Azalin

Man, I sure wish that they'd have more commercials......

That would certainly help, but as far as the electorate goes, a little common sense and knowledge of basic civics would go a long way too.

All of that is reasonable as far as I'm concerned. I admit that my own experience has biased my opinion, but I'm adamant in my belief that there is a disproportionate number of people crossing the southern border illegally, to the detriment of the country, immigrants from other parts of the world, and ultimately to themselves.

For starters, people who are born here are automatically granted citizenship, whether their parents are legal or not. Secondly, an easier path to citizenship? Do you mean for all the people who came here illegally, or the children that they smuggled in with them? I support making a legal path for the DACA children - possibly by their service in the military, or by some other legal means. But their parents are a different matter as far as I'm concerned. If we actually prosecuted them (yes, I know - it's a civil offense, not a criminal one) then maybe we could remove some of the incentive to sneak into the country. I absolutely do not believe in making it easy for anyone to become either a legal resident or a citizen if they have displayed disrespect for our immigration laws in arriving here. We offered amnesty back in the 80's as a way of showing compassion to those who were here illegally, and all it ultimately did was encourage more people to sneak in. If it was my decision to make, I would allow X amount of people in total, every year. For argument's sake lets use an arbitrary number like 1 million. I would accept applications for residential entry divided into three general groups of 333,000 per year: one third from Latin America, one third from Asia, and one third from Europe. All would need to have a clean police record, and would need to stay out of trouble while here or be bounced back to their country of origin.

Actually, my experience didn't involve a lottery - there were legal complications with our case that made getting a marriage visa extremely complicated. I would have preferred it to be otherwise, but it wasn't. I would have loved it to be less expensive, but it wasn't. We wanted to do everything legally, so we did. I expect everyone else to have the same respect for our immigration laws that I did. If they don't, then to hell with them. It's really that simple. There are many Europeans and Asians who would love to immigrate here, but there are oceans for them to cross, so they are forced to do it legally. A physical barrier between the US and Latin America is only fair, all things being equal. You say you do not want anyone to become 2nd class citizens, but that's exactly what happens with the vast majority of Latinos who cross the border illegally. They get a few social services tossed in their direction, but they stay in their non-English speaking enclaves, being taught in Spanish at public schools, and do not integrate into our society, depriving themselves of the access to opportunity that the rest of us have. I know a number of illegals from Mexico. They're great folks, but they will always be held back by their inability to interface like you or I do. What many people, apparently including you, do not seem to understand is that we already have a system in place for legally immigrating to the US. The driving factor behind this entire issue/debate is not an inadequate immigration program, it's because too many people disregard the laws we already have. If people continue to ignore our immigration law, then the law is not the problem. A lack of enforcement of that law, and the wanton disrespect for that law are the problems. It's not any more complicated than that.

Absolutely! I was going to bring that one up since nobody had mentioned it before. I always try to imagine what it must have been like on that set with Eric Idle, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Madeline Kahn, Peter Cook, and Cheech & Chong. Another great one nobody's mentioned yet is Team America: World Police

Agreed to all of the above. I had held out hope, but to no avail. He's now been added to my short list of ignored users.

If all you're going to do is troll people, why waste your time here? Is your life really that boring, empty, and meaningless?

All in all, my 401k has had almost a 42% gain since the Trumpster took office, but you are the first person to make me laugh at a Euclidean Geometry joke. Thank you!

Our immigration laws make perfect sense as far as I'm concerned. I can tell you that more lax immigration laws would have made my own life significantly easier, because my wife is an immigrant. An ocean separated us - so the Mexican and Canadian borders didn't come into play. Why do you believe we should have Latino immigrants working in the fields picking our fruit, or slaving away as a dishwasher in a restaurant? Do you support having a second class of citizen, one who is forever stuck performing menial work for a pittance of what you or I would make for the same thing? Why do they not deserve the same opportunity as the rest of us? That's a bullsh!t argument, and one I will not engage in. Despite all the problems we have in this country, I would prefer living here than anywhere else I've visited. I do not blame anyone for wanting to live here, and we have been very generous over the last few decades with regard to who we allow in, as well as who we allow to stay, but entry into our society, whether as a legal resident or ultimately as a citizen, needs to be based on WHAT WE HAVE TO GAIN AS A NATION AND A SOCIETY, and not as a display of our compassion as a nation.

I know what you're trying to do, and as I've already stated, I'm not going to play. Our country has had various policies toward immigration over the years, some more lenient, some more restrictive. Right now, we have a policy for allowing legal immigration into the US, a privilege we extend to outsiders who meet the prerequisite criteria. That's all there is to it. Don't like it? Lobby to change the law, don't try to excuse willing disregard for our laws on the part of people who knowingly attempt to circumvent it.

That's a great point - if you're talking assbaskets of cash, then I'm going to have to agree completely.

He stays on - who would willingly give up this kind of power?

I couldn't agree with this more.

You know exactly what I'm talking about. I'm not going to debate the meaning of the word "American" with you or anyone else.

From their mothers' womb. Honestly, how do you not get this?

But only if they're invisible. Mine: can craft doilies out of chipmunk spleens.

You do realize that was intentional, don't you?

Because it's impossible to be a pedantic blowhard in 140 characters or less.

Americans. This stuff really isn't difficult.

Since nobody has posted a youtube video of the youtube shooting yet.....

Immigration isn't a system, it's a privilege extended to those we are willing to accept into our society. It needs to recognized as such.

Yeah, immigration and customs enforcement is an abomination. You $%#&ing douche. If Oliver is your source of intellectual inspiration, then you're even more clueless than I thought.

You do realize that I posted a link to a news story, right? It's an article relevant to the thread. You know, the thread about PC running amok in our culture?

I believe the technical term for them is "plum smugglers".