Today President Obama made a major shift on his position on immigration by allowing the children of illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S. and obtain work permits. To qualify they must be younger than 30 years old and have arrived in the U.S. before their 16th birthdays. This will not grant this group citizenship and is similar to a proposal in President George W. Bush’s Guest Worker Program. Experts estimate this will affect 800,000 immigrants currently in the U.S. We updated Obama’s position on immigration. Did this change who you SideWith?
America is an Immigration Nation from a Christian Society! But now we are giving to adding in more Spices w/o the thought of The GDP and bringing harm to those that are and do come to America threw earning it not to give Aid to promote it!
Scott Downer
Legal Immigrants yes Illegals NO ..they are stealing from us tax payers ..enoug is enough
Linda Scharf Brazier
What of those who came here illegally? simply because is easier to start the process of legalization from within the country?. They never intended to stay here illegally. From day one the worked to get their case to court. Should they be punished?
John Shepard
Linda Scharf Brazier Some illegal immigrants pay taxes. How would they be stealing?
Samantha Perkins
When you take a job within a locality a company doesn't care if you are cheaper they will hire you. Thus your are illegally acquiring the money otherwise going into a legal american family immigrant or not. You do so because you are desperate but the country has to look after those who follow the system or those who attempt to do things right even after arriving illegally before anyone else. Same deal would be if you take food from a grocery store out of desperation, a sad circumstance but is that considered stealing?
John Shepard
John Shepard , Yes stealing from a grocery store regardless of income would be stealing, but luckily there are food banks in many of local chuches, soup kitchens, food stamps, and other financial help for people who are in great need of food; however, no help is provided for poor immigrant families. We speak of the promise land to thoes who are in need in other countries, but we fail to provide a simple and cheaper way for poor immigrant familes to get here. Undocumented hispanics don't want to go back to mexico for the same reason you wouldn't want to live in the poor cities of mexico. As I said above, someone I care very deeply about was brought here when we was only 2. His family lived in a poor part of mexico and didn't stand a chance at being able to pay for themselves and their 3 kids where they lived, they didn't stand a single chance at acquiring a visa, or had the time to wait and apply. Some people are in great need of help, in which we turn our noses up saying that they are only here to steal our money. They WANT to be legal citizens. They want to aquire a job legally, and pay taxes. They don't desire to be criminals, and the immigrants that do danger others should be deported, not the familes searching for the American dream.
Samantha Perkins
Samantha Perkins What is done is Done and we do have to support and educate those that are here . But if they break the laws or turn in to a dead beat they need to help in the military then or get educated for a job. But We need to Educate people and not take advantage of the Government . that they pull there own weight.. I guess thats what umm saying .. But if you come to America to bring up a Family and have no Money or the drive to work then you are stealing the rights from some one that will .. But you must respect America & Respect the Constitution and the laws of Religion on how it was wrote . More and More no matter what color you are white or purple when people abuse welfare and other Aid then there kids see this and it doubles then triples then it becomes a Crime or crimes will follow .. Education is the Health of a strong Nation Not Entitlements
Scott Downer
if the children were born here then they are citizens but then what do u do with the children who's parents are deported?
Ricki Ramsey
the children should go with their parents that's not our fault if the parents are teaching their kids to steal
Linda Scharf Brazier
If the parent's commit murder, should a child go to prison because the parents are teaching the children to kill? I know Hispanic people that where taken over here when they where just an infant, and they don't even speak Spanish. Why should they pay for their parent's crime?
Samantha Perkins
I may have a biased opinion, I am very close to someone who was taken here when he was just 2 years old.. His parents chose to come here because they had no money in mexico and dreamed of giving him a better life. No money = no visa, so they risked their lives for a chance to bring him up in a safe country. If the path to getting a visa was simpler and cheaper then there wouldn't be this problem, but it is not easy my any means. I would know, my mom is an immigrant from Asia. He is an American in his heart, and loves this country. What is wrong with that?
Samantha Perkins
What people don't realize is that these are children who may not even know that they were brought here illegally until they turned 18 and graduated high school. In many cases, they were brought to the US as infants and grew up believing they were citizens but then face the horror that they are actually undocumented. I was ready to vote for Romney until Obama brought this up, now I'm considering a vote for Obama.
Nelson Nieves
Woah...now that is deep...for you to even 'consider' to vote for obama.
Tonisha Alexander
Very true... I never thought Obama would find a way to make me actually pay attention but he has...
Nelson Nieves
Look Illegal is illegal and they are stealing from our kids ...our schools are being funded by us tax payers to give our chidlren the best education they can get and yet the illegal's come here and steal from our children and also are draing our health system ......I can also tell you they are not here just to do the jobs the so called americans will not do ...they are stealing roofing jobs / landscaping jobs / Cooks / construction / road crews.....I can go on and on ...this is un-fair to the legal immigrants who come here ...all illegals and their anchor babies..need to be removed from our country and come here the right way enough is enough
Linda Scharf Brazier
As a first generation latino (Mom's side), this is a painful issue for me. What about the millions of immigrants who followed our immigration laws? "Amnesty" (Especially after the massive failure of the now infamous "Reagan Amnesty" of 1987) is a slap in the face to every immigrant who followed our laws! My mom's family came from Mexico; my father came from eastern europe. They never asked for one dime of public assistance. Both side of my family learned english and became citizens as soon as they were eligible. It was not easy getting started in a new country, but they did it! Fast forward to 2012: Illegals come here from Mexico (Or asia or Russia or Poland too), and have a baby. Because Americans have become chumps, the baby is a citizen. Because the baby is a citizen, the baby gets WIC, Medi-Cal, and welfare! The proud parents get food stamps and section eight housing - and because they don't to pay rent, they can buy a car or a truck! This is not immigration! Our hospitality as an immigrant friendly nation is being abused on an unprecedented scale, with the help of our own government! When will Americans turn off the Kardashians, put down their four dollar lattes, and wake up?
Robert Glotzer
Never venture into a public schools or paid attention at the exorbitant amount of money wasted on "no child left behind". I thought schools were meant to instill competition and weed the lazy or idiots from the dedicated and gifted. You may not be gifted but if you are dedicated there is a reward waiting for you. However instead of the money being allocated to increase the efficiency of the gifted and reward the dedicated it goes to hold back the last two so that the lazy or the idiots can catch up so they dont feel bad.
John Shepard
this would all be fixed through a fair tax system. illegals would have to pay there fair share of taxes and would not recieve the proverty limit refund that legal residents recieve.
Jason Hiner
No it doesn't. Some actually pay taxes some dont. The premise that this is tax based is actually inaccurate. The problem is that states actually dont have enough room in their industry for illegal immigration some do not. Accepting everyone jeopardizes most of the country by default. If you accept an influx of individuals working for less money it only benefits the bigger companies. Construction jobs, low end maintenance cleaning jobs are then paid even less with their influx. The point is having more people work that actually keep the money within the country, having more illegals pay taxes doesn't solve the issue they have with sending all available money back to their home country. If an illegal immigrant can pay is taxes is because there are at least 2 legal residents or citizens who are without a job due to them working for far less. But most of their money is spent already paying basic necessities that little they have extra is sent back to their home country, helping in no way the local economy. Forcing legal residents and citizens to seek government aid and putting further strain on the system. Meaning whatever taxes illegal immigrants are paying would be spent helping those who lost their jobs. A lack of workers breeds innovation, a lack of innovation breeds better paychecks. Simply flooding markets with cheap labor doesn't help.The balance between market prices and wages is delicate and simply because there are, in good times, jobs opening by the hundreds of thousands per year doesn't mean the economy needs or wants millions of illegal immigrants to fill them in.
John Shepard
under the fair tax the double tax put on business is abolished. in turn it will make more jobs here and bring back ones sent over seas which put more money back in the states creates more jobs by making it easier for small business to open and stay open. this will bring back the best man for the job not just cheep labor. illegal immagrants are paying more in taxes for there basic necessities to survive. our country was founded on immagration and should continue to be that way. our current policies force a lot of very inteligent imagrants away from opening business up here after they go to school here legally
Jason Hiner
take a look into it fairtax.org
Jason Hiner
"I was ready to vote for Romney until Obama brought this up, now I'm considering a vote for Obama"...exactly what this stunt was designed to do...you drank the kool-aid!
Gilbert Garcia
For what? just for the children, how about the tens of thousands of those who lost jobs because of illegal immigrants? I'm an immigrant. My parents came here and stayed illegally. Now we are all legal residents. You know why, because we aren't lazy, because my parents had a plan, and never intended to stay here illegally if the judge decided we were not allowed. The hired a lawyer after years of hard work, paid fees, paid papers. And now the son of that couple is finalizing citizenship papers. The road is there, is just hard, is intended to be to weed out the weak, the whiners and the undesirables. I always have one question. If my family can go through the right channels, why can't every immigrant do the same? the road is already there, so why do they choose not to take it? I am living proof a path to citizenship is already there. The answer is simple if you but think a little about it. venture to a local hotel, restaurant, and find who is working in the back. I've been turned away from job after job because even during peak summer season noone in the tourism industry is hiring. Yet I find those working in the kitchens to be illegal aliens. Why the hell to they get a free ride when my family and I have spent so much money and sweat doing things the right way. WHERE IS MY REWARD, for doing the right thing.
John Shepard
My issue is not with my reward, my reward is having others go through the same process I had to go through. Not just so that everyone who is too lazy to hire a lawyer simply get a free pass to citizenship simply because their kid has been raised here.
John Shepard
If we had a free market economy this wouldn't be an issue. Wage laws are the reason their hired, well taxes and the regulations are other factors. Cheap labor is always sought after, especially unskilled labor. Also the work ethic here in the states are horrible thanks to our good ole nanny state.
Corey Ragas
also do to illegals coming here ...not just the nanny state......the more they come ....the less likely there will be any real job openings due to this cheap Labor they are not just doing farm work anymore
Linda Scharf Brazier
@Linda People coming here is a problem in our current system, yes. This is why I said we wouldn't have this problem if we were a free market nation. Your talking about a symptom not the disease that needs to be cured. You believe in altruism?
Corey Ragas
what would a free market nation solve?
BlueNile TravelGroup
Obama's proposal is the only humane way to tackle the ticklish immigration issueand should be actively supported by all. By this action no body will be affected and the latino community will be suitably compensated for the hard work they countribute to the american economy.
Bhujangarao Inaganti
i have something to say about everything no matter what children are our future they are importent the parent came here to better thier likes what ever happen to the big melding pot
Thomas Hooper
Thomas: Whatever happended to following the law. They did it to better the lives of their kids, in doing so taking the paycheck of a legal immigrant. If what you say is to be followed, then from now one people can steal food to better their lifes and that will make it alright. No jail time or punishment of any kind. "stealing to better their likes". What happens then to the ones who are paying for better their lives?
John Shepard
Not everyone can pay for a better life. If the path to legal immigration was affordable for immigrants then we wouldn't have this problem. If you lived in house with dirt floors and barely being able to pay for food, then you might to some deperate thing too. Illegal immigration is a desperate move for poor familes, nobody wants to be here illigeally. Nobody want to work for 5 dollars an hour with no benefits, but they would take it over being back in their dirt house.. I don't think illigal immigration is right it's a terrible choice that nobody wants to make, but i don't think the immigration system we have is right either. Here in Alabama there is a shortage of work in the feilds due to immigrants fleeing the state. I don't see any legal immigrants taking thoes jobs.
Samantha Perkins
some desperate things*
Samantha Perkins
My mom is a legal immigrant from the Philippines. She lived in a house with literally dirt floors in cebu, phillippines. She couldn't afford a visa, so she used the little money she had to put herself in a magazine where she could find a man to marry and hopefully pay her way to america. She didn't want to marry a man she didn't even know, but she went to desperate measures to get out of the crap life she had before. She got to america, had two kids, but after years of confict it lead to divorce. I used to hate my mom for marrying someone just to get here. I thought i was so shallow, but then I looked at her prior life that she had and I wondered what I would do if I also couldn't afford a visa to the united states. What I'm trying to say is, people go to desperate measures when they feel like their life is at stake.
Samantha Perkins
So the country she came from was dirt poor due to government over regulation of the economic system... and how does her life in poverty not given you any insights as to the dangers of government is beyond me. My family could not afford the fees to do the legal paperwork from where we came from. We could onyl afford the visas. But the same issue is at large. What is her coming legally to the united states has to do with desperate people stealing jobs from legal desperate people?
John Shepard
well well i have to say the reason that those dont have a job they did loss that job because of this those that dont have a job arent looking for work or think they have start back at the top dont blame this on them because you wouldnt do those jobs anyway
Thomas Hooper
Illegal means illegal. Not well I guess you can stay because your parents brought you. No it is illegal so send them back to where they come from. Check into some of the other countries punishments for crossing their borders illegally.
James McCann
Other countries punishments are a brutal disgrace. That why we are USA. We're to be a land of acceptance and sanctuary for those looking to prosper in their lives. The US having immigration policies of other countries is not the way to go. This country is like none other in the world; emulating ridiculous, harsh, brutal policies will be the beginning of the US melding in to the debilitating ways of the world.
Elianne Nascimento
I gave a presentation on this issue to a class with strong conservative views on the subject of immigration. What I found was that most people were amazed to learn the true facts about the immigration system and that their views were based on ignorant opinions instead of knowledge on the immigration system. FACTS: Gaining residency in the United States is not the same for all countries. I had a class mate from Jamaica tell me that citizenship was a five year process at the most.... Well, first you need to be a resident to gain citizenship and in general, Latin American countries are at the bottom of the waiting list - Not to mention that a decade ago, the system was far more leinaint and gaining residency was an act where you had to jump their loops. Also, if you visit the Immigrstion section on th Department of Himeland Security page, you will find a chart, which is updated monthly, which tells you how long the process is for each country. Today, applications are being processed from ten years ago. No human is illegal.
Chrystiee Exitosa Perez
The Pew Hispanic research center calculates that each illegal alien costs US taxpayers approx. a million dollars over their lifetime to pay for medical care, education, welfare/food stamp benefits and jail costs. 27% of CA prison population are illegal aliens and 20% of Federal prison population. Deport all illegal aliens now.
Jerry Zak