[staytrue]

this shows a slight positive aspect of immigration

Bottom line. The illegals are not ruining the US. They are not building it either. They are just there. Three to ten percent of the population simply can not be responsible for the problems or solutions or greatness or downfall of the United States.

[mountn man]

Three to ten percent of the population simply can not be responsible for the problems or solutions or greatness or downfall of the United States.

4% of the population makes up 27% of US prison population.

Does that begin to be responsible?

[pieceofthepuzzle]

"Three to ten percent of the population simply can not be responsible for the problems or solutions or greatness or downfall of the United States."

Of course they are not a monolithic cause of US problems, but I do believe that lack of assimilation and shifting demographics are a major problem. At a time when our elections, and therefore major policy issues, are decided by only a few percentage points (in some cases less than a percentage point), even what might seem as relatively minor demographic shifts can have huge consequences to US policy, at home and abroad. You can argue that the illegals don't vote anyway, but that's probably not universally true, and amnesty-based citizenship would ensure that they do.

I think there is also likely to be a difference in the way that those who come to the US legally, and those that do so illegally think about our country. Playing by the rules infers respect for the rules, and by inference respect for the country. On the other hand, there are certainly those who come here with a mercenary attitude (e.g. "the U.S. is too rich and got that way because they unfairly took things from Mexico and the rest of the world. We are entitled to take back from them"), and I would argue that this attitude is more prevalent among those who come here illegally than those who come legally. These are all considerations. Rome fell in large measure because of shifting demographics.