Why are Americans so weak willed when it comes to enforcing immigration laws?

Question

When are good Americans going to realize that illegal mean illegal? There are no gray areas there. If they're here illegally, ship 'em back. If you don't have the right to be in our nation, then stay out. Laws are laws, and are not subject to emotional outbursts. In fact, laws are there there to keep it out of the realm of raw emotion. We are a society of laws, and when laws are passed, our elected officials are bound by law to enforce them.

Many nations strictly enforce their borders and residency laws. Why are Americans so weak willed when it comes to this? Many other nations will put you in a jail cell and immediately ship you back if you're there illegally (Mexico - and many other nations - do that). Here in the states, if a policeman catches a group of illegals, in most cities they're not allowed to arrest them. How's that for gutless elected "officials?"

A good example - when Guatemalan refugees were streaming over Mexico's southern border, they sent the Mexican army to march the refugees back over the border and out of their country, at gun-point. Sort of hypocritical, isn't it?

The laws are already in place. We just don't enforce them! And also, "illegal alien" does NOT mean "Mexican." You can be Chinese, German, Arab, Mexican, etc., and if you're not here legally, you're an illegal alien.

Remember a few years ago when all the groups were out marching and protesting? The reason they were all cheezed off wasn't because of any new laws that were passed. The only thing new were resolutions to enforce already existing laws. In the post-911world, we need air-tight border control.

Every nation is not only allowed, but required to guard its borders and provide for national security. Those that scream "racist!" do so because they have no logical reasoning to back up their argument. There's nothing racist about protecting your country.

When are we going to WAKE UP?!?!?

Answer 1

Sir I believe you have been Brainwashed! Sure Illegal immigration is real, but you should be focusing more on the real problems facing Americans and that is our Politicians. There is a staggering and overwhelming  amount of evidence to Impeach this president and to charge many Federal agents and Soldiers with War crimes and should be sentenced to death. But instead, Mainstream Media rarely exposes these atrocities and gives you medium to low impact problems like Illegal immigration, e-coli, bus accidents, gas prices, recession. what a joke. Do you know if we got rid of the Federal Reserve Bank and started printing our own money we will be out of debt within a few years like in In 1835, Andrew Jackson managed to reduce the federal debt to only $33,733.05, the lowest it has been since the first fiscal year of 1791. That is because he got rid of the National Bank( now the Federal Reserve Bank). Let's concentrate on real problems that can change the world and let's not create another Holocaust.

Answer 2

Because its hard to enforce

Because America needs cheap labor

Because both parties want them for different reasons

Answer 3

Because the government needs more fools to fight its war on oil, oops, I mean terror.

Answer 4

Illegals do jobs that americans think their **** smells too good for. This helps the American economy and in a way *is* making americans get off their asses. Americans are now seeking college and/or higher paying jobs instead of settling for lower paying jobs and being lazy. Since lower-skilled jobs are not available, most americans will eventually seek higher position. Immigration, legal or not, is helping this country.What we need to WAKE UP about are pointless wars we are fighting over nuclear weapons and oil.

Answer 5

There are a number of reasons why it is difficult for the US to enforce its immigration laws.

First, the United States has a large agricultural sector that has always required cheap labor to produce agricultural products abundantly and cheaply. In early colonial times, this need was filled by indentured servants but by the late colonial era this system gave way to the rise of African Slavery. After the American Civil War, slavery was replaced by sharecropping. The sharecropping system survived until the middle of the 20th century when it was in turn replaced by the migrant worker system. The US now requires migrant workers because its own population is largely urban and most Americans have grown accustomed to a standard of living higher than that which can be attained through employment as a farm worker. The decline of family farms and the rise of corporate farms after the Great Depression has also contributed to the need for migrant workers. In recent times, so many migrant workers come to the US from Mexico that it is difficult to keep track of all of them and ensure that they return home upon completion of their work.

Second, the southern border of the United States is very long. The length is 1,951 miles.  Right now, there is work underway to construct a border fence with some kind of high tech security system. Estimates run into the billions. Its not really cost effective. It will also involve numerous court cases involving the use of eminent domain. This is a hot button issue right now and some of the cases are likely to get caught up in the courts for years. The US could opt to militarize the border, however, the US military is stretched to thin at the moment. It is currently engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan and there is reason to think it may soon also be engaged in Iran.

Third, many illegal immigrants, particularly in the Southwestern portion of the United States, have friends or relatives living in the United States. Illegals entering the US can often find folks that are willing to shelter them upon their arrival.

Fourth, one feature of American law is that birth in the United States automatically confers citizenship. A woman who is an illegal alien who has a child in the United States is the mother of a US citizen. (Such a child is called an anchor baby.) That child has legal recourse to all the protections conveyed by US citizenship. The child must be allowed to receive medicaid, food stamps, and other forms of assistance. The states cannot create barriers to the child receiving that assistance.

Fifth, improvements in computers and printers make it easier to forge certain documents. One of the most commonly used documents for identification in the United States is the Social Security Card. Ironically, although these cards are printed by the Federal Government they are more low tech than the drivers' licenses which are administered by the states. Social Security Cards are just printed on business cards and they don't have magnetic strips or watermarks or anything to prevent forgery. Many cases of identity theft in the US are linked to illegal immigration.

Sixth, at this point there are many millions of illegal aliens residing in the United States. A few years ago, many of them took to the streets in protest against US immigration policies and it caused massive unrest. In some areas, Latin Americans are the majority. No politician wants to risk implementing policies that lead to civil unrest or violent clashes. Politcally, its easier to let a sleeping dog lie.

Seventh, the two major political parties in the United States, the Democrats and the Republicans, have vested interests in the status quo on immigration. Republicans benefit from illegal immigration because they are allied with big-business interests, such as corporate farms and meat packing companies. These big businesses benefit from cheap labor. On the other hand, Democrats also benefit from illegal immigration. The children of illegal immigrants are directly benefitted by the social welfare programs that Democrats support. These children will grow up to be voters someday. When they do, they are not going to vote against the party that advocates for the poor!

Eighth, many illegal immigrants have lived in the United States since childhood. They go to school with Americans. They go to church with Americans. American citizens are not running to the phones to report them to Border Control or Immigration and Naturalization Services. They have close American friends who sincerely care about them and who figure that their "illegal" friends are better off in the USA than in the place from which they came.

Given the economic, geographic, and social forces in play, the US can probably expect to continue to see illegal aliens flood across its borders for the forseeable future.

Answer 6

Off the bat, I agree with you somewhat. I believe that immigration needs to be dealt with quickly and now. We should grant those in the US amnesty and not worry about them, and then we should tighten up border control significantly, and crack down on those entering the country from here on out. To weed out illegals in America now would be too difficult and resource consuming.

There is one huge logical fallacy in your argument though...

"Laws are laws, and are not subject to emotional outbursts. In fact, laws are there there to keep it out of the realm of raw emotion."

What use are laws if they don't reflect a humanist intentions? As much as we are pragmatists in creating our society, we cannot allow ourselves to restrict a changing society and ignore human needs. Laws are made to solve emotional outbursts, not ignore them.