Obama on immigration
Yesterday, Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona signed into law a bill that makes illegal immigration a state crime, and authorizes police to verify the immigration status of anyone suspected to be an illegal alien.
Ms. Brewer, a Republican, said the state action was forced by Washington’s failure to secure the U.S. borders and solve the nation’s thorny illegal immigration problem. “Decades of inaction and misguided policy have created a dangerous and unacceptable situation,” she said.
It is not so much Arizona’s law that caught my eye, rather, it was President Obama’s statement about it.
The president said it was the state [of Arizona] that was “misguided” and that the Arizona measure would “undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans.”
I’m curious, Mr. President. What basic notions of fairness are you talking about? Is it fair that thousands who would like to come to this country have to fill out voluminous forms, and wait years to learn if they will be lucky enough to be admitted, while others avoid the lengthy process and simply stroll across our borders? Is it fair that states like Arizona have to pay millions to provide emergency health care and public education for the families of those who choose to evade our laws? Is it fair that states like Arizona even have to pass such laws to begin with, and only do so because the federal government isn’t doing its job protecting our borders?
Don’t misunderstand me. I believe firmly in immigration. My grandparents on both my father’s side and my mother’s side emmigrated to this country in the late 1800’s. But, they filled out the forms, waited in line, and hoped for the best. Anything short of that is illegal, and such illegal behavior should never be condoned lest we make a mockery of our immigration system.
Bottom line, I guess I cherish different “basic notions of fairness” than does our President.
18 Comments
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So you firmly believe in immigration because your grand-parents were immigrants? Niiiiice! The only non-immigrant descendants in this country are the native Americans. How about some more meat to the issue. For instance, what would you do to the people who were born in the US from "illegal immigrants". Send them back to the country the parents came from?
Well all that anyone who is coming to the country is DO IT LEGAL! In other words, GET IN LINE!
First of all, Sammy, I'm not quite sure what your argument is. So what if everyone here is descended from immigrants? Every bloomin country which now exists is made up of immigrants. So what? Are you saying there should be no countries and no borders? People should be able to come and go as they please anywhere in this world? In case you hadn't heard, there is a group of Islamic individuals who are trying to infiltrate us and blow us to kingdom come. We must secure our borders. Illegal entry should be…illegal. If you break a country's laws, you should be prosecuted and deported. That's what other countries do to Americans. To sneak over another country's border, and then expect to be rewarded with freebies… free health care, education, housing, etc, and then insist that people in that country speak your language is not only absurd, but rude. If you come here illegally, you must be sent back. If you give birth to a child here for the sole purpose of birthing an anchor baby, the baby could have dual citizenship, but all must be sent back if the parents sneaked in. The child could possibly come back when he is older. A country without a secure border is neither a country, nor is it secure. Are you saying we should not control our borders? The other problem here is that Mexico cannot control the violence which comes with the drug trade. Our President. and his cohorts Pelosi and Reid appear to not want to protect Americans from this either. My theory is that he wants the borders to be as open as possible, especially between now and the November elections. I believe he wants as many illegal immigrants to flood into this country as soon as possible so that he can grant them all "amnesty" and sign them up as voters. They will then vote for Democrats forever who will grant them tax-sponsored entitlements… on the dole forever–healthcare, college loans, you name it. Democrats care more about their own power than anything else, including the safety of their citizens, and the security of their borders. By calling the new Arizona Legislation "unfair" is like flashing Al Qaeda a neon sign to "come on in" between now and November. His short-sighted drive to power will ruin us all. And Sammy, the SoundoffSister's grandparents probably came here legally. Her point was, why should some get away with just walking in while others play by the rules? One last point: SOS's grandparents probably didn't come here with their hands out. They came legally, learned the language, and got to work. They became Americans. Not freeloaders. The people of the USA have millions unemployed.. we don't need extra job competition or or swelling unemployment benefits added to the trillions we owe China already. No, we must control our borders for both our safety from terrorists and financial ruin from freeloaders. It's time to take a stand for our country! We must not be bullied. Push back, America!
Sorry, Sammy, but there are no truly indigenous peoples on the North or South American continents. The "native" Americans only happened to be here longer after a trip across the land bridge in the Bering Sea. I am a native American, because I was born here. Everybody here is an immigrant.
The arguments are that the illegals do the work U.S. citizens won't do are specious: there are plenty of people on welfare that need something to do, and the prisons are full of people lifting weights, playing basketball and watching television. It is time their rehabilitation included community service in the fields. When a meat packing plant not too long ago was raided by ICE, and the illegals deported, the line of citizen applicants for the job stretched around the block! I will happily pay more for lettuce if it hires a fellow citizen.
Is it truly "racist" or "profiling" because the majority of illegals come from south of the border? It isn't racism; it's proximity!
The baby anchor argument wherein "families cannot be separated" is also a crock. The newly delivered Americans are free to go back to wherever with their parents. And fix that 14th Amendment. The slaves have all been freed and have long been citizens. Try giving the children the same citizenship as their parents. If one is an American, then the baby is American. If you are both from another country, then so is the child.
Who is to say that once they are given amnesty, they will still pick lettuce or whatever? And you can bet that their kids won't be motivated to do it, necessitating another wave of illegals to pick the next crop. Ad infinitum.
Sure, they may be "nice people" and deserve to be here out of "fairness", but there are (to be conservative), half a billion people in China, or half a billion in India, or millions elsewhere that "deserve" it too? Should we let them in too? We have to, or it would be "racist", right?
Unknown to Democrats and other progressives, the real job of the government is to protect the country, be it by negotiating treaties or defending our borders. If they protest about "fairness" etc., ask them why we should be the only country in the world with porous borders. Mexico doesn't mind exporting its citizens to solve their problems, but try to be an illegal in Mexico, and see how the rest of the world deals with de facto invaders.
The welcome mat is out, but it sits before the door of LEGAL immigration. If you sneak in the window, or break in the door, you are a criminal, and deserve nothing but incarceration and deportation. Repeat offenders should be dipped in permanent blue dye for easy identification.
How do we know a fence won't or can't work unless we try it?
Politicians need to govern like Christie in NJ: like you are a one term governor or Congressman or whatever, and do the job you are hired to do: fix the country's problems, not being concerned for your perpetual political position.
Return to calling them what they are: illegal aliens or invaders. "Undocumented immigrants" or the insipid blurring of the definition of illegal alien by calling everyone "immigrants" is dishonest and deceptive. The people that do that do so by design.
Maybe we need less divisive "diversity" and more coming together as American citizens!
Imagine that! Making illegal aliens illeagle. I think its about time we took a stand. I have to pay taxes and insurance on my workers and they in turn have to pay taxes. We have trouble competing with illegals. They get to keep all the money they make, and they get health care, public housing and food stamps. Of course they can work for less. The current administration is doing everything it can to encourage this behavior as well. What happened to recognizing the individuals that work hard and contribute as required by law. Why do we get punished and demonized because we worked have hard, paid our fair share and became successful. Isn't that the American dream? It is horribily demoralizing to see people waltz across the borders and have handed to them the things we work hard for. Especially when they get it with tax dollars I am required to pay.
All what Arizona is trying to do is ENFORCE the BORDER! It is taking on the job that Washington D.C. has FAILED to do!
Listened to BHO's remarks about ariz gov's signing new immigration law. Called it "misguided" What is really misguided is valuing an American citizen"s life LESS than you value the questionable civil rights of an illegal alien, who is armed and dangerous.
BHO gives thr term MORON a bad name.
My Father came hear legally. It is "fair " to his effort and the efforts of millions of others not to require immigrants of today to follow the laws of our land..The State of Az. is doing what the Federal Government should have done long ago. Namely, controlling the border. Someone has to protect the citizens of Az. If the feds won't do it —why not the state of Az. Illegal immigrants are breaking laws .. Why is this a problem , again the name Illegal Immigrants.. by description they are acknowledged as being illegal . Why spit in the face of people who have obeyed the laws… P.S. Has anyone looked at the immigration riles in other countries ( Mexico, China, Switzerland ,Germany and France ) Obama is off base by a country mile on this one . Pure non sense !!!
Thank you, SOS, for addressing this issue! It hits very close to home for me. When I heard what the gov. of AZ had done, I applauded her efforts and was appalled by Obama's remarks…the number of stupid people defending his remarks on Fox this weekend made my blood boil.
I will be calling the show on Monday morning with the story of an illegal immigrant that will make anyone's hair stand on end and only serve to strengthen the argument that something must be done to protect our borders and our LEGAL citizens from harm…
Again, a thousand thank yous for not letting this story slide by! Win
You should have seen the Don Francisco Saturday night. No Aplauso del neuvo ley! Typical hispanic liberal provacateurs were on air playing the race card, including Bill Richardson. The left has all the latinos scared of profiling …that racist cops are going to yank every short brown looking person aside and demand they show papers. This law has managed to force John McCain to pose as a get tough guy on immigration. I love how he complains DC has not done their job on the borders, as if he's not Mr DC. This law is necessary because John McCain did not do his job. The law also appears to be derailing the immigration bill by some of the 70% appoval polling numbers that have come out. My prayers are working !
I've been trying to write a proper blog post on this all day and I keep going into "automatic rant mode" and dropping profane language in my post and deleting it afterwards. This topic just makes me so angry because I don't understand how people think this is okay, I really don't. You would think that when thousand of illegals cross our border illegally and start consuming our resources funded by taxpayer money, that people paying said taxes would put a stop for this…
…oh wait, I just forgot, most people don't even pay taxes.
Seriously, I've often thought of throwing away my pride and dignity as a citizen of this country and joining those who just live off government handouts and line up to slobber on the television set every time Obama speaks. Then I remembered I am an intelligent human being capable of making his own decisions and working towards his own success.
Am I wrong for thinking everyone else can do this too? Including illegal immigrants? What ever happened to the "American Dream"?
This just in off the news. 67 illegal aliens found packed like sardenes inside a U-Haul driving erratically 20 miles into Arizona border. It is really sad that a black man like Obama would support and protect this criminal cayote slave trade of illegal workers smuggled in here to pick the cotton that the freedmen won't pinch anymore, especially when our own unemployment rate is near 10%. … .http://www.kpho.com/news/23246758/detail.html
A complex problem elicits simplistic solutions (as usual). One might be able to fix the problem of illegal immigrants coming in. But how can one ignore the fact that there are millions of "illegals" already here. Also convenient to ignore children and of children born in the US (legally US citizens). Congress has been dropping the ball on this issue for decades, but it's convenient to blame this president (and say nothing of those who preceded him).
And thanks Dimsdale: you are a native American because you were born here. So isn't everybody else who is born here a native American? Let's hear the exceptions.
Only by way of the Fourteenth Amendment, designed to accommodate former slaves in this country, not start a stampede of pregnant women across the border.
We need to do as France and other do, and assign nationality based on the nationality of the parents, not waddling into the country in time to birth an anchor baby. Simple, effective and fair.
Is it not just to ignore people who came here by ignoring our borders and our laws? If they don't like their problems being ignored, GO HOME and take care of your old parents and the kids you abandoned by coming here.
My students in my American citizenship class understand the difference between legal and illegal immigrants. They are 100% against giving those who broke laws citizenship. There is a system already in place – it works!
Plus, I cannot hire anyone without having them complete an I9 – proof of status.