Immigration Reform?

[OldGreyEagle]

So, what so we think? Can we focus on something other than Gays, Guns and God?

[NJCubScouter]

I'm not even sure what the proposal is. I guess I have gotten so tired of these immigration proposals being made and then going nowhere, I am reluctant to spend the few minutes' effort to find out what this one's really about. I also figure that anything that is the result of a bipartisan proposal in the Senate and a separate proposal by President Obama is probably dead-on-arrival in the House. Or have I, in my state of not-paying-attention, missed something?

[Callooh! Callay!1428010939]

Are you proposing that only devoutly religious armed gays be given immigrant visas?

[Fehler]

Scouting Dream Act: A path to citizenship for every immigrant youth earning Eagle Scout.

[Papadaddy]

1. Seal the borders.

2. Deport all those who have committed a crime since entering the country illegally.

3. Change the "anchor baby" rule.

4. No government entitlements until you become a naturalized citizen and pay taxes.

5. Those who are trying to immigrate legally have priority status and are expedited.

6. THEN we can discuss any possibility of "amnesty"...

[Trevorum]

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

[Sentinel947]

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

 

quoted for Emphasis.

 

Yours in Scouting,

Sentinel947

[WasE61]

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

 

OK....reopen Ellis Island, send the 11 million undocumented illegal aliens there and let's do it right.

 

AND ... close the border with Mexico...nothing there we need.

[Papadaddy]

With apologies to Emma Lazarus...I have no problem with that. What I have a problem with is those whose first act of stepping foot on American soil is to break our laws.

 

One of my best friends is Filipino. He tried to join the US Navy but couldn't afford the bribe necessary to get an appointment with a recruiter in the Phillipines. So he immigrated the other way...took him years and about $15,000 in legal fees. I respect him as a citizen as much as any "natural born" American...maybe more, because he really WANTED to be an American and paid the price to do it legally.

[Hal_Crawford]

Scouting Dream Act. I could support that. They would be great citizens.

[Twocubdad]

Unless we're willing to get serious about border security, entitlement benefits for illegals, penalties for hiring them, and a more reasonable process for legal immigration whatever we do now will mean nothing. Ten years from now we'll have a new crop of 11 million illegals here demanding Dream Act II.

 

[AZMike]

I have known people who are trying to do the right thing by appying for citizenship, but have been mired in paperwork hell for years. In this digital age, you would think that we would be able to streamline the naturalization process. That would probably reduce some of the problem. As illegal immgration takes a lot of entry-level positions away from poor Americans of all ethnicities, I think we should probably prioritize citizenship for those who are able and willing to start businesses that provide entry-level jobs for American citizens. I think military service should fast-track you in for citizenship (it may already, I'm not sure). Like the Germans, we should probably have schools to teach new immigrants not only language, but American culture and values (although many probably already have a better handle on that than many native-born, and some of their values are probably a lot better than ours), and they should give them some BSA promotional literature for their kids.

[acco40]

Question for those who propose to "seal the border" - dig a moat and fill with alligators? Build a giant fence? To me, explaining that we should "seal the border" is about as helpful as saying we should stop illegal immigration.

 

If life in the United States is perceived to be an order of magnitude better than a residents current location, immigration will happen.

[Twocubdad]

Since much of our southern border is in arid areas, I'm thinkiing the moat unpractical, but I'm okay with the fence.

 

And don't forget the economic means of stemming illegal immigration WHICH WE HAVE YET TO TRY like stiff fines to US employers who hire illegals and cutting off their benefits to those who come here breaking our laws.

 

I have a good friend who works for the state unemployment office here. She is FORBIDDEN to do report obvious illegals applying for unemployment. She once had 10 individuals come in together and try to apply for unemployment using 10 IDENTICAL Social Security cards. Her boss told her all she could do was to decline their claim because they lacked a proper SSN, but could do nothing about the attempted fraud or immigration violations. It wasn't her job.

 

I absolutely agree part of our immigration problem is we make it impossible to immigrate here legally. We have two different friends -- well educated, productive, tax-paying folks -- one married to a US citizen -- who came here legally decades ago who have been put through the ringer paying tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees just because some ICE regulation changed. My brother-in-law, who works at a very level in the tech industry, frequently has PhD-level engineers who hold US patents being deported because their student visas expire. Absolutely stupid. We have to fix that. And if there are areas of the economy which would benefit from unskilled labor, fine.

 

And I agree a 20-year-old kid who was brought here illegally at age two needs to be given the means to gain citizenship. But the cutoff for being here needs to be 2010, not 2015.

 

Fixing the pump doesn't help without plugging the holes too.