Octavio - that is changing
Reader comment on item: West Africa - Europe's New Border
in response to reader comment: Differences between Europe and the USA

Submitted by Sidda (United States), Mar 28, 2006 at 18:37

Octavio, First off there is a difference in the demographic make up of immigrants to the U.S. and those to Europe, i.e., Mexicans vs. Muslims.

Second, it is true that the "open borders" people will try to brand those who protest illegal immigration as racists; however, that is having less and less of an effect on the debate. The reason is that most Americans realize it is a bogus accusation. You also have to keep in mind that the political make up of America is a little different than that of Europe; the mindset is different here, too. The latest poll I read revealed that about 17% of those polled identified themselves as liberal, about 35% as conservative, and the rest as moderates. It's only really the far left that is pushing the open borders.

People on both sides of the political spectrum are growing more and more impatient with our government's inability to get a handle on the problem. It is now a struggle between the special interest groups on both the right and left, and the American people.

On one side, you have the business interests which want the cheap labor. This upsets many working class people, including African American, who usually vote Democrat because they find themselves in direct competition for the jobs on the lower end of the job scale. It is not only unskilled jobs that the illegals perform, but construction jobs, home repair, etc., and other skilled and semi-skilled jobs. The employers are able to get away with paying under the minimum wage as the illegals are not protected by any laws, and thus American worker cannot compete with this.

On the other side, you have the open borders people who believe anyone who wants to come in should be able to and not only that but we should pay for benefits such as health care, subsidized housing, food stamps, education. That again upsets the regular working and middle class American because, as you know, America is not a nanny state and we generally have to pay for all that ourselves.

Hospitals in the border states are under extreme strain and so is the educational system. That is making most regular Americans, regardless of political affiliation, angry. There is also increased crime from drug trafficking and criminal gangs like MS 13 from El Salvadore. That's also got people up in arms.

So, the Republicans (some of them) who represent the business interests want the cheap labor, and the Democrats who are influenced by the open borders people want the cheap votes. Caught in between are all the regular Americans, both Democrat and Republican. So, we are less and less paying attention to these cries of "racism." Basically, it is a matter of do we have the rule of law in this country or not? And if we do, then the laws need to be enforced. And we don't care if the illegal is Mexican, or Russian, or Irish.

This is a nation of immigrants and we are all mindful of that. Our ancestors came here for a better life and we understand and sympathize with those who only want the same for themselves and their families. But, we want our laws to be respected. We want the immigrants to speak English. We want the criminals deported (30% of the criminals in our prisons are illegal immigrants). We want employers who knowingly hire illegals fined up the wazoo. I would say that the issue is reaching critical mass here in the U.S., and because of that not too many people are intimidated about charges of "racism" as was the case in the past.

It is unfair to all of the millions of people around the world (and also in Mexico and Central America) who are following all the rules (or have followed) and waiting in line to have the illegals jump in front of them just because they happen to live across the border. We are having a big debate here over what to do about the 12 million people who are already illegally here. Some want to have them register and pay a fine, but some people feel that is de facto "amnesty" and are really against it. They feel it would be rewarding those who broke our laws.

Nothing will work until we close down the border to illegals. Once we do that then we can deal with the illegals already here and come up with a workable system to enable people to come in to work. One thing is clear--our present system is not working and we need to reform it so we can have a practical system which allows employers who need workers to be paired up with immigrants who want to work. I believe we'll work something out because in the back of all of our minds is how the chaos at the border leaves us vulnerable to possible terrorists coming in. It is a matter of national security.

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