Quote from AAAintheBeltway:
Interesting comments. Maverick, I hear what you're saying and I agree with the sentiment, but I think this thing is just a ticking time bomb. Any time you enforce a law there is the possibility of violence, but there is already plenty of violence on the border. Ranchers are invaded nightly by armed gangs of smugglers who cause enormous damage. Border patrol agents are shot at. I don't want to see women and children, men either for that matter, getting shot, but your option sounds a lot like surrender to me.
As for employer sanctions and the like, that has long been the law. It is enforced sporadically. Basically it doesn't work, for a lot of reasons.
I started this thread to be a strictly political discussion. The morality of this issue is interesting, but the politics of it are compelling. The simple fact is that voters are fed up with uncontrolled and illegal immigration, particularly from Latin America. Bush has turned his back on these voters. Can Dean capitalize?
Quote from Pabst:
ROFL.
Quote from LongShot:
they could fix it if they wanted to..
THEY DONT WANT TO!
are you guys this naive!!?? lol
Quote from AAAintheBeltway:
I'm not sure what the law currently provides regarding foreign workers who work here then return home. You do have to pay into the SS system for a minimum number of years before you're eligible.
At first blush it seems unfair that foreign workers, legal or not, would have to pay SS taxes then not be able to collect benefits. The problem with that view however is that SS is not a pension plan. As much as people like to think they have their own little SS account with their money sitting in it drawing interest, that is a fantasy. The money goes into the government coffers and is immediately spent. You are entitiled to what congress says you can receive, end of discussion. Basically, and I know this is unpopular to say, but the fact is that SS is a welfare scheme. It is designed to reduce poverty and ease retirement for people in this country. If you are here as a guest worker and go home, why is it the responsibility of the US taxpayer to look after you in Mexico? I pay a lot of taxes that go to things I never receive any benefit from, like public schools. This is no different.
Quote from AAAintheBeltway:
The money goes into the government coffers and is immediately spent. You are entitiled to what congress says you can receive, end of discussion. Basically, and I know this is unpopular to say, but the fact is that SS is a welfare scheme. It is designed to reduce poverty and ease retirement for people in this country. If you are here as a guest worker and go home, why is it the responsibility of the US taxpayer to look after you in Mexico? I pay a lot of taxes that go to things I never receive any benefit from, like public schools. This is no different.