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<p>so true…</p>
<p>Poetgirl, I agree with you. </p>
<p>We do need to find solutions to illegal border crossings. That’s hard. We’ve tried tanking our economy, and that’s worked to some extent but it’s painful. Some states have tried harsh laws, and there are now ghost towns in Arizona and crops rotting in Alabama. I like the idea of a guest worker program. I like the idea of a fence. I like the idea of increasing immigration so that there are more people paying into the Medicare and SS as we all get old. I abhor human trafficking that I know goes on. These all go without saying. </p>
<p>But taking care of the kids who are already here and have no where else to go so that they can contribute to our nation. That’s easy.</p>
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No, it really and truly isn’t. Not unless an entire package of reform is brought online. Otherwise, any magnet – even one other than drugs – allows the enticement to continue and the remittances to flow back, which are major problems.</p>
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<p>Fair enough.</p>
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<p>Also true… </p>
<p>So, what is the solution?</p>
<p>"But taking care of the kids who are already here and have no where else to go so that they can contribute to our nation. That’s easy. "</p>
<p>-Yes, they have to go back with thier families and re-enter legally, I agree that it is very easy.</p>
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Easier said than done</p>
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I would say it has to be a multi-pronged approach covering a vast array of things from birthright citizenship to taxing remittances to guest worker and guest worker programs to getting American-raised kids where they need to be to the war on drugs to diplomacy. It really is complicated, but so was the Marshall Plan.</p>
<p><a href=“Thread%20detour:%20Am%20I%20the%20only%20one%20who%20sometimes%20skips%20posts%20by%20specific%20posters%20because%20of%20difficulty%20in%20understanding?%20I%20hate%20that%20about%20myself%20and%20wonder%20if%20others%20sometimes%20have%20trouble?”>QUOTE=zoosermom</a>
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It only bothers me when people post a wall of text with no paragraph breaks, or if a post gets WAY too long. </p>
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<p>I don’t personally have much influence over small foreign countries, but a small contribution to help a student who has mostly grown up here might actually make a difference in someone’s life. </p>
<p>What would your answer for this girl be, zoosermom? Not “pressure her country” - an answer for HER specifically, Nataly Lopez, 21, immigrated from Equador at the age of 4. What would you say to her face?</p>
<p><a href=“As Aid Bill Lingers, Illegal Immigrants in New York Get Scholarships - The New York Times”>As Aid Bill Lingers, Illegal Immigrants in New York Get Scholarships - The New York Times;
<p>I think the difference between us is that you MiamiDAP, don’t want these kids here, the kids who can go to college and become productive professionals, entrepreneurs and employers, so you want to make it hard for them so that you can punish their parents. I do want them here because it’s good for the nation and good for the economy, so I want to make it easy.</p>
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<p>Yep. I agree. Now if we could just find the political will.</p>
<p>I read an article the other day, and I can’t remember where, or I would link it, which discussed the problem with transparent government and the lack of backroom deals, and how this is partially responsible for why nothing nuanced and complicated can really get done in the law arena, these days.</p>
<p>In this case, I think doing the “hard” things might be impossible for the lawmakers right now since each side would have to let go of certainties and deal in the grey.</p>
<p>But this is not any news, it applies to USA citizens and everybody else, if you contributing, law obeying person, you have to be punished for that.</p>
<p>How are citizens being punished?</p>
<p>I’m all for working on hard things.</p>
<p>In the meantime, here’s an easy thing: the kids are here, and if they are academically talented, will become hardworking, productive, entrepreneurial taxpaying residents (and citizens!) who add to our nation’s store of intellectual capital. </p>
<p>Why should I want to punish MYSELF for not helping to provide the opportunities for our nation to get ahead?</p>
<p>ClassicRockerDad and some of the others here - I’m glad I’m not alone on this thread :). The idea that people would try to lay a guilt trip on others for what they contribute to with their OWN money is rather extreme, IMHO. </p>
<p>And some of the hatred. Wow. Just wow.</p>
<p>What about all the hardworking kids who are in the trades? Do we kick them out? I smell classism.</p>
<p>Sylvan, I live in NYC and devote a lot of time within the illegal community, so I get to say a lot of things to their FACES. I would tell Natalie that I am proud of her, that I think she is an amazing young woman and I wish her the very best of everything. I would also say that I am sorry she is in this situation but that the laws of the land must be respected and that she should give serious consideration to getting her education in a place where she can be employed legally. Life is not fair for anyone and the real outrage is that her parents felt that they had no better options in Ecuador.</p>
<p>sylvan,
There was an entire thread of posters chastising parents who use their own money to pay for tutors for their kids. Talk about bizarre.</p>
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I have contributed thousands of dollars to individual illegal immigrants over the years, have contributed thousands of hours over the course of decades to the practical realities involved in helping them be ok here in the US, and I’ve even had about 8 live in my house for periods of time. How about you?</p>
<p>The laws that exist aren’t ones that I would have promulgated if I were Queen, but they are what they are and ignoring them at will does absolutely nothing to solve the totality of the problem, it just kicks it down the road. Forcing everyone to see what the tough choices are is the only way to get moving forward. And when we move forward, we can make sure there is a place for Natalie here and that other families aren’t forced to make those choices.</p>
<p>And another about how parents should not donate money to public schools. Double bizarre.</p>
<p>
[List</a> of universities in Ecuador](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_in_Ecuador]List”>List of universities in Ecuador - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>“crops rotting in Alabama”</p>
<p>Yep…so what…I’m sure farmers complained that their crops rotted and they lost money when the slaves were freed. That wouldn’t have justified bringing slavery back. </p>
<p>These farmers should have been more pro-active to get more legal workers. It’s not like the concept of the law was presented/passed/enacted within a very short time. American employers have known for DECADES that it’s illegal to hire the undocumented, and Alabama’s employers had more than enough notice that the hammer was coming down.</p>
<p>We shouldn’t feel sorry for the farmers who were paying these illegals peanuts and who now don’t have that under-paid no-rights labor force.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that these farmers were breaking the law by hiring these people in the first place. They should shut up before someone knocks on their doors and hands them a big fine.</p>