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Return to Article: Congress may balk at DHS push to oust illegal Salvadorans

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  Brittany,

  I'm not against immigration. I am against crime, which is what these illegal immigrants are committing. But, we allow it when we don't force our government to punish those that hire them. It has nothing to do with love -- it has to do with accountability. I couldn't commit a crime and get away with it. Why should they be able to? Why don't they force their government to improve their economy instead of illegally coming here and putting a heavier burden on our health care and education systems?

  GovExec.com reader Posted October 19, 2006 7:51 AM
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  Well, Brittney, I think that while you appear to be a compassionate person, you really don't know anything about this issue. The population of this country just topped 300 million, and unlike the old days, when there was plenty of room for everyone, things are now getting pretty crowded. We have the most generous immigration policy of any nation on earth, and legally take more in immigrants than the rest of the world combined. That's the key -- legal immigration. Considering how much of the world lives in poverty and lacks freedom, I'm sure that at least half of the world wouldn't mind coming here. That amounts to 3 billion people, more or less. Would you let them all in? What would you do then about providing food, water, education, health care, jobs, and other services for these people?

  I love people, too, but that doesn't mean I can open my door and let in anyone who wants to live in my house! And the million and a half dollar figure you refer to actually is a very small percentage of our gross domestic product. This boycott did nothing to harm our economy, so what's your point? No doubt you mean well, but you sure are naive!

  GovExec.com reader Posted October 18, 2006 3:19 PM
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  Are you all forgetting that everybody, except Native Americans, is descended from immigrants? Ever heard of loving people? You should all try to be that. It's actually nice. And if you think they do not contribute to the economy of this country, I must say you are very wrong. If you must know, we had a day this year where all illegal immigrants abstained from buying anything. Some even did not work if they weren't jeopardized by their choice. And this country went down, in just one day, almost a million and a half dollars. What do you think of that?

  Brittney Posted October 17, 2006 11:47 PM
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  The Salvadorans have had 26 years to become legal citizens and if they have not done that, deport them. When is Congress going to wake up to the fact these illegal immigrants are draining U.S. resources dry. How much money earned by these illegal immigrants is sent out of the United States to these poor countries? Why would Mexico want to fix the mass exodus of its population when these illegal immigrants are providing income to Mexico? Mexico is benefiting from the influx of money provided by these illegal immigrants to Mexico without costing them a cent. Congress needs to reverse this with legal immigrants who pay taxes and pay for the services they use. These taxes would help our national debt!

  I am fourth generation American and my paternal ancestors migrated from Ireland to America in the early 1900 through Ellis Island. They had no guest worker program and definitely were not allowed to skip the naturalization process. My maternal grandfather purchased his first pair of new shoes at age 16 with his first paycheck, raised 10 children, and he lived to the age of 102. To allow the illegal immigrants to remain in the United States is a disservice to our ancestors and the American citizen.

  I do not agree with the Senate's version of the immigration plan of allowing family members to migrate to the United States if they are under the age of 21 and have a family member living in the United States. It did not clarify if the family member was a legal or illegal immigrant. My question and objection is, if the age 18 is the legal age of an adult in the United States, why are we making allowances for the illegal immigrants?

  I do not agree with President Bush's immigration plan, which would include a guest worker program to legalize the immigrants here illegally. Yes, our country may need the workers, but let them become legal immigrants by the normal process and they can be guaranteed minimum wages, benefits and retirement. Let them contribute to the economy instead of draining it.

  GovExec.com reader Posted September 13, 2006 2:05 PM
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  Average of $95/day!! We would be better off to have the National Guard fly them back as another commenter has suggested and put $50 in their pocket! When will the politicos get a clue and stop pandering to every slice of America? I write this as a Hispanic U.S. citizen having been born and lived in Central America. I also am acutely aware of the social and economic situations in these countries by participating in church mission trips to the Guatemalan highlands the last six years. Yes, the United States can do more in its own backyard than it has but not at the cost of our national sovereignty. Enforce our laws and give the word border some meaning.

  GovExec.com reader Posted September 6, 2006 11:54 AM
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  Undocumented immigrants from El Salvador are deported every day! Other than a litigation settlement which requires Salvadorans arrested at the border to be informed of the right to apply for asylum, I don't know what "law" Michael Chertoff is talking about.

  Roy Petty Posted September 6, 2006 11:13 AM
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  Amen to "enough is enough." Anyone "illegal" needs to be deported immediately. The names of our political representatives that are opposing this action should be posted so the voters know who to get out of office. Based on everything I have been able to gather, a solid majority (85 percent or more) of Americans are against any amnesty for illegal aliens, immigrants, or whatever you want to call them, to include citizenship for their children who are born here. It has nothing to do with discrimination -- it's just legal versus illegal. The American taxpayer is tired of footing the bill for them. Try to go to Mexico illegally and see what happens to you, or any other country for that matter. I, and everyone I talk to, am sick and tired of our so-called representatives not doing anything regarding this issue, except maybe some lip service. I guess they think it could cost them a vote or two; it could backfire on them this fall when their constituents vote them out of office. Also, most "legal" Mexicans are against amnesty or any special consideration for those who are illegal, as they earned their citizenships legally, as did my family.

  GovExec.com reader Posted September 5, 2006 4:52 PM
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  Enough is enough! What is Congress's malfunction?! According to the article, DHS has already spent $250 million this FY to detain El Sals and that's only this year. What about years past? This doesn't even account for the other countries whose sordid malcontents we've been detaining, letting out on "supervised release", or not even bothering with. Congress balks at how much is being spent on the War on Terror, stating it's bankrupting this country. What do they think this malady is doing?

  What also chaps me is their shameless pandering to the Hispanics for the zillionth time. The war in their country is over...if their infrastructure is still in a shambles, it's not our problem. We have far greater issues at stake in this country. If we have so many illegals still running around and can't seem to get around to removing them, what does that say about the terrorists that are already on our soil? (anyone on the Hill still remember 9/11?) Are we not going to get rid of them because their poor country is war-torn?

  Let's not forget about their brilliant reasoning to build more detention facilities. Boy, that's showing some real cerebral function! Congress is whining about money but they want to dump billions more into detention space which means it'll cost more to staff and operate them, not to mention feeding the detainees and giving them MTV.

  Hey Congress, especially you libs...you want to spend money wisely? Give it to the Air National Guard so they can rack up flight hours stuffing C-130's and C-5A's full of every illegal in this country and airlift them out of here!

  GovExec.com reader Posted September 1, 2006 8:55 AM
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  Congress needs to clean up their act. Why should the US pay $250 million a year to detain illegal Salvadorans? If the Salvadorans have been here over three years and have not become US citizens, too bad, deport them. This open hand policy is breaking the backs of the hardworking American taxpayer.

  GovExec.com reader Posted September 1, 2006 7:06 AM