Immigrants

I wouldn't say that 500,000 anti-illegals marchers in the street goes unnoticed. Neither does millions of phone calls, faxes and emails to our reps. Especially when those millions of phone calls, faxes and emails come from 80 percent of the public voters who want all illegals out. source

I have heard that some are indeed starting to leave Venezuela. The ones that have already left are moving to south Florida. These are the people that are very well off and know what Hugo is about and fear losing it all if they stay there. They fear that what will happen to them is the same thing that Fidel Castro did when he came to power. source

I have driven by the freeway sign you have there and thought it seemed racist to assume that what language you spoke determined what side of that problem you are on. Its especially troubling that however practical the people who put it up may have told themselves it was that this kind of racism was on an official government sign. That said I think the t-shirts are meant to bring attention to how wrong those signs are and shame the government officials who thought it was ok to post that in the first place. I feel that the costume and the t-shirts were created in the same spirit as the New Yorker cover that depicted the Obamas as terrorists. source

That's an interesting point Lori about the need for their labour, does America not have any scheme allowing temporary citizenship dependant upon remaining in gainful employment to fill skill shortages? I know emigrating to America from the Uk is notoriously difficult in comparison to the reverse. I think as long as an immigration system failing to the extent that there is a significant and constant illegal immigrant population then there is a need to make their existance as safe as possible for all irreguardless of how "right" their being in a country is, being able to track a person is a useful tool in terms of safety. In an ideal world the immigration services would be sufficient that it isn't a problem but it is and I think due to that fact there is a high need to manage rather than ignore the issues raised. source

I work with a lot of asylum seekers and foreign families and the reasons they give me are the freedom, the fairness and I do not like to say it but it is regularly said to me - for the benefits and housing they can receive once granted asylum. A lot of them rate the education system too and want their children to be educated here. source