It is harder to ever become a citizen if they are documented as being here illegally, many illegal aliens are attempting to become legal citizens by pretending to still be in their home country and getting the paperwork done while they are here.

This really is a "sad reflection of growing anti-immigrant sentiment in the country" as the critics say in the article. Like the teacher disrespecting the child with the flag, this is just documenting people in order to stop people from ever coming legally and is sad.

Don't we have better uses for our govt dollars?

I didn't even consider that, Meg. That is ridiculous.

This is completely unnecessary. They're on their way OUT. I can see detaining them if they're trying to get IN.

I'm a little confused. The opening of the article suggests that they are doing it to arrest people and the thrust of the article suggests that it is a detain, record and release program.

I have no problem with it as long as they are being released to reenter their country of origin. Documentation has to be made somewhere and in light of the circumstances we must choose opportunistic tactics such as this to record who is here or in this case has been here illegally. It's not like these people are going to walk into INS for recording purposes on their own.

I agree with Hypno.

The officers are arresting the immigrants, bringing them to detention centers where they are detained until they are processed and deported, or processed and charged. Does that make more sense?

It's dumb. If they are just going to send them back to Mexico anyway, what's the point? Unless of course it's to keep them from coming back in, but if they're illegal they wouldn't come in by the normal methods anyway.

Actually, that does make sense, Liberty. If someone is in the country illegally than we probably should know who they are and at least have some sort of record.

I agree that this seems a little bassackwards, but I can also see the need to do it. It's really all about getting people documented.

I am actually kind of torn on the issue. I don't see it as wrong for our government to document illegal activity. However, I do think that we need to entice and enable people to become citizens legally to stop all of the abuse that immigrants are exposed to when they work in the US.

I think everyone has made really good points so far. Ugh!

Hmm well correct me if I'm wrong but can't Federal officers detain for questioning with out actualy arresting a person? Or do they actually have to be technically arrested? Well I guess so since the information gathering would involve finger printing etc.

They do it in airports when you leave the country, so it is the same policy applied here. Anyway the whole immigration thing is called homogenization and it cannot be stopped,no matter if its good or bad , its occurrence is just natural.

I think they should be documented as they leave so there is a record and the US has that right. I don't think they need to be harassed or anything. But I agree overall with detaining and processing them.

I suspect that many illegal immigrants on their way out would be on their way back in again. In other words, they're leaving temporarily. Given the likelihood that they'll try to reenter again, often illegally -- for the same reasons that caused them to enter illegally in the first place. Given that likelihood, I think it's good to have a record that someone has a history of illegally entering the country.

I agree that these people are likely coming back, but I still wonder how useful this documentation is and how the cost/benefit analysis works out... if they are stealing an ID to be here once, and then a different one later, are we really able to tie those together?

I know from prosecuting cases where citizenship cannot be proven that it can be very difficult to know who exactly you are dealing with and if they are in the system over and over with different documentations.... and when people disappear how difficult it would be to prove which illegal under the name Jesus Garcia is the one we're looking for...

That was my point Meg! Exactly! If they entered illegally once, they will probably be able to enter illegally again. So, honestly the only benefit would be to keep them from becoming citizens at a future date.

These people come in and out of the country pretty much at will. They know they need to be careful coming *in*, but presumably don't worry about it too much when they're (temporarily) leaving.

I think this is a stroke of genius. I'd love to send a box of homemade cookies to whoever thought of it!

UnDave: Love the new avatar! Cute kids!

Hysterical avtar, Lainetm!

:ROTLF:

awww UnDave, you look almost exactly how i pictured you! cute kids too.

like Jillness, i'm pretty torn on this too. I think you all raise valid points.

Yes, it would be useful to have a database if you're a criminal but what about if you're a 7 year old kid? And what if you come back illegally when you're 9 and then can't gain citizenship because your parents were the ones who brought you over?

I think that the children who are brought over are the ones who face huge obstacles because they are caught up in two cultures and some handle it better than others. I've had friends who couldn't go to college because they were brought over when they were very little (like 2 years old) and never got their residency so even though they paid taxes and grew up in the U.S., they couldn't get financial aid to pay for school.

It really sucks because there are a whole lotta kids for whom this is the case. They didn't have a choice if they wanted to come over but they are raised in the States and then get the sh*t end of the stick when they want to continue their education and improve their situation.

There was something called the Dream Act that would have allowed kids like this to receive financial aid for college but because of intense anti-immigration sentiment in the country, it failed to pass Congress. Now what happens to those kids...they go work in McDonald's instead of going to college?

Yeah, that's really helpful to create an educated workforce! Instead of raising kids up for the betterment of society, let's tear them down and raise the poverty level!

Jull: Yes, I couldn't resist!

niachica: Hopefully the prospect of penalizing your children would be a deterrent to you breaking the law. To be bluntly honest: Yes, the children suffer, but that's their parents' fault, not America's.

I suspect there's some way they could apply for a green card and ultimately gain residence. And, by living here, they received the benefit of whatever their taxes paid for: schools, roads, libraries, etc. It's not as though they paid for *nothing*. Often, illegals work under the table, so they pay less in taxes than the rest of us. I'm a bit tired of hearing "But I paid taxes" as a substitute for "You should give me whatever I want, whether I have earned it or not."

Sorry, Jill, for the typo in your name!

Lain, the "the prospect of penalizing your children would be a deterrent to you breaking the law. To be bluntly honest: Yes, the children suffer, but that's their parents' fault, not America's."

That's like saying that the prospect of the death penalty deters murderers from not murdering! We all know that's absolutely NOT true. Parents bring their children to this country for a better life not so they can freeload off everyone.

Seriously, try looking a kid in the face and telling them that they don't deserve access to an education because of their legal status. I can't imagine it would be very easy...

I really wish there was a way for us to determine where our taxes went. i'd much rather it go to healthcare and education than paying for wars (well, some small part could go to national security...). but that's just me...

There are days that reading these posts make me feel so discouraged. There's so little compassion for other people: Muslims can't forgive or understand and just want to kill people, illegal immigrants just come here to plunder everything we've worked so hard for; you insist they and their children be punished for breaking the law, but as long as he can get a letter from his lawyer, most of you are okay with the President breaking laws to make you feel safer.
A quick check of history shows that no country stays on top forever and we've definitely lost a lot of our edge - if you ever need to count on the kindness of strangers from other countries, you better hope that they have a better understanding of love your neighbor than we do.

I understand your point stephley there are a lot of statements said and accusations made towards illegal immigrants that only make the problem more bitter and difficult to navigate.

The bottom line though is resources. The U.S. has every right to look out for their own and the alarm has been sounding for a couple of decades now that our resources to support the influx of immigrants who come here not just to work but to settle down and raise families, large Catholic families. This has caused enormous burden on all of us.

If you have a bunch of people that want to leave town and one wagon is your only resource you're not going to pile on until it breaks under the weight. Unfortunately some people are going to have to stay.

We are no where near that point!
As long as the federal, state and local governments can, and do, fund things like sports stadiums, provide tax benefits and cuts for the wealthiest people and corporations among us, and spend $5,000 a minute in Iraq there is no reason for alarm and certainly no reason to start shoving the less fortunate around any more than we have. The government is not cracking down on immigrants to save resources or to make us safer. It's all about creating fake boogeymen, and a guest worker program so that businesses can control who comes in and how much they are compensated.
And I don't mean to rant at you Hypno, because I really like you and look forward to your posts.

Well you're right about fake boogy men stephley. That's what I was referring to when I said "there are a lot of statements said and accusations made towards illegal immigrants that only make the problem more bitter and difficult to navigate."

There is no easy way out of this marriage both immigrants and U.S. employers and tax payers are going to have to make sacrifices to set things right. There is no smooth path and no resolution that will make either or both sides happy working within the frame work that we have to work in.

Cool, I'll stand down.

I don't think I'd disagree with anyone here. I does seem like awaste of money etc. The only thing I can think of is, it might help with is smuggling? I'm thinking of human kidnaps that sort of thing. Or car thefts, runaways.

No Worries,

The US borders will soon disappear because of the North American Union.

Mexicans will have the same rights as US citizens...

As soon as the dollar is inflated into oblivion, the Amero currency will be introduced.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hiPrsc9g98

Oh no doubt that nationalism will begin to yield to a global consciousness Orwell, but I seriously doubt it will happen any time soon. Certainly not in my life time.

always entertaining to read about american immigration and how americans view it. I think we should have a post where we have non-americans comment on this issue, i would just like to see how opinions differ or how they are similiar.

I'm all for that nyaradzom2001. Where ever you are spread the word that thoughtful comments are welcome here.