I think you are going to be surprised at some of these answers, CU4.
<<#1. Do you think the United States has the right to control it's own
border and the right to allow and refuse people wanting to enter the country?>>
Yes. Subject to any international treaties they may be bound by.
<<Should the United States be able to suspend all immigration for 5 years if it
so chooses?>>
Yes, again subject to treaties. I believe they are bound by treaty to accept a certain reasonable share of refugees under the UN Convention on Refugees.
<<#2. If you think the United States has the right to a sovereign border
and the right to control and decide how many people enter the United States
then how do you specifically propose we do that if thats what the American
people decide they want to do?>>
The way they are already doing it. They have legislated a framework of visas and passport control stations, inspectors, enforcement officers, enforcement procedures, penalties and deportation mechanisms.
<<#3 For sake of argument lets say we give everyone here "amnesty",
fine....but how do we specifically stop millions of new illegals?>>
It's a police action. More police, more border patrols, better systems for tracking those who enter and don't leave on time. Again, especially for those who hate "Big Government," THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH. If you have set yourselves an objective, you must be prepared to PAY for the means of enforcing it.
<<For example do you support severe punishments for companies hiring illegals?>>
Not in terms of jail time, no. Severe economic penalties, sure, because the only motive for hiring illegals is economic. The capitalist wants to grow his bottom line, and paying starvation wages to wetbacks is one way to do it. But you have to evaluate ALL the economic consequences before you go down that road - - how many companies will go out of business and with what degree of economic hardship to legal residents? If you're gonna get tough on those who hire illegals, you better know in advance what the likely consequences could be for everyone, not just the illegals and their employers.
<<Do you support a series of above and below ground walls/fences/barriers
that would shut down a huge portion of anyone walking across the border illegally? >>
No because it is a black eye to America's image - - people love America in part because it's always been more hospitable to new immigrants than other parts of the developed world. Everyone in the smallest Greek or Italian village has a relative in America. Hundreds of millions of people are aware either of the verse or the sentiments of Emma Lazarus' poem:
The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
That poem is powerful imagery. It's how a lot of people, inside and outside of America still think of the country. People like me, all four of whose grandparents were immigrants who couldn't speak a word of fucking English when they got here feel a love of country that no amount of misconduct or other abuses can erase. I'm talking about how I feel about Canada, now, but I know there are millions of Americans who feel the same way about America. Their ancestors were the lowest of the low, the despised, the accursed, the scum of the fucking earth in the eyes of whatever European shithole they had to live in, and then here was this new country that didn't give a shit who they were, that took them in anyway, in rags, uneducated, funny-looking, foreign-speaking, and they made a life for themselves and their children a million times better than what they ever could have hoped for in the shit-hole that used to be their home, they had rights, rights that they never had before, and they love America for that. Always will. Doesn't matter how many wars America starts, how many innocents they torture, rape and murder, how many blacks they lynched and ruined, how many Indians they robbed and killed - - America welcomed their grandparents and they will always love America for that. But fuck with the image of America - - take away that welcome mat - - and you've got an image problem. An image of America walled off behind a <<series of above and below ground walls/fences/barriers>> is IMHO a particularly disgusting and alarming image. The kind of harm and ill-will that it would bring to America is incalculable. From abroad and from her own citizens. I still see America as a friendly and welcoming country, despite all the crimes committed in her name. Good people. (Dumb, maybe, but good-hearted. If most of them KNEW of the atrocities committed by the military, they'd be sick at heart.) But people living behind an electrified wall? They're not good people. They're cowardly fuck-ups. The kind of wall you are suggesting might or might not be effective. I suspect it wouldn't work, but even if it did, it would blacken America's image so badly that no "gain" could ever justify the damage.
<<Immediatly stop all "water cooler" stations.>>
It's worse to stop them than never to have started them. Personally, I think they make America look good. Furthermore, it's the right thing to do. Even illegal immigrants are human beings first, illegals second. No one is suggesting that they deserve a death penalty for wanting to sneak into America, so why NOT try to save their lives? Removing the water stations is the same as shooting to kill. It is morally unjustifiable and would give America a huge black eye.
<<Do you support "English Only"?>>
NO!!! English Only is bullshit. Canada has two official languages and I am so glad that our schools encouraged us to learn a second language. We started in Grade 9, our kids in pre-school French immersion. It's wonderful to know a second languages. Most Europeans can speak three or more languages. I love the French language. It's enriched my life. I know lots of Spanish-speaking Americans and they love to try out their Spanish every chance they get. What I DO support is English-language public schools. I am against private Muslim, Jewish, fundamentalist schools. I'm against anything that gives a kid an "identity" like a hyphenated American. They gotta be 100% American first, with no ties to any foreign country other than the ties of heritage and culture.
<<Do you support denying drivers licenses and other state privileges
to illegals that would send a signal that the US does not encourage
or in any way facilitate breaking US Law and entering the country
illegally?>>
No, I want the state to control the drivers on the roads that I drive on. That means encouraging every driver to know the rules of the road and get a driver's licence and have an encouragement or inducement to keep that licence by driving responsibly. I don't want a bunch of fucking Mexicans driving on the road with no fear of losing their licence because they have no licence to lose. There's a system of roads, cars and drivers and like it or not they will be a part of that system. Better to bring 'em in than to leave them out.
<<Do you support ending the "run across the border" to have your baby
on the American taxpayer so the new born is an American citizen?>>
Well, the way you expressed it, sure. But I don't think it happens that way very often. I think most of the time an illegal alien just gets pregnant and has her baby in the nearest hospital. I could foresee endless litigation, fraud, and costs of adjudicating disputes if every birth in every American hospital becomes a potential lawsuit. What's your problem with it anyway? It keeps the population high, which is an ultimate benefit.
<<Do you support schools requiring proof of citizenship?>>
No, it would be contrary to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the U.S. is a party to. Evey child has a right to an education which cannot be denied. The schools have enough to do without enforcing the Immigration Act. You have immigration officers to seek out and find illegals, why draft the schools to do their work for them? Hire more of them, and let the schools stay in the business of schooling, not policing.
<<What exactly would you propose doing if the American people
want illegal immigration halted for 5, 10, years or more?>>
Allocate more money to enforcement of the laws against illegal immigration.
<<Do you support basically some type of national ID card
that shows citizenship or legal visiting status
that without it you would basically be unable to work,>>
Nope. Wouldn't mean a God-damn thing. More paper-work, more bureaucracy, more forgeries, more time wasted by employers trying to figure out if this card is real or not. In practice it would mean the employer doesn't need the headache of enforcing the immigration laws and getting his ass nailed to the wall if he makes a wrong call on an ID card, so he's only gonna hire the Smiths and Jones who LOOK like they are Smiths and Jones. It's racist.
<< . . .unable to attend schools, unable to rent housing,
unable to get loans, open bank accounts, ect...>>
Same God-damn thing. It transfers the burden of immigration law enforcement onto people who have other work to do and do not want the responsibility, so the line of least resistance for them will be to "discriminate against" anyone of Hispanic appearance - - might or might not be an illegal but who the fuck needs the responsibility of making the wrong call on his documentation, so fuck it, I'll give the loan, schooling, rental etc. to Smith or Jones here who can't possibly be any problem.
