The Washington Post catches up with one of my heroes, New Ipswich, N.H., police chief Garrett Chamberlain, who is using trespassing laws to get a handle on illegal immigration in his town. If only we had more DHS officials who…

Ok. I admit I made assumptions. Never the less, I didn’t just cast aspersions, I also noted that you JUMBLED legal and illegal together (I did not say you didn’t include illegal and legal). You really haven’t adequately responded to the separate costs of illegal immigration as cited by Mr. Kotthoff. So far, everyone seems to agree with you that legal immigrants are a net plus. The only area of disagreement is on illegal aliens. Because you haven’t really addressed as a separate issue the costs of Illegal aliens, it is hard not to wonder if you have a hidden agenda. By the way — I have not decided yet whether I think we should have open borders but fewer benefits, or closed borders and full benefits. Maybe you made assumptions also?

In true debate comraderie,

PDN

I’ve noticed people like you who can’t make a valid argument tend to resort to personal attacks and assumptions about one’s beliefs and views, in order to justify your invalid and wrong views.

I’ve EXPLICITYLY stated both legal and illegal immigration is beneficial to the U.S. I advocate for immigrant rights here in Chicago, and work closely with Polish and Filipino immigrants, as well as Latinos.

Also, please take the time to read the reports I have posted here. It covers the BENEFITS of immigration, LEGAL or ILLEGAL, at the local, state and national level.

And please stop making assumptions about people you do not know. You know what they say about people who ASS U ME!

The Tucson Border Patrol sector releases, on average, 75-80 illegals, all OTM’s (other than Mexicans) every week. They get a piece of paper by which they promise to appear at their nearest immigration office within a month, and promise to show up for court.

Now considering that virtually none of these people are eligible to remain in the US and face removal if they bother to go to court, how many do you think show up? And that’s just one, single BP sector.

How many come to commit crimes, or turn to crime (they have no right to work.) How many gave false identities? How many are criminals, and gave false identities, thereby avoiding arrest or one of the few and far between detention beds?

And how many, after successfully evading immigration for say five years, and have settled comfortably into their lives in the US with little fear of the migra, will howl and scream bloody murder when a broken tailight or driving without a license thrusts them under the eyes of an immigration agent working in a jail?

When they profess ignorance about the long-standing deportation order, and cry about the two or three US citizen children they sired, and the wife, parents and 2 or three other kids they sent for via smuggler, who is huddled at home, because they too are illegal?

And then the newspaper plasters his puppy-dog mug on the front page of the paper with the headline, “American dream shattered for hard-working immigrant!” And the story about how his kids have asthma/learning disabilities/the sniffles/ that only US health care can cure (at taxpayer expense.)

And some senator blusters about how immigration is picking on fine, upstanding would-be citizens, and calls for immigration to leave him alone, and let him live a normal life with his adorable family?

And when the employer, who whines about him being the “best worker they ever had” (despite paying him minimum wage for a job that paid three times that 10 years ago) and letters to the editor come in, demanding that immigration find the “real criminals” or how it’s “racist”, or pointing out how immigration could go to any number of street corners and pick up illegals if they wanted to.

Or, of course, the thousands of illegals from Europe, Asia, Central America, Mexico, Africa and everywhere else in the world) many of whom have been arrested and released, or ignored, or skipped out on a ridiculously low bond a sanctimonious immigration judge imposed to ensure the illegal’s “freedom” while waiting for the hearing date two years down the road at which time he will be ordered removed, or the beneficiary of sanctuary policies, or the result of lack of detention) who murder, rob, rape and commit all manner of felonies and misdeameanors against US citizens, residents and other illegal aliens.

Nope, releasing thousands of illegals into the US isn’t any big deal or harmful to this country on so many levels ‘tall.

I have noticed that those who believe latinos were robbed of the southwest have a tendency to use certain talking points when argueing about the cost/benefits of illegal immigration: in point of fact they do not distinguish between legal and illegal but just say immigrants. Your talking points also jumble legal and illegal together. I submit to you that you probably don’t care at all about illegal european or asian aliens, only latino. Given this bias, and the fact that you think you are answering the arguements about the costs of illegal aliens with data about legal immigrants, I don’t think you want to find the truth about costs at all but have a hidden agenda about taking back what you believe was stolen. Unfortunately, bitterness only hurts the person who is bitter.

PDN

You know, this lack of enforcement of our immigration laws is one of the subjects that pisses me off about the Bush administration. Last week 10 illegal immigrants were released because US Immigration didn’t want them. here’s an excerpt on…

Hey, Surge, they were American citizens you are citing. Hispanics have always distinguished themselves in the armed forces, same with Native Americans. They are citizens of long standing after all. Want to give us some numbers on Mexican national serving in our armed forces? They can,you know. But, that’s not what illegals are here for or the committment they want to make to us? Next catastrophic event by terrorists, I’m not counting on illegal Mexican brigades to save me.

Here’s some insight for you first hand, as New Mexico is my home state, Hispanics – those legal Americans of many generations here – resent illegals for all of the same reasons we all do. This isn’t an ethnic issue. Illegal immigration is a form of identity theft. It is hijacking the space, culture and order of another’s home.

Actually, it’s Caucasian-Americans who have continually link Latinos and illegal immigration, and totally ignore the rampant illegal immigration of Europeans (from the former Soviet Republics, Slavic nations, etc.).

Also, Mexicans, illegal and “Manifest Destiny” American citizens not only fought for the U.S. since Civil War, but they’re combat deaths are disproportionate to their numbers in the U.S. military (In Vietnam, 4.9% enlisted, 19.8% died in combat).

A few grunts, huh? I’m more than positive that you COMPLETELY LACK the same strength, pride and fortitude these patriots had to fight for your right to express your twisted opinion.

I’m sure you would not be willing to die for you beliefs like these heroes did.

I’ve had enough of being attacked and challenged my hispanic racist imports, and their fifth-column support, in my own country.

There isn’t any point we reach, in my opinion, in which these things get better on their own for Americans. We’ve seen the behavior involved here, it is consistant time and time again. These people require someone be made the loser here, and that being necessary for their satisfaction, I propose they be made the losers. We need to turn a deaf ear to this horsehockey from these folk, and their native enablers, and throw ‘em all out. I don’t care if some of these folk are nice individuals. Just as many of our folk are nice individuals, we will get by just dandy on available niceness supplies. What they are doing as a people is exceedingly *not nice*, you owe nothing to people who desire to lay such a thing to your doorstep. Boot ‘em all out. Continue taking down candidates with the ballot until they do what we tell them to do about this.

From the most comprehensive study on the effects of immigration “The New Americans” by the National Academies of Science:

“This baseline analysis focuses first and foremost on immigration’s direct effect on the economy through the addition of workers to the labor force. At the most basic level, immigration increases the supply of labor in the economy. More labor means more goods and services being produced, so that national output (GDP) rises.”

And since the 2000 U.S. Census shows the immigrant population has increased exponentially, you can exponentially increase the benefits of legal and illegal immigration!

Want the empirical evidence?

Read: http://books.nap.edu/books/0309063566/html/137.html#pagetop

I’ve got plenty of information & resources to back up arguments. I haven’t seen much back up from you or others in this blog to try to prove your arguments.

Oh, and for those that were curious about my citizenship status, I’m an American citizen of Mexican descent, born in the U.S. to hard-working, legal AND illegal immigrant parents.

I don’t care what that report says.

When you have a job opening and only 2 people apply you have less room to negotiate their pay than when you have a job opening and 1000 people apply.

Anyone who believes that a bunch of illegal immigrants have no effect on wages is just full of crap.

Also anyone who believes that crap has never actually run a business with employees.

Its really very simple.

They are here in violation of federal laws.

The people who hire them do so in violation of federal laws.

Illegal aliens are not ‘law abiding’ by definition.

There *is* a legal process for foreigners to immigate to the United States. There is a legal process to seek refuge status (another loophole).

If you dont like it, change the law. DONT ignore the law or selectively enforce the law – that violates the ‘Rule of Law’ which we live under.

nuff said.

Stop trying to blur the distinction between immigration and illegal ALIENS. Illegal aliens are *NOT IMMIGRANTS*! They are, at most, ILLEGAL VISITORS. They have not been granted immigration status and they have no legal standings.

I consider immigrats to be those who have legally immigrated and followed the procedure, had a background check, interview, and have been granted a immigration-class visa by the INS.

Wrong.

“General Jonathan Wainwright praised the men of the 200th and 515th units (Southwest U.S., mostly Latino, Guard Units who fought in the Pacific during WWII) saying that “they were the first to fire and the last to lay down their arms and only reluctantly doing so after being given a direct order.”

http://www.houstonculture.org/hispanic/memorial.html