“I don’t think illegal immigrants should necessarily be punished. Most are here to better their lives, work extremely hard, and are scared as hell of getting caught.”

They are not being punished in the sense that they are being fined or being put in jail. They are being deported, there needs to be fairness in the system for all those who legally immigrate here. Let us not be coy, many illegal immigrants are unskilled or low skilled labor who a) displace low skilled native workers and b) drive down wages for low skilled workers (Ironically it is great for people like me who are professionals since it keeps prices low) . While I feel no ill will toward them, there is nothing wrong with a nation putting the interests of its own citizens above those who are foreigners.

“They work in deplorable conditions for less than minimum wage, don’t seek medical care until their bodies cannot sustain disease anymore, pay their bills, and for the most part don’t complain about anything. “

I think that description is embellished. Most illegal immigrants may not make great salaries but very few live wholly deplorable circumstances.

“I also think that it should be easier to immigrate into this country. Why is there such a long wait list?”

Because hordes of people want to come here not mention family reunification, H1Bs, and student visas displace others.

“As far as the DREAM Act is concerned, why would we want to deport intelligent, hard-working, driven children who have grown up here?”

I believe the DREAM Act only requires that you have a high school diploma or GED which is a pretty low bar and realistically does not require many of the traits you have quoted. If an immigrant truly has valuable skills that this country has a shortage of he or she would be able to easily secure an H1B visa.

“Why would we send young people with a lot of potential to another country, when they grew up in this one? I understand that there are a lot of smart people from India, China, etc who are very intelligent who want to work here, but they didn’t grow up here. “

If a country had a choice between a doctor, engineer, or scientist who would greatly benefit the tax base and consume little if any social services vs. a high school grad who may be on the dole for the rest of their lives who would you choose?

My opinion in regards to illegal immigration is more of human rights one. I work in an urban public school in Texas, and I know a lot of people who are undocumented. I don’t think illegal immigrants should necessarily be punished. Most are here to better their lives, work extremely hard, and are scared as hell of getting caught. They work in deplorable conditions for less than minimum wage, don’t seek medical care until their bodies cannot sustain disease anymore, pay their bills, and for the most part don’t complain about anything. I think the people who employ undocumented workers should be severely punished, not the workers. I also think that it should be easier to immigrate into this country. Why is there such a long wait list?

As far as the DREAM Act is concerned, why would we want to deport intelligent, hard-working, driven children who have grown up here? Why would we send young people with a lot of potential to another country, when they grew up in this one? I understand that there are a lot of smart people from India, China, etc who are very intelligent who want to work here, but they didn’t grow up here. Do you have to have a piece of paper to say that you are an American?

I don’t see why anyone should be able to abuse the law and have their kids get away with benefits that they wouldn’t have without the lawbreaking. It is not punishing the kids, if they had been born in India would that be a “punishment”? This kind of language is rooted in Orientalism.

Having said that, I have more of an amoral stance to illegal immigration. If you get caught, then for the sake of the system, there needs to be some ejections to keep everyone as honest as possible. Yes, you can look at them on a case by case basis. If you left your home country for truly valid reasons, and there is absolutely no family or friends or possibility of living on your own in India, then an exception can be made. But the illegal immigrant should not be expecting to stay because it is their “right” to do so or it is the “right thing” to do.

If she’s that dumb or uncurious, she’s not going to make a very good doctor.

For people who are against illegal immigration, I suggest watching the 30 days series episode about it (episodes are on hulu). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30_Days_%28TV_series%29 Fair warning: You might cry once or twice while watching it.

My problem with this post was that it did not contain anything about this case, and yet contained two links that go directly to a form petitioning someone. It is like you’re asking me for my sympathy without telling me why I should sympathize with this particular case. If the forms were for a general push for DREAM act, that would have been ok, but this wasnt.

Too often bloggers do a call-to-action gimme-your-sympathy thing without really investigating and providing details, leaving people like me wondering if they really care about this issue or was it just one of those, “hey man, you run a blog yea? can you post this for me”.

the way this argument is structured implies that as long as anyone lands up in US in whatever means and has a kid should be given legal status because heck that kid would be US Citizen by virtue of being born in USA and now if you deport the parents since they are illegal that is equivalent to separating them out.

As I say, there is a reason why there are immigration laws – if you are going to give this sort of loophole then everyone should get to know that so that they dont unnecesarily do the right stuff by returning after their visa expires and lose out on an golden opportunity like this!