Illegal Immigration and What is ethical

Now, I'm new to these forums but I wanted to share what I have not been able to say for my entire life. My parents are illegal immigrants. They didn't come from Mexico, they came from Spain. They came when the immigration debate was more lax and they where young and obviously made a mistake coming in illegaly. This was about 20 years ago, they left and came back because of family problems only briefly about 9 years ago. Again, especially before 9/11, things where different.

Edit: Me and my two siblings are legal citizens.

Now they have three kids, I being the oldest. One of my siblings only speaks english. We are products of American culture. This is our home and where we've lived our entire lives.

Now I ask, is it ethical that the parents of 3 children who have built lives in this country should be deported thus destroying the lives of their children in the process? I'm already old enough to be on my own but my younger siblings are not and still depend entirely on my parents. My father has his own business but if he is deported everything he worked for will be in vain, and no one hires 50 year olds anymore for decent paying jobs.

So I just wanted to ask here because I notice that so many of you seem to have all the answers to this issue. What the hell are people like us suppose to do?

Thank you.

This post has been edited by CharlieDiaz on Jul 24 2007, 12:21 AM

You should apply for citizenship. I can understand where you are coming from, especially if you are good upstanding people, but there is a reason that we have laws. I refuse to feel bad for your parents, they broke the law. That's just the way it is.

You should be angry at your parents for putting you and your siblings in such a bad position. Yes your parent's life will be destroyed, and you and your siblings will be in a horrible situation...but don't get mad at the US government for enforcing the law.

Word.

crossing the border is only seen as a misdemeanor though. Why should the penalties be so high?

Most people said the amnesty was too easy to qualify for, but then if you said that you didn't read it. You needed a number of points based on skill and family and we barely qualified. My parents have college educations, children, stable jobs, speak english perfectly. You can't say that about many illegals in this country.

So, I know my family isn't the only one facing these problems, out of the 15 million or so illegals there's bound to be many in our same situation. This is why I don't understand how there can be so much hate and fear against passing any immigration reform.

Is it just me that notices that almost on every major TV station or political radio channel there is someone fanning more bad feelings towards immigrants every day. CNN has Glenn Beck and yes even the loved Lou Dobbs. FOX, well I don't have to say much about them. It's not just one report though, Dobbs and Beck say something negative every single time they are on the air! Radio is ruled by conservatives and one of their favorite things to do is attack anything that will help illegal immigrants, even the ones with near perfect track records.

I don't understand it, obviously not everyone can come into the U.S. but there has to be exemptions for people that have built their lives here and didn't know better at the time they entered. I usto think the United States was the country famed for taking large waves of immigrants they took in and their attempts, if not always successful to do what was ethically right, what happened?

QUOTE (hett @ Jul 24 2007, 12:51 AM)

You should be angry at your parents for putting you and your siblings in such a bad position. Yes your parent's life will be destroyed, and you and your siblings will be in a horrible situation...but don't get mad at the US government for enforcing the law.

How can I be angry with my parents? They brought me to the U.S. where I've received a good education and an opportunity. It's like asking someone to be angry at someone else who stole food for them so them so they wouldn't starve.

QUOTE (CharlieDiaz @ Jul 24 2007, 11:46 AM)

How can I be angry with my parents? They brought me to the U.S. where I've received a good education and an opportunity. It's like asking someone to be angry at someone else who stole food for them so them so they wouldn't starve.

It's not the same. Spain is not a 3rd world country, but rather an industrialized European nation. Was there some sort of economic, or humanitarian crisis that forced them to flee Spain? How did they get to America? Did they jump a fence, smuggle through a tunnel, or perhaps built a raft to float to America? Your parents didn't rescue you from a life of poverty when they chose to come to America, they came here because it's a nice country. What was stopping them from applying for citizenship when they came over? Law enforcement shouldn't look past people that break the law because they are educated, or have money. Once again I go back to the fact that your parents should have at some point applied for citizenship.

QUOTE (CharlieDiaz @ Jul 23 2007, 11:46 PM)

Now, I'm new to these forums but I wanted to share what I have not been able to say for my entire life. My parents are illegal immigrants. They didn't come from Mexico, they came from Spain. They came when the immigration debate was more lax and they where young and obviously made a mistake coming in illegaly. This was about 20 years ago, they left and came back because of family problems only briefly about 9 years ago. Again, especially before 9/11, things where different.

Edit: Me and my two siblings are legal citizens.

Now they have three kids, I being the oldest. One of my siblings only speaks english. We are products of American culture. This is our home and where we've lived our entire lives.

Now I ask, is it ethical that the parents of 3 children who have built lives in this country should be deported thus destroying the lives of their children in the process? I'm already old enough to be on my own but my younger siblings are not and still depend entirely on my parents. My father has his own business but if he is deported everything he worked for will be in vain, and no one hires 50 year olds anymore for decent paying jobs.

So I just wanted to ask here because I notice that so many of you seem to have all the answers to this issue. What the hell are people like us suppose to do?

Thank you.

I hear Spain is a great country.

QUOTE (CharlieDiaz @ Jul 23 2007, 11:46 PM)

I'm already old enough to be on my own but my younger siblings are not and still depend entirely on my parents. My father has his own business but if he is deported everything he worked for will be in vain, and no one hires 50 year olds anymore for decent paying jobs.

He should "sell" you his business & focus on how to stay in the country legally... there are loopholes for everything, I'm sure if you try hard enough you'll find one. Canadian (legal) immigration works differently than US. A popular way to get landed immigrant status here is to start up your own business.

It's not that Spain isn't a great country, it's just that my father built his life here, he has nothing in Spain. He left because of family problems. The business is already under my name so as too avoid legal problems.

I think Canada has more ways to become a legal citizen than in the U.S. I think there is a way that I can claim my parents and thus legalize them but I'd have to be older. And I'm not even sure that it's possible. I'm probably going to see a lawyer pretty soon on the matter.

The bigger picture here is, how can the United States solve this problem, when there a so many families so rooted to the country? I don't want to sound selfish when I say that not everyone should be legalized, but there should be an amnesty for people who haven't committed any crimes (crossing the boarder is a misdemeanor) and have been upstanding residents of the United States. I wrote this thread out of anger when I saw Lou Dobbs bashing any sort of immigration control that isn't complete boarder lock out and deportation right before the democratic debates. I know many of you like Dobbs and candidates like Tancredo but I just want you to see that it's not all black and white. There are lives at stake, American lives even if you don't recognize them as such.

QUOTE (CharlieDiaz @ Jul 24 2007, 02:08 PM)

It's not that Spain isn't a great country, it's just that my father built his life here, he has nothing in Spain. He left because of family problems. The business is already under my name so as too avoid legal problems.

I think Canada has more ways to become a legal citizen than in the U.S. I think there is a way that I can claim my parents and thus legalize them but I'd have to be older. And I'm not even sure that it's possible. I'm probably going to see a lawyer pretty soon on the matter.

The bigger picture here is, how can the United States solve this problem, when there a so many families so rooted to the country? I don't want to sound selfish when I say that not everyone should be legalized, but there should be an amnesty for people who haven't committed any crimes (crossing the boarder is a misdemeanor) and have been upstanding residents of the United States. I wrote this thread out of anger when I saw Lou Dobbs bashing any sort of immigration control that isn't complete boarder lock out and deportation right before the democratic debates. I know many of you like Dobbs and candidates like Tancredo but I just want you to see that it's not all black and white. There are lives at stake, American lives even if you don't recognize them as such.

I personally hate Lou Dobbs and Tom Tancredo. Why are you telling the United States to solve the immigration problem? We didn't create it, illegal immigrants created the problem. We need to enforce our laws though, and we wouldn't have these types of problems. The situation isn't black or white obviously, but how do you create a system that allows some people to stay, and others not to? The vast majority of illegals are Hispanic of South and Central American heritage. They want to work hard and make money. They have no intentions of committing crimes, but just because they don't own their own business, or have built long lives here doesn't mean they should be kicked out before your family. You can't create a fair system that allows some illegals to stay, while others are forced out.

I agree with you. I think only the criminals should be kicked out and then they should close the border with whatever means necessary and help mexico recover economically. This is the ideal solution in my view, but as so many ideal solutions it would receive unimaginable opposition. I made a mistake in my last post and you are right, I'm sorry.

Deciding who stays and who goes is tricky. I'm not even sure where to start.

By the way, my dad started working on a farm and then kept getting better jobs, I don't want to give the impression we came here with money. The first few weeks of my life I lived in a car.

Why is it America's job to help Mexico's economic recovery?

Close the borders, first and foremost. There is no way to solve the problem of all the illegals in the U.S. already if more and more keep coming in. Enact a 5 year moratorium on legal immigration. By stopping the new paperwork coming in, it gives the government a chance to catch up on the existing applications as well as the opportunity to streamline the process and "cut the fat" to make the application process more efficient when the moratorium ends.

If a country's economy is stable, then their neighbors economies also benefit. First and foremost fix NAFTA, don't get rid of it, just fix it so that corporations stop taking advantage of everyone.

If Mexico is in better economic standing, immigration will begin to subside. Personally I think it's a problem that America is so self-centered, they have to involve themselves more with other countries, especially their neighbors. And no I don't mean invade Venezuela...

By having a more actively economic and diplomatic foreign policy with south America especially, we can halt this socialist trend that is occuring there, which by the way is also causing immigration.

The Soviet Union was never able, in almost a century, to bring communism to the mainland of south America, Bush did it in less than a decade.

What is stopping your parents from trying to obtain citizenship now? Granted, they'd probably have to go back to Spain and start at the bottom, but it would solve the problem. I understand that he has a business here and that going back to Spain would more than likely result in lost revenue. That being said, I have a hard time being sympathetic when they knowingly broke the law to enter the U.S. to begin with. You're right in the fact that it's not all black and white. There is no easy fix to the problem no matter what perspective you have. (Unless you're a moron who doesn't realize that it's more complex than total deportation or total amnesty.) When the only law broken is border jumping and the person has no history of criminal activity, I see no problem with providing them a path by which to become a citizen. I do not, however, agree with just handing them citizenship as there are countless people who have gone through the motions and obtained citizenship the legal way.