There is right and there is wrong, and there's no reason NOT to expect that we will get "right" from the government, and not "wrong".
There are things we need to compromise on, things that aren't easily broken into good and bad, right and wrong.
Other things there is a clearly correct thing to do, and compromise is to hurt people.
I support amnesty for long-term illegals, and I hate this bill because it is simply wrong, it's not fair to citizens, it's not fair to legal immigrants, it's not fair to those WAITING IN LINE expecting America to be a nation of laws.
Instead, it hurts all those people in favor of law-breakers, illegal immigrants who couldn't be bothered to follow the process, and instead broke into our country and live in the shadows, with no intention of assimilating.
Under this bill, a legal immigrant caught having not paid his taxes the past 5 years will be fined and deported, while the illegal immigrant caught not paying taxes will be given amnesty and allowed to stay.
Under this bill, the citizen who is caught as part of a gang will go to jail, while the illegal immigrant who is caught as part of a gang will be given amnesty and allowed to walk free simply by denouncing his gang.
Under this bill, a citizen who wants to go to a college in another state has to pay out-of-state tuition, while an illegal from another COUNTRY who wants to go to college in ANY state gets in-state tuition, for example if they manage to graduate high school.
Under this bill, people who are IN LINE waiting, who joined the line after 2005, including wives and children of LEGAL IMMIGRANTS waiting to come into the country, will be PUT IN LINE BEHIND the illegal immigrants who just snuck into the country in December of 2006.
Let me repeat that -- if you were a LEGAL IMMIGRANT, and put your family member on the list to enter the country in June of 2005, they would get in quicker if you had told them to SNEAK in last December than they will since you were a law-abiding legal immigrant.
So don't tell me about "compromise", and "not getting everything I wanted". I know I'm not getting what I want, I want partial amnesty, payment of back taxes, illegals in back of the line of EVERY legal, payment of yearly fees by those who have been here long enough and clear background and remain waiting for their turn to get legal papers.
I've expressed my opinion on this board many times, and almost nobody has called me names, or shouted me down, even though my position is much more "liberal" in their minds than what they would accept. Opposition to this bill is not the same as close-mindedness, in fact opposition to this bill is the only SANE choice.
People seem to miss the word illegal. The end doesn’t justify the means.
It’s a horrible bill, period. It’s not like we don’t have previous bills and outcomes to look at... people choose to ignore them and say (once again), this time will be different.
I live in a place where I see first hand what’s going on and I talk to legal and illegal many times daily. I was also in New Mexico, CA and Florida. A lot of folks have no idea.
:-) I won’t call you names, but I’ve been called at least one on this Thread and I haven’t caught up with the day’s posts yet.
LOL