Pretty tough remarks and not totally off the mark IMO.
I am as exasperated as any of the "Cindy Sheehans of the right" -- beyond endurance almost.
I am tired of the B.S. But not from the "anti-immigrant" crowd -- as some call us. (We're anti-ILLEGAL immigrant as I am sure you know.)
I was sold a piece of junk in 1986 (immigration reform), the warranty was not honored -- indeed, there were efforts to prevent getting repairs from any source! (Though we did get a little done with Prop 200 .)
Now after twenty years of making payments we learn that there's a balloon payment due, i.e., "guest workers" who will happily go home after six years max. B.S.
We're told we have to have a "guest worker" plan to enable us to identify the "undocumented workers." MORE B.S.! We know who most of them are and we know who employs them. Ask the SSA and the IRS.
We need the workers. OK. What we don't need are lying SOBs in government and business!! So screw them all! Let them stop lying and just maybe they will get more support.
All my views on immigration are prejudiced (best to get it out on the table) by the following
1) I am a guy who looks to reform this problem FIRST with market based ideas, and only secondarily with law enforcement (just my libertarian slant)
2) If I lived in CA, I would probably be lots more anti immigrant ---I think most of us are anti illegal immigrant, it is just a difference on how we fix the situation. I basically take the approach of "who in here would make a good citizen IF they had lined up on a more liberal immigration quota?" and looking for ways to integrate them legally into society. Most Freepers in the immigration threads have a view that we should FIRST enforce the present laws, INCLUDING expelling illegals already here. Many good people disagree on this, but I think I am one of the few vocal freepers to break ranks on this issue.
We REALLY need to get control of our borders, and then we need to take prop 200 nationwide. We unnecessarily piss off tax paying citizens by opening up fed givaway programs to illegals. I don't get that bent out of shape about it b/c my objection is with the programs themselves more than who is getting a place at the fed hog trough. If American citizens can't resist lining up for "benefits," I am not sure why we would expect illegals to resist. "If you build it, they will come" applies to subsidies as much as any other thing.
3) I genuinely like latinos. I am not hispanic, nor do I have a vested interest in them being here. I just like alot of things about the culture and have had very good relationships with them. My perspective on them being here as immigrants (legal and illegal) is admittedly colored by that.
Our borders are an absolute mess, and we are in danger of developing a fortress mentality with a hostility to immigrants themselves if we are not careful. I think this would be a tragedy primarily for US, and only secondarily to the prospective immigrants.