In a way it is not just something nice to do, but it is our duty to accept as many immigrants as we can from Mexico. NAFTA and other agreements have had good intentions, but we haven’t kept up our part. By refusing to eliminate subsidies we have created a market in which many Mexicans could not possibly compete against. Both the Mexican and U.S government are responsible, and we have the means to rectify this problem. So if it one must break a law or two to help a migrant, then so be it.
I find this to be faulty thinking. NAFTA was a trade agreement, not an immigration agreement, so I find that citing NAFTA as the basis for anything to be irrelevant, at least without further proof of how trade agreements have failed or how their failure has any bearing on immigration.
Illegal Immigration is a difficult issue. There are many factors to consider, and not all of those factors have been raised for discussion in this thread. US Immigration laws are generous, much more generous than many other countries (including Mexico which is VERY STRINGENT) but the US laws are not infinitely generous.
My thinking is that US citizens are bound by US laws. Even if such citizens are priests or otherwise religious, it doesn’t change their obligation to observe US law. They live here. There should be no exemption for ignoring the law. Everyone is bound to follow the law.
But on the other hand, the law has not been evenly enforced, so no one should be penalized for any previous lack of enforcement. I say that not to give anyone a free pass, at least not from now on, but to remark on the cost effectiveness of enforcement. If the government wasn’t enforcing the law, then they have little right to expect private citizens to do a better job.
It is a tragedy that the country of Mexico has apparently developed a policy of exporting their lower classes (those at the bottom end of the financial and education scale, not the intelligence scale!) to the US. In the end, it will be Mexico’s loss.
Something needs to be said here. I have many many friends who originally came from Mexico and they have told me their stories. In Mexico, if you are born poor, you have nothing, you receive nothing. You may own the land where your home is, but that may be all. As someone poor in Mexico, you are entitled to nothing. There is no public education. There are no public services. The “safety net” that exists here in the US for the poor does not exist in Mexico. It is really no wonder that so many risk so much to come here.
But then, there are a few “dirty little secrets” about US immigration that get little if any notice ~
- US immigration laws are set up to give preference to, among other factors, those persons who have special educational qualifications that we need in the US. This tends to exclude those persons who are not well educated. In other words, poorly educated and low-skilled workers from other countries WILL WAIT FOREVER to come to this country legally. This is why so many attempt illegal immigration.
And while it may be apparent it is also true that no politician will ever say that they will restrict legal immigration to those that “qualify”. The folks that have come here illegally never could qualify and never will. They lack the skills on the “immigrant” list. I’m not saying this to be mean, I’m reporting fact.
Sorry but God doesn’t condemn anyone for going against the United States. Hell, abortion is legal here. That’s a crime against God in and of it’s self.
