>> I really don't understand people knee jerk stance against immigration (well, I do understand it, it's largely racism).
I don't know any Americans who are opposed to immigration. I know lots of them who are opposed to illegal immigration. Interestingly, the people I know most ferociously opposed to the illegals are themselves immigrants, three from China, one from India, and one from France.
And racism has nothing to do with it. They just hate the fact that they came here legally, went thru a lot of trouble to do so, add a lot of value to this country, and then see others who drain the welfare system, etc., get a free pass because they can be expected to vote the "correct" way when they become citizens.
My wife is from China and there's never a week that goes by that she doesn't tell me how wonderful America is. I've lived overseas enough to get a sense of why she says that, but it's still interesting to see the U.S. through her eyes at times.
Many of those most strongly opposed to illegal immigration also strongly favor a streamlined legal process, for many of the reasons you allude to. This country benefits greatly from immigrants who come to add value (including many illegals). We need a policy that makes it straightforward for immigrants who are doing positive things to get into the system.
My opposition to illegal immigration boils down to these points:
1. Many illegals die each year making the journey, and many more are brutalized on the way to the border. They have to deal with coyotes, drug gangs, etc. The current situation is untenable.
2. Once they're here, the illegals are cut-off from their families; they can't visit home and miss out on their children growing up, leading to further problems.
3. Just legalizing them doesn't solve the problem; just more people from south of the border keep trying to get in.
The solution, IMHO, is an "unskilled worker visa" available to residents of Mexico and Central American countries. Give preference to those with roots in their communities and a clean record. It would let them come to the US for manual work like picking crops, construction, etc. and go back (and forth) whenever they want. Many other countries (especially the Middle-Eastern ones) have such visas.
> I don't know any Americans who are opposed to immigration.
I live in a northeastern city with a significant Puerto Rican (as in people who moved here from PR) population, and there are lots of folks who are vocally calling for changes in immigration rules (yeah, yeah, I know) so prevent Puerto Rican's from "immigrating" here.
I suppose it really matters where you're from (among other factors).
If you're opposed to illegal immigration, and you're also opposed to changing the immigration laws so it's easier to immigrate legally, you're opposed to immigration. Let's just be honest about this.
I completely disagree. I think it means they're opposed to unlimited immigration.
The US currently takes in well over a million immigrants legally into the country every year. Are you "opposed" to immigration generally if you don't think it should be two million a year? If you think it should be two million a year, does that mean someone who thinks it should be four million can say you're opposed to immigration?
I'm in favor of a fairly high level of immigration, though I think our current system is completely broken (and seems to make it hard for the people we'd most want here to stay). But I absolutely support some controls on the sheer number and rate of entry, and I really don't agree that this makes me opposed to immigration in the general sense.
Speaking from the UK perspective, the argument is very much about "stopping fucking foreigners in to take all our jobs".
To this end, the popular opinion is in favour of making legal immigration harder, and kicking out all the illegal immigrants.
One of the more amusing headlines I've seen involved an Indian immigrant joining the British Nationalist Party, as he supported their policy of "Britain is full, stop immigration".
I don't know any Americans who are opposed to immigration. I know lots of them who are opposed to illegal immigration. Interestingly, the people I know most ferociously opposed to the illegals are themselves immigrants, three from China, one from India, and one from France.
And racism has nothing to do with it. They just hate the fact that they came here legally, went thru a lot of trouble to do so, add a lot of value to this country, and then see others who drain the welfare system, etc., get a free pass because they can be expected to vote the "correct" way when they become citizens.
My wife is from China and there's never a week that goes by that she doesn't tell me how wonderful America is. I've lived overseas enough to get a sense of why she says that, but it's still interesting to see the U.S. through her eyes at times.