Republican floats compromise on immigration - Page 2

I get your frustration and I've often struggled with whether I am more deserving of getting legal relief than the other undocumented people who came here as adults or at least whether I should be given priority. More often than not I feel that Dreamers should be dealt with before anybody else because most of us are innocent and have kept our nose clean. It should be a no brainer to me, but even this most simple subset of immigration reform has been rejected by Republicans and the anti-immigration movement.

If for no other reason to spite them, I feel that since they were unwilling to even help out the most innocents of immigrants, then they deserve to have immigration reform shoved down their throats and get everybody whether it's the innocent dreamers, the guy who crossed the river and gave the finger to border patrol, the high school drop out mother with the 5 kids on WIC and welfare, etc.

I have no doubt the Dreamers will be the most successful among the newly freed immigrants and in a more logical world, we shouldn't even be having this talk as we would already be citizens, but here we are. For you, it was your parents who failed you and for me, it was other relatives who made promises (like adoption, etc) who didn't hold up their end. I have not talked to those relatives in over a decade and when they die, I won't even go to their grave.

don't forget guys... dream act failed in 2010. it is not because of all or nothing approach. that is just an excuse.

I still blame 9/11

You're right. There were always anti-immigration activists around, but when the economy was good and there was no war, they were just seen as the typical angry conservatives who didn't have that much influence and didn't have much legitimacy.

9/11 however gave their extreme anti-immigration views legitimacy and every right wing talk show host started with their "I told you so!" "Open borders did this! Tolerance did this! Round them up and deport them!" Any momentum that immigration reform had at the time, and there was plenty, completely got shot to hell and reversed action to where things got much much tougher. Soon new Driver's license guidelines came out (since the assholes who carried it out just happened to have them), Middle easterners were all put under a microscope, and overall, no one dared mention immigration reform for almost 10 more years.

I couldn't have said it better myself.