Arizona's New Immigration Law

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by firstdown

I would agree that they come here for a better life but I think we are really talking about two different groups of Mexicans. One group goes through what it takes to do it the legal way to establish a place for their family so they have a better life. The other group are the illegals that come here to make money and ship it home so their family has a better life. The second group is the one that takes away jobs and resources because everything they do is done under the table.

I really don't think it's that cut and dry. One of the main issues we haven't adequately dealt with is the INS; The path to citizenship for immigrants is broken and outdated. And so many of these people have to wait years in line, for a variety of reasons, to become legal citizens. We need to reform the system as much as we need to deal with the border issue, undocumented workers, and people that have overstayed their visas. That's why this Arizona law is a band aid at best. It's all about "catching people", but does nothing to curb the the influx of people coming across the border or encourage legal citizenship.

There has to be action at the federal level to cut at the root of the issue. But then we, too, need to know how to deal with those who have been here for years, raised families in earnest, and want to become legal citizens.

The longer we become a nation of immigrants, legal and illegal, the more difficult it will be to solve the problem. I think we can and should put millions of people on a fast track to citizenship by overhauling the INS.