i do it because maybe someone will read it who have not made up their minds or are unsure of the situation. many of the inflammatory posts i come across say that immigrants are lazy, don't contribute anything to society, and are basically leeches.

well, then i respond with examples and things that i know a lot of these
commentators do care about and respect: military service.

people are proud to have their relatives and neighbors in military service, and people are proud that their immigrant forefathers served for this country and that makes this country their rightful home.

so i talk about how the government often promises citizenship in return, but that hundreds of veterans find themselves incarcerated and in deportation proceedings.

i don't pass judgment on what should be done; i flip it and ask, what are our thoughts on that?

i get little response. i get maybe thumb-downed but rarely harassed. if they do respond, they claim that i am lying, despite the news articles from unbiased sources that i provide. one woman wrote back that they should be in citizenship classes but are too lazy to. hrm. soldiers who go to iraq being too lazy. ok. and i leave it at that (with some information about aging-out and how people do get in line). but i know that for every response, there were 15 pairs of eyes that read it, and hopefully the issue becomes more human and the ones calling people "parasites" become less credible.

and people are curious. the first time i posted about it, 5 or so people out of the 7 who responded ask me for sources. the second time, 8 thumbs up, 1 down. the forums are where the fight for public opinion often is.