I was just wondering what everyone thinks about the proposed changes in the laws for people that are here illegally. Do you think they should be given amnesty and legal status? Deported? What about their children who are born here and therefore are U.S. citizens? It just seems to me that to start out your life in a new country by breaking it's laws isn't right. What do you all think?

should i pack now or wait to be escorted. really i agree with most of your views and idears, but i feel for the people who are here and have made a productive life for themselves. we need the workers but we need to have the companies that hire them be responsible for there health care and take out taxes. our goverment never took charge over this and the problem got worse and worse for the last 10 years. it is a mess. i work in a hospital that serves 90 percent latinos..most have no insurance and no way to pay. my hospital is closing in one week since they have gone broke taking care of the poor latino population. i think that we need to expect more from mexicos president to help rectify the problem. would it be better to give those here now a one time freebie and then say no to anymore caught after that. may save us money in the long run. i dont see a clear solution but i agree we must act and be firm whatever we do. i see the conditions in mexico and i understand why they risk there lives to come here. the humanitarian in me says let those here stay and start fresh with the new laws and force mexico to take care of there own . but how do you impose santions against mexico and motivate them...... they are our second largest fuel supplier....i love the latino people and i hope that we can figure a way to help them help themselves . i support microfinancing for the poor. check out kiva.org .this is an orginization to help the poor to help themselves to end poverty. it one small way that i feel im making a difference and not just talking about solutions....... but i agree it is time to make changes. no matter what country we are born in we should have the right to live in peace and work and put food on the table , to raise a family.. i respect the mexican that goes to whatever lengths he or she has to in order to feed and protect there family. look how hard these people work. ive never met nicer more loving kind people. i live in wickenburg arizona and these people clean our homes and do our landscaping and we love them and are close to them. we hate to see the productive family oriented people leave. i see the other side. these people have become part of out communities, so maybe we should consider letting people stay if they can show they are productive....... i dont know the answer but i see the loss if we send everyone back.

If they want to be in America then they need to do what it takes to be one!!!I get sick of them crying and carrying the Mexican Flag but what to be AMERICANS!!!!!!

I live in Texas, so the illegal alien issue is a real hot button topic. Even the Republican congressmen are voting against this new law. The border states will never cozy up to the idea of another amnesty fiasco.

The USA is a minority in that we recognize anyone born here as a citizen. Most countries do not. And we should probably reconsider the practice.

It's a shame that we have to take such a hard stand against our fellow man, but we can't be all things to all people. And our Social Security system is so screwed up already, this bill would push it over the edge, I'm afraid.

I don't know what George Bush is smoking these days....maybe Mexican reefers?

OK...I originally posted a chart here from: Oil Industry Statistics from Gibson Consulting, but it got screwed up after hitting submit, but apparently Mexico ranks a distant 5th in the line of US oil suppliers...unless there are more updated numbers out there, they aren't our 2nd largest supplier as previously stated.

I live in Texas also, so this is a common topic of conversation at the workplace, in the lunchroom, and around the dinner table.

I work in a for-profit hospital that cuts corners at every turn because in the county where I live, we don't have a county hospital, therefore the two local hospitals have to absorb the RAPIDLY rising, ASTRONOMICAL costs of caring for illegals. In my neck of the woods, according to an annonymous comment by a friend of mine who works in the business office of the hospital, 97% of the latino patients we admit have no health insurance and never pay a cent of their bills.

I attend a local church that has been told by the church offices to have bilingual services to accommadate the spanish speaking population. As a christian, this has been hard to for me not to be bitter about.

I think....if I went to church in France....the service would be in French........If I went to church in Poland....the service would be in Polish..........

so why can't I understand half the stuff being spoken in my very own church, right here in Texas? IN the United States of America??? Even familiar hymns are now translated into spanish.

Why do I have to press 1 for english??

I have been to foreign countries before. The expection is that if you don't speak the language....you carry around one of those handy dandy little English to _______ (fill in language) translation /phrase books.

My heart is in conflict because I want to be gracious and welcoming. But its hard when faced with ungracious attitude by persons who, by their own actions, are breaking the law.

Do you remember how the terrorists got into this country? Mostly student visas. Most of them weren't even attending a school, but our government never seems to follow up on that sort of thing. We just tell them what the rules are and expect them to go by those rules. Some of them had been in this country way beyond the expiration date of their visas. Heck, I even have a friend from England whose husband came to the US for a legitimate consulting job. Their cards ran out years ago and yet they are quietly living in Aspen, Colorado.

With our selective enforcment of the laws, it isn't too surprising that we have a crisis with regard to illegal aliens. Especially when so many American business owners have come to rely on the cheap labor that illegals provide.

Pack them ALL up and ship them to their own home, where they belong. I don't give a rat's back side if there are 12,000,000 (the figure Bush has been using for years and years now) or the more accurate figure of at least 50,000,000. They aren't wanted, they aren't needed, and they are bleeding us dry.

I stand behind a statement I made a long time ago. There will come a time when the people paying the bills (those with jobs who pay taxes and live here legally) will become fed up with Bush and his whoremongers and they people will take it in their own hands to fix this problem. It will be a very nasty day but it's coming.

I do agree with all of you, I have alot to say on this matter. But it's late, I believe that our grovernment need to inforce our laws we have in place.

Wallygirl

My gym buddy (new friend as of july 06) lives with an illegal alien .

What blew my mind is he has a tax id number , pays taxes and even files taxes and gets a refund.

WTF?

edie

I stand behind a statement I made a long time ago. There will come a time when the people paying the bills (those with jobs who pay taxes and live here legally) will become fed up with Bush and his whoremongers and they people will take it in their own hands to fix this problem. It will be a very nasty day but it's coming.

Wasabubble....my grandmother says this very same thing. Makes it sad to know that another civil war is a VERY distinct possibility.

Peace Out!

T~:hippie:

My gym buddy (new friend as of july 06) lives with an illegal alien .

What blew my mind is he has a tax id number , pays taxes and even files taxes and gets a refund.

WTF?

edie

An illegal alien that has a tx id number and all of that? If you are positive, 100% positive, it is your duty to turn that person in. That is against the law, hurts us all, and needs to be stopped.

Actually, it's not against the law. The IRS takes taxes from anyone, legal or not. They actually issue "dummy" ID numbers to people without socials, and they stand by the practice. IMO that makes perfect sense, since it's an important way illegals can contribute financially to society.

I'd like to see more pressure put on employers who hire illegals. It really bothers me when they say they can't get Americans to do the jobs. If they were penalized for hiring people they know to be illegal, they'd FIND ways to hire Americans.

Yeah, Alexandra is right. That practice is not in any way illegal. The US government will take money from whomever is willing (or not, in many cases) to give it to them.

Many of the Mexicans that I have come across have been very hard workers, trying to make a good life for their family. It occurs to me that if they went home, and worked that hard, Mexico might not be so bad for them.

The Mexicans that get tax ID's and pay taxes don't bother me nearly so much as the ones that stand outside 711 and home depot waiting for work, getting paid cash, never paying taxes, and sending their kids to our schools. There is a lot of value in a kid learning a second language at a younger age, but they shouldn't be learning Spanish because the Spanish speaking community wont learn English. My fiance got out of jury duty when the lawyer asked him if the defendants legal status would sway is opinion and he said "yes, if they're here illegally, I have no issue believing they would do something else illegal".

My fiance got out of jury duty when the lawyer asked him if the defendants legal status would sway is opinion and he said "yes, if they're here illegally, I have no issue believing they would do something else illegal".

I fully agree with this. If they would come here illegally then they have already demonstrated that they have no regard for the laws in this country.

Your fiance is correct IMHO.