Italians etc. We should welcome these people and not make them feel like criminals. The blow hards who are on TV saying "get them out" are not living in reality, or at least NY area reality. I wonder who cuts Lou Dobb's lawn or makes his pizza?

It is a moral and economic imperative for our nation to adopt a much more rational and effective -- and less wasteful -- policy on immigration. At the same time, we need to do a much better job of socially and economically integrating foreign born individuals who already are here legally under various immigration, refugee and asylum programs. Too many legal residents are marginalized and underemployed, therefore contributing far less than their potential to our economy, our communities and their own families.

For more information on this aspect of the immigration issue, visit Upwardly Global at http://www.upwardlyglobal.org/. It is a nonprofit organization with offices in New York City, San Francisco and Chicago, that coaches underemployed immigrants -- professionals who are already permanent residents of the U.S. -- and brings them together with employers seeking diverse and uniquely talented employees.

The dictionary says that a criminal is one who has committed or been legally convicted of a crime (a law violation).

Crossing the United States border without US Government authorization or failing to honor the terms of authorized forms of entry, such as tourist visas, represent the most common means of violation.

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act illegal entry into the US constitutes a misdemeanor for first-time offenders, while persons who have been shown to repeatedly enter the US can be charged as felonies.

It is generally thought that about sixty percent (60%) of the illegal aliens in the country are illegal by virtue of having improperly entered the U.S. It is believed that about forty per cent (40%) of the illegal aliens in the U.S. are illegal by virtue of having exceeded the time period in which they are authorized by the U.S. government to be present in the U.S.

Source(s):
Title 8 Section 1325 of the U.S. Code, "Improper Entry by Alien"

Immigration reform is so important at this point. Obama will have my full support if he wants to try and put this forward. H.R. 182 is something that I really want to see come forward, but also some discussion on the fact that immigrants who came here legally but have visas that expired are being picked up and put in detention centers for indefinite periods of time. No one is making sure that they're okay, or that they're being treated right. This is going to turn into the next Guantanamo, except it's going to be on American soil.

These people have committed civil violations, not criminal ones. I challenge the people who read this comment to look up a detention center - there's one near you, a lot closer than you would think.

I know a lot of people are angry, and upset, but don't hurt them for a crime they didn't commit.

ILLEGAL ENTRY INTO THE U.S.A.:

Under Title 8 Section 1325 of the U.S. Code, Improper Entry by Alien," any citizen of any country other than the United States who:

* Enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers; or

* Eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers; or

* Attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact;

has committed a federal crime.

Violations are punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment for up to six months. Repeat offenses can bring up to two years in prison. Additional civil fines may be imposed at the discretion of immigration judges, but civil fines do not negate the criminal sanctions or nature of the offense.

So... sneaking into the United States of America is a CRIMINAL act, conducted by an "Alien" - therefore, the term Illegal/Criminal/Alien is a correct term. The person is an "Illegal" - "Criminal" - "Alien" ..... period.

There are many fine people who are here illegally. That being said they are all criminals. The reporter is just plain wrong -- illegally entry into the USA is a criminal violation. What a surprise, a biased NY Times reporter getting the facts wrong. LOL. And what a surprise, a WNYC host not knowing enough or being so biased as to not be willing to tell the truth. Let's give the jobs back to American citizens. Let's stop the draining of money being sent out of the country. Let's get rid of the estimated 1-2,000,000 illegals who are actively engaged in crime here. Let's let the people waiting for years in their country to come in and replace the criminals now here. Fair is fair... even with a Kenyan who claimed Indonesian citizenship as President. Let's see his papers, too. LOL. Tea Party anyone???

The H1B visa is abused by employers to drive down costs of business. There are in many cases qualified skilled American professionals, and their opportunities and wages are eroded by over-use of H1Bs. Visit any of the Pharma companies in NJ/CT/PA and see how many Ph.D.s are Amercian.

Claudia (comments 4-7), the Dream Act legislation was put forward last week in the Senate and the House.

Regarding immigration math:

we keep hearing how many illegal immigrants are already hear and how many enter the U.S. each day/week/month. Does anyone know how many illegal immigrants die or leave each year?

If the illegals are "made legal" how many of them do you think will start applying for social services such as welfare and food stamps.

Here in Rego Park, Queens we have tons of Russian immigrants who use food stamps (they maybe citizens) they are all Russian/Uzbek Jews.

Also the Russian/Uzbek immigrants are able to bring their parents here. The parents are destitute so they qualify for Food Stamps, Social Security and Medicaid. These are people (because of their age), add nothing to the economy. And the people on Medicaid get better benefits than those on Medicare.

How much more money would come into Medicare and Social security from their wages?

whats happens to social security if we at 15 million people to it.

Part of the immigration reform debate involves the legalization of thousands of students through the Dream Act. Most of the children, teenagers and young adults, who are unfortunately undocumented due to the decisions of their parents, are outstanding students who are just as American as anybody else and they deserve the opportunity to attend (and afford) college and get jobs. The DREAM Act should be on the top of the immigration reform debate.

Obama found an issue that can break him. I'm among those who will switch from suppoting him to opposing him if he pushes this through. Jerry

Largely unreported is that about a month ago, President Obama gave an interview to a Spanish radio station that he thought that CIR (comprehensive immigration reform) would occur this year. Finally!

Dear Mr. President, How about giving legal foriegn workers permanent residence first? Some of us wait and wait, some for as long as 10 years and the illegal workers get to the front of the line?