Treatment of illegal immigrants
Ken Bonetti of Boulder writes:
This is a vile tactic. Such despicable official behavior ignores the realities poor immigrants face and the great contributions they make to our economy and nation.
One reality is that the poor in Latin America are in part victims of self-serving US trade policies that further impoverish and impel some to seek work in this country to survive. The contributions immigrants make to the US economy are obvious, as Colorado officials are considering yet another morally reprehensible action, the use of slave prison labor to pick next season’s food crops in the absence of immigrant labor. These disgusting policies simply waste valuable public resources, drive immigrants to other crossing points at great economic and human cost, and morally taint our country.
If those poor immigrants were white and blond, would we allow our government to treat them like common criminals? These policies do nothing to solve problems, real or perceived. They simply waste valuable resources, forestall effective solutions and create the impression around the world that Americans are hateful and cruel racists.
You liberal idiot! They are breaking the law, leeching off welfare and healthcare and so on.
Posted by on March 28, 2007 02:06 PMIf those poor ILLEGAL immigrants would follow the laws and procedures to getting legal residence here, there wouldn't be any problem.
Posted by on March 28, 2007 02:12 PMI have learned to my dismay that stupid morons from Boulder hate Colorados poor working class. There love of law breaking illegals because they work for beans and they can feel like slave owners. Illegals have destroyed thousands of working familys in Colorado while our politicians sit on there fat asses.
Posted by FW on March 29, 2007 03:32 AMAhh...yes Ken, it is better to have those illegal immigrants toiling away in the fields for slave wages than to have hardened criminals doing it. I bet you feel really good about yourself as you sit down to eat that salad knowing that the people who cultivated and picked those veggies were barely making a livable wage so you can have your low-cost meal at their expense. The question is...who is perpetuating this slave wage industry??? The businesses or people like you, the ones who benefit from it????? I bet you're real proud of yourself.
Posted by Tom Vigil on March 29, 2007 05:09 AMTom: I'd rather pay more for a head of lettece and send the illegals packing back to their countries. Give me a place to sign and I'll stand behind my statement. Go home illegals.
Posted by Ann on March 29, 2007 05:42 AMKen - Illegally entering the United States is by no means a civil offense - it is a criminal offense. I do not know where you get your information but it is wrong. I am unsure whether it is a felony or a misdemeanor, but I am damn sure it is a criminal offense. So yes, ILLEGALS are treated as criminals, because that is what they are. Just as if someone hungry, unemployed, and looking to better themselves broke into your house is a criminal offense.
Posted by Michael on March 29, 2007 05:58 AMKen - you don't know what you talk about. The illegals are ruining this country. Give me a break. If they were here legally, fine, but I'm sick of the invasion. Whatever means it takes to stop this invasion is fine by me. I just hope it isn't too late, but if something isn't done and done soon, this country will have no laws and the middle class won't exist.
Posted by MI on March 29, 2007 06:20 AMKen,
You are serious need of help, these people violate our laws, demand rights they have not earned, and expect the US Citizens to cater to their every whim. GIVE ME A BREAK, send them home. Try breaking into Mexico illegally and them come back and tell us how wonderfully you were treated down there by the Mexican police and the Mexican jails.
WHAT ?? We are treating illegal immigrants as criminals? The fact they our breaking our laws means nothing. The politically correct crowd will have a fit over this. Next they will be calling illegals, undocumented workers. How about illegal colonization? Many never intend to go back to their third world hellhole and try to bring it into the 21st century. Easier to sponge off the USA.
This sounds like a response from someone in Boulder, aka Califfornia East !
If the illegals from south of the border must go then they ALL must go. This goes for all of the illegals who came here for asylum and have had hangups in the legalization process and now possibly face deportation. These illegals "disappear" into the Russian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Aremenian, Ukrainian, Latvian, Polish, Hungarian, Georgian, etc. neighborhoods Back East and are therefore here illegally Do they not ever seek emergancy medical attention? If they are not gainfully employed and do not have health insurance who foots the bill? Do they not have children at the expense of taxpayers as well?
What about the millions of Chinese who are smuggled here in the hulls of cargo ships, many sick and dying from the long voyage?
We again are asked to pay for these illegals extensive medical care, foot stamps, assisted housing, and welfare. Illegal is illegal whether they are brown, white, black, pink, purple or yellow. Why not deport them all?
Where is your dismay at the despicable behavior of the D.A.'s office in The People's Republic of Boulder. Where is sympathy for baby Midyette. The poor baby who over a year ago was brought to a Boulder Hospital by Boulder parents and the baby died shortly after.Where is your outrage that the parents were never asked one question in the death of their baby.Both parents walked out of the hospital after their baby died and lawyered up.
It has been over a year now and not one person in Boulder has stood up for the injustice of an American citizen that was brutally murdered.NO ONE!!!!!
The baby was 10 weeks old and had 48 broken bones in his little body and a severely fractured skull.
Let me repeat that so it might get through to your sense of what a real injustice is.
A ten week old baby had 48 broken bones and a severely fractured skull.
Not one question has been asked of the only caretakers the baby had,the mother and father. Not one question. Why?The father of the baby is a Midyette. To me that means nothing. To boulder that means lots of money.
So before you start feeling sorry for a person that has come to our country illegaly ,has broken our laws,continues to break more and more laws the longer they are here.....You need to find out what is going on in the town of Boulder where you live that has a law enforcement department that lets parents get away with brutally beating a child to death and doing nothing to bring justice to an American citizen that has been treated worse than a dog put to sleep.
I would like to see you and all the other Boulderites who think injustice is being down to illegals,our soldiers,our enviroment etc...Get your priorities straight and find some justice for one of your own, baby Midyette.
Posted by TLF on March 29, 2007 10:23 AMThis letter is so inane. Wow, to treat someone breaking the law as a criminal! How dare we enforce our laws! The sheer gall of it!
Posted by fiesty on March 29, 2007 10:38 AMWhat are you smoking in the PRB Ken? You want them, you pay for them.
I am sick and tired of paying for these leeches on society. I am fed up with America being turned into a third world rat hole because of illegal aliens.
Posted by QBT on March 29, 2007 10:45 AMKen,
Your thoughtful letter echos my own values and beliefs about the kind of country I wish to live in. One with compassion and respect for all people. Too often we criminalize the state of being poor. Many want to get into a discussion about legal and illegal, when the point is that if we have bad laws on the books (ie. Jim Crow laws, etc) it's up to people like us to make sure better laws get written. Thanks! Jordan T
"I have learned to my dismay that immigration enforcers are treating illegal immigrants like criminals rather than violators of civil law. "
- What is the 12th word in this statement?
'nuff said....
Posted by Paul on March 29, 2007 11:38 AMOur society is not overrun by illegal immigrants, but overrun by greed, superstition, and fear. We are greedy and don't want to share wealth with outsiders. We think that our religious fairy tales mean that outsiders are inferior. And we fear that our greed and superstition will come to an end because our intuition tells us that we deserve it.
Posted by Richard Conn on March 29, 2007 11:48 AMKen:
Thanks for taking a stand and echoing the feelings of many US citizens. We are a country of immigrants and we will continue to be a country of immigrants (documented, legal or otherwise). Our economy--coast to coast and border to border--would come to screaching halt if it were not for the HARD WORKING and contributing immigrant population. I would like to challenge all parents that are or have raised a family in this country to go on the record and state that they have raised their children to fill the jobs that most of the immigrants are fulfilling. A large potion of the jobs that the immigrants are filling are dangerous and not highly sought after by our current work force. Generally speaking our current service industry work force pool that is available in this country is lazy, unmotivated and "entitled". Go figure it out! Who is going to cook your restaurant meal, land scape your yard, change the sheets on your hotel bed etc.???
Ken~
Your letter points to how our broken immigration system has its hardest impact on both immigrants and low-income workers in our country. If our legislators were to fix this system, we would look to address the ways in which US policies have, as you noted, further bankrupted our neighbors to the South and in other poor countries. We would also have a workable quota system so that people who want to come to our country to be with their families, contribute to our economies, and enrich our communities could do so LEGALLY. Finally, our government would be honest about how we have heretofore exploited the undocumented, creating a race to the bottom in wages and workplace conditions for all workers in the US. Immigrants, here legally through this new visa system, would come out of the shadows, no longer work for slave wages, and have the right to unionize along with working citizens, improving conditions for all working Americans.
Why do people continue to believe that undocumented workers use welfare.? Geesh! - they ARE NOT eligible for it because they don't have a SS#! Get a grip here, and, if you're going to be bigoted, at least get your facts straight! We used to admit people to the U.S. under the auspices of "health and human services" - think late-1800s .. so, if you think your relatives came in "legally" and "assimilated" as quick as possible, think again. My family only stopped speaking German decades later when it became physically dangerous for them to do so b/c of anti-German sentiment around the World Wars.
Posted by Sarah on March 29, 2007 12:38 PMIn fact, entering the United States without documentation is an immigration code offense. It does not carry any criminal penalty, misdemeanor or felony.
Immigrants who are here are all human beings. They are not an "invasion". If we wish for them to come here legally, we should have a system that allows them to do so. Currently, worker VISAS are offered every year and gone in one day. There are 200,000 or so VISAS offered every year and millions of undocumented workers. There is not a way to come legally.
Also, if you go to the Census bureau's website, you will see that with the baby boomers retiring there is actually a lack of available labor. This mean that we need to add to our workforce and have a stable predictable workforce in order to maintain economic growth. Immigration Refomr would provide us with both, allow us to screen workers coming in and make our communities whole. It would also maike enforcement of labor law easier and thereby protect all workers.
Thank you,
Piper
Being a compassionate and humane individual does not mean condoning the willful breaking of the law. If you support illegal immigrants, then you must obviously support completely open borders. Do you also support providing bus and plane tickets for folks to come to this country?
America welcomes immigrants, those who respect our country, which includes our laws. To support illegal immigrants is a slap in the face to those immigrants who have been respectfully following our laws and waiting their turn.
Posted by fiesty on March 29, 2007 01:01 PMKen~
Well said!
I really appreciate that you acknowledged the reasons many immigrants are forced to come to the United States. They are essentially economic refugees- victims of our trade policies.
Because this is the case it is our responsibility as citizens to stand up for what it is right and push for a fair and just immigration system that would allow more people to live healthy and safe lives.
Posted by bri on March 29, 2007 01:15 PMIllegals ARE eligible for state welfare, food stamps, healthcare, etc... UNLESS the people of that state are smart enough to enact legistlation requiring legal status to qualify for these benefits. Other states have done this as well as denying in-state tuition for illegals. It would be a very wise move for Colorado to follow suit.
And Sarah - Illegals have no problem obtaining SS #'s to receive benefits once they get here. Most every form of ID is available to them on the streets. You see, crossing is only the first of many laws these people are breaking.
Posted by KW on March 29, 2007 01:53 PMbri - I've studied a few of the comprehensive reform bills and found one common thread; no mention of enforcement reform.
How is law enforcement going to round up the 12 million violators who go back into hiding when their new temporary work visas expire? We can't even figure out how to round up all the violators already here.
If / when this issue is addressed I may be more open to immigration reform rather than simply opting for deportation.
Posted by KW on March 29, 2007 02:00 PMSarah, are you that sheltered that you think illegal immigrants cant get welfare??? Come on Sarah....really.. most of them have stolen or purchased id's and yes, they DO get benefits, illegally..
Posted by ks on March 29, 2007 03:13 PMSarah/bri/M.M./Ken/Richard - I can't believe your stance on this important issue. Are you that blind ? You can't see how the millions of illegals are costing this country and causing hospitals to close, they are driving without insurance or valid driver's license, so that when they cause accidents, because they don't speak the language, they get off without paying, thus costing the legal citizens. If you are so PRO-ILLEGAL, you house them, feed them, pay their doctor/insurance bills, let them use your Social Security Number (so innocent legal citizens won't worry about their ID's being stolen), pay for their translators, and pay whatever else they may need. I want you to let me know when you reach the point of saying enough is enough. You let one in and within a short period of time there will be thousands more, plus the anchor babies. I am tired of footing the bill, so please, if you want them here, you take care of them.
Posted by sickofillegals on March 29, 2007 04:52 PMYeah what he said.... and quit picking on "blonds !"
I think your being racist about white people with blond hair. Now the Muslims are targeting people with blond hair they are racists and you are a racist Bonetti!
Posted by Sweetie Pie on March 29, 2007 05:34 PMApparently, you have never left the protective bubble that is college and/or your parent's house. Try going to Mexico without a passport. Try sneaking across their borders. If you think we're inhumane, wait until you see how Mexico treats their illegals. The problem with illegals is that they refuse to assimilate into our country. They are here illegally and they continue make demands from a country that they have no allegiance to. How are illegals treated unfairly? They get free healthcare, they don't need to contribute to Medicare (yet they milk from it), they get money and credit essentially handed to them, they don't need a valid driver's license and insurance to operate a vehicle, if they get pulled over for a serious vehicular offsense, the police look the other way. They are getting preferential treatment and they AREN'T citizens! They are human and they deserve to be treated humanely, but not every person born of this earth is an AMERICAN CITIZEN! You are a person who is going to always find fault with our country and/or the law. You need a means to find fault in our way of life. Unfortunately, it's going to take another 9/11 before you realize that not all people are on the same level playing field. The longevity of the definition of a citizen depends on the strength of the country's borders. I do, however, dare you to sneak into Mexico without a passport, and let's see you then.
Posted by Trevor on March 29, 2007 07:23 PMgo to the immigration office as a white,blonde haired person as the racist person who wrote the initial article states and see just how inhumane that person is treated . Illegials are more rascist than any other group in america because they feel entitled to what they have not earned. Want to feel entitled to something? then make a change in your own country first, this country doesnt need the added garbage you produce,and the taxes you add to the middle class who struggle because you are getting the medicaid and foodstamps that should be going to legals who have paid taxes in this country.
Posted by mae on March 29, 2007 11:42 PMWait 'till you see how they (these "immigrants") treat you when they take over. They will have forgotten how much you stood up for them as they take a machete to your ass.
Posted by on March 30, 2007 07:37 AMany of you lot actually ever visit the ICE detention centers?
I think that many of the concerns being expressed here are a result of people not being able to get documentation.
I repeat from my earlier posting that there are not enough VISAS for all the workers who are here.
Being here without documentation means that you are not eligible for Medicaid or health insurance, this means that the person must pay out of pocket and I don't know anyone, citizen or not, who is able to pay their hospital bill out of pocket. Immigrants, both documented and undocumented, are not eligible for Medicaid or Social Security, but they do pay into these systems thereby helping to keep them afloat. Many undocumented immigrants in Colorado do not have car insurance because you need a drivers license to get car insurance and you can't get a license in Colorado if you don't have documentation of your legal status.
To address the point about enforcement, the STRIVE act does have enforcement provisions. Also undocumented immigrants want to have papers. No one wants to be here without papers because being undocumented exposes a person to greater job hazards, in some cases lower pay, vulnerability to having your human rights violated and law enforcement. If undocumented immigrants are allowed to apply for status, they will. No one wants to be here without papers.
The STRIVE Act will also first eliminate the ten year backlog of VISA applications before awarding a regular VISA to those without documentation. So those who are currently here without papers will receive "conditional status" and after 6 years be allowed to apply for a regular VISA. They will at that point go to the end of the line and wait for their application to come up after those waiting in other countries who applied before them.
TANF welfare, food stamps and Medicaid are all Federal programs which require proof of citizen status in order to receive benefits.
Finally, we as a country need to also create a comprehensive trade policy. The current trade policies are a patchwork that neither benefit low-income workers in the States or abroad. Because our government refuses to make worker protections a prerequisite of trade policies, both our low-income workers and workers in other countries suffer as corporations engage in a race to find the cheapest labor. The economic devastation left behind is a major reason for immigration to this and other countries. We are not the only country dealing with mass immigration. China and countries in Western Europe are also experiencing the same. The problem won't be solved by enforcement and legalization alone. WE no longer live in a vacuum. The United States can be a leader in the world on this issue. We can come together to address all these concerns and to make changes.
Piper
When Colorado instituted strict document rules for driver's licenses and ID cards there were over a thousand incidents in the first month where the check on the documents found them to be false.
At the Swift ICE raid there were hundreds oi people with jobs but no legal documents.
Yes illegals break other laws and cost us millions of dollars a month.
They go to the ER and then pay nothing. They get food stamps and benefits for their kids like schools etc. All of this costs money and when there are American citizens and veterans who need help they must come first.
The cost of the anchor babies excuse me the COSTS of the anchor babies are something we can deal with now along with the problems.
Three steps:
Punish the employers with HIGH fines, loss of government contracts, a tax penalty equal to twice the yearly wages of each worker to be paid into the social security and medicare funds and make them pay the cost of extreme document checking which will discourage any repeats.The checking will be done by people trained and supervised by federal government officials and will include DNA and finerprints so we can easily identify them later if they try to come back. Also they will pay the cost of returning their illegal workers AND their families to home whereever that is.
Second, Immediately eliminate the automatic citzenship that creates anchor babies. The law was never intended for illegal immigrants and in fact specifically singles out those here illegally but the courts messed that up. IF a family has a child that is already a citizen then give them a choice of taking the child and going home and letting the child decide his citizenship at 18.(get DNA and fingerpints for each child like this to make verification of the documentation easier.) or they can leave the kids in foster care here. We are already paying for most of them.
Third we keep DNA and fingerprint records of all illegals we capture and we make them serve hard time on chain gang like service cleaning up graffiti, shoveling snow or doing farm labor. If they come back we make them serve the same hard time for a longer period. The sentence is to interrupt the money stream which is the only penalty that will have any lasting effect or meaning. If one of them drives without insurance or a license they break the law. If a TV station catch them leaving the courthouse and driving away after being convicted of not having insurance or a driver's license then so can the police and when they're caught put them in jail, impound the vehicle (both of which need no changes in the law) and deport them. We will save millions of dollars and the costs of enforcement will be a fraction ofthe costs of not enforcing the laws.
Strange that the "cost" of enforcement is not even mentioned for other lawbreakers but we can solve this problem if we remember that no politican will do anything if they think they can get away with it. Both sides see the illegals as a group of easy votes they can buy off withour tax dollars. How about we find a way to conince them that even attempting such a thing would be the end of a career.
Please refer to the Denver Post article
"Colorado Immigration Law Falls Short of Goal:
State agencies: $2 million cost and no savings."
Here is the link:
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_5081255
The fact that there have been no savings implies that undocumented immigrants are not accessing these resources in large numbers and that those who claim otherwise might be doing so to misinform and create bias.
Enforcement costs us and does nothing to address the underlying causes of immigration.
What suggestions do other people have to address the root causes of immigration?
Thank you
"The fact that there have been no savings implies that undocumented immigrants are not accessing these resources in large numbers and that those who claim otherwise might be doing so to misinform and create bias. "
That writing style looks familiar...like something one would see in the style section
Posted by Truthy on March 30, 2007 02:11 PMmomma y,
you do understand that in the case of an "anchor baby" it is only the baby that can stay legally, right?
The parents get deported and if nobody else can take legal guardianship, then the baby AND the parents are deported, after a lengthy stay in an ICE prison that is.
Just because your kid is an american doesn't mean as a parent you automatically stay.
Plenty cases of parents being deported and having US born kids.
Posted by on March 30, 2007 02:17 PMUndocumented worker = ILLEGAL ALIEN. Here illegally. What happens when a blonde crosses a border ILLEGALLY in China? In a South American Country? In Mexico? What happens if that blonde is any other race. The same. They are PROSECUTED All of them that are caught. In some cases ROBBED, RAPED, KILLED. Oops but we shouldnt talk about that...
Using the "If it were to only save 1 life" analogy........
How many people have been killed by Illegal Aliens sayyyyy since 9/11? It is a pretty staggering thought.
Talk about "compassion" go look up the video Numbers on Yahoo and take a look at what we are really doing to our country.
Posted by bwr on March 30, 2007 02:53 PM"Plenty cases of parents being deported and having US born kids. "
Numbers and source please.
Posted by Truthy on March 30, 2007 04:06 PMCompassionate and humane are one thing; being played the fool and sucker is another. Illegal aliens play Americans for fools and suckers.
As I said before; Ken et al who want them should pay completely for them. Maybe then they will wake up and see that their "hard working" illegal aliens are nothing but a bunch of criminal leeches on American society.
Posted by QBT on March 30, 2007 07:22 PMQBT: "Maybe then they will wake up and see that their "hard working" illegal aliens are nothing but a bunch of criminal leeches on American society."
If you want stronger measures to stop illegal immigration, you should condemn attitudes like this. Such hateful and grossly asinine crap is likely to stir up sentiments in favor of illegal immigrants. I'd much prefer to live next door to the illegal immigrants I have known than live next door to someone like QBT.
Posted by Truth on March 31, 2007 08:11 AMTruth? HAHAHAHAHAH.... Bet you have a dog in this fight. You are a complete idiot, but good for a chuckle.
You see racists every where you look don't ya? Boo! There goes a bigot! Boo there goes a nativist! Boo! There goes a xenophobe! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! What a maroon.
Posted by Can ya feel the love on March 31, 2007 09:32 AMI don't know what fantasy land Truth lives in; but he/she can always move to Mexico and live amongst those hard working criminals.
Most Americans regardless of political party affiliation are fed up with illegal aliens turning the USA into a third world rat hole, and we are fed up with the politicians in Washington willfully deconstructing this once great nation piece by piece to further their own personal agendas.
Posted by QBT on March 31, 2007 12:31 PM