Napolitano Focuses on Immigration Enforcement, Not Overhaul - Page 2

Ok, first off, it is costing millions of dollars from tax money on deportation. If it were truly a self-interest act, wouldn't the government benefit more from giving a fine to those who are willing to work on their status?

I'm sure the majority [of illegals] are willing to shell out money instead of living the lives they live now.

On my opinion, they choose to hold back on legalization because that would mean rights to "relying" on the government. (Ie. food stamps, finacial aid...) Stereotypically, minorities are known to "rely" on government assistance. As for me, I work hard for the things I have earned and never had to rely on anyone else to support me. I don't know about you, but I don't see any illegals- homeless on the streets begging for money.

I have pointed this out myself to countless people throughtout the years: You do not see immigrants homeless. There are plenty of people out there who believe we are taking somebody elses's place wherever we are (colleges or work), but in my case, in all the places of employment I've been, I've seen dozens of people come and go, and not work out because they are lazy, incompetent, or just plain don't fit in the workplace, or are unwilling to work hard, because as Americans, they feel entitled to things.

From Julia Koehler at ImmgrationProf:


"It seems more useful to work for piecemeal reforms, in incremental pieces. Starting with a moratorium on raids, ending all 287g programs, and closing down the detention center network. The Obama administration must be questioned about the fact that the President himself is saying, he can't predict whether immigration reform can pass, yet he is stepping up 287g programs. I think stopping the increased unjust "enforcement" that is part of the Obama administration vision has to be the most urgent goal, not "CIR."The only enforcement that serves justice and fairness to Americans and immigrants, is enforcement of labor law and of safety regulations - OSHA needs to be strengthened and get the billions of dollars that the Obama administration has budgeted for ICE.

Piecemeal increments are more likely to be achievable I think, such as stopping deportations of anyone who is not convicted of a violent crime, and establishing a visa with the right to reside and work in the US - and travel back and forth - for the 12 million undocumented people. Most of my undocumented friends do not have American citizenship high on their priority list. But being able to go visit their families and come back to their job here is #1 on the list of many people I know. Not to say this is easy to achieve. But again, all "CIR" proposals in the public realm right now that I know of are more unjust than beneficial.


The whole idea that CIR needs to include a "fine" , which everyone has seemed to agree to, promotes the underlying concept that undocumented people are criminals of some sort who need to acknowledge their misdeeds and accept a punishment. This concept is baseless and only justifies the "enforcement" that we are seeing now. This is just one example of the fundamentally harmful provisions of all CIR proposals that I have heard of.

With regards to this statement:"The whole idea that CIR needs to include a "fine" , which everyone has seemed to agree to, promotes the underlying concept that undocumented people are criminals of some sort who need to acknowledge their misdeeds and accept a punishment."

Wow, a little too strong for my taste. Time and time again, illegals are described as criminals. I'm sure it's not as bad as half of these white-collared corruptions or money launder-ers; that I'm sure is happening right now as we're speaking. Yeah, I'm sure these people pay fines too, if they are caught, but I doubt they are being punished for it. So, what's the difference with this situation? Hm, need I say more?

I agree with that but then again, legal Americans will always want to make us suffer a little for "breaking the law." Nothing good ever comes to us for free.

its sad, but the truth of the matter is that dreamies are caught in between everything. the dream act is caught in the whole immigration reform. while dreamies are not at fault for becoming undocumented, dreamies are still seen by the public as part of all the "criminals." the upcoming immigration reform may be the only chance for the dream act to pass. but only if the whole immigration reform find a common ground.

If your someone who's counting on all these "tough" changes to be just a bunch of decoys so they can slip in the Dream Act in there.... Get ready, because you've got a big surprise coming to ya.

The country is divided arguing about freaking health insurances, the news are making it seem like people are trying to over throw the government out there. And you think the guys at the white house are looking forward for a immigration argument?

As they implement all these tougher crack-down on immigrants policies, most of us are here playing with our thumbs hoping its all just a decoy and a lot of us even argue that we should trust the government... Come on people when the hell did "trust the government" ever work for anyone at any god damn giving time??

We have to stay on top of them... don't listen to the "oh lets wait till next year we got more important shit" rhetoric. Our lives is the important shit right now! Don't put down your guard until you actually read it on the news that the big argument in America now is the immigration reform and the dream act. Because if we give up and just "trust the government" they'll never get around to it.

The government can show it is trying to enforce immigration policies, but the opponents of immigration reform who are mainly conservatives, and a small percent but very loud racists will never be satisfied until they see thousands of buses deporting millions of illegal immigrants, and another great wall of China on the south of border. And we all know that will never happen. So, what I’m trying to say is that we cant wait for the opponents of immigration reform to be satisfied, because they will never be satisfied.

This is ridiculous.

How many people do you think will go "Ohhh. I'm totally against amnesty, but since they're deporting more people now, GO FOR IT AMERICA!"

This is nonsense. The more natural reaction is: "If we can deport a couple million, we can deport the rest of them."

Did anyone ever read Profiles in Courage? The introduction by JFK himself is great. We need more courageous congress men to take this on.