Imigration

[MMI]

Illegal imigrants do not have the same rights that you have. They can't do a legitimate job, they can't get a driver's licence, they can't get an education, they can't get medical aid or food stamps, because, if they apply for them, they get noticed, rounded up, processed through a gaol and deported to their homeland ...

Not in the US. While they may not be able to get a driver's license, their children can be sent to schools, and they are eligible for both free breakfasts and lunches. They get medical aid simply by showing up in a clinic or emergency room. I don't know about food stamps, off hand, but there are other social services that they can apply for without having their names turned over to the INS. Unless I have been badly misinformed, there are some places where it is illegal to turn them over to the Feds unless they actually violate a law. (Other than being illegal in the first place, that is.)

Then I withdraw my charges against the USA, which, according to your description, is behaving as a responsible nation should. It seems, therefore, that there is a group of people within the country that is agitating for harsher treatment for their fellow humans, using often emotional and perjorative arguments substantiated by selected misinformation. If they were not so vocal perhaps they would not matter.

Many of them have little or no choice when they leave their country, so why should it matter to them that they step beyond some badly policed fences marking the US border? What harm do they do? You brand them as "criminals": men, women, children alike just because their presence offends you. How many were criminals in their home nations.

Yes, some are branded as criminals in their home countries, and there are laws here to protect such refugees. Cubans, in particular, are generally protected from deportation, provided they can safely reach the US. Other nationalities can also apply for refugee status, which is different than immigration. If there is a recognized threat of persecution for those being sent back, they will not be.

I think you miss my point: I contend that the majority of illegal immigrants - the economic immigrants, if you like - never broke a law while living in their original homes, and would never break a law in the USA if they were allowed to stay. The only law they broke was entering your country without permission.

Did you know "The New Colossus" before Jennifer Williams quoted it? I didn't but I looked it up, and for the benefit of those who have never heard/read it before, I reporduce it below. Such noble words!

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

The US constitution might consider aliens to be unworthy, but it wsas itself drafted by people committing a much more serious criminal act ... and you idolise them.

Still trying to get the colonies back, are you? Just remember, while the rebellion was a criminal act in England, the cause was just. Obviously. Because they won. Twice.

You know what they say: Those fighting for me are freedom fighters, those fighting against me are terrorists.

Twice? I think you might find the Canadians would have something to say about that ... for us, both wars were a distraction ... a side show. The real wars were being fought elsewhere.

But I'm interested in what you say about treason (it was treason in the colonies, by the way, not just in England). You say, while the rebellion was a criminal act in England, the cause was just. While I cannot accept a land-grab by wealthy settlers interested in trading with the enemy is ever just, it intrrigues me that Americans, by your own words, can break the law when they feel it is justifiable, yet will not accept that a bad American law can be sidestepped

... They are breaking the law! That's all I care about!